Was wondering if anybody has any tricks to pass along for setting up a cross-canyon shot on a steep downhill shooting position?
On my elk rifle backpack hunt, I've got a spot in mind that I want to setup for a long cross-canyon shot. The shot itself will not be an extreme angle, only the terrain I will be standing/sitting on... The shot angle likely will not vary more than maybe 20 degrees from horizontal worst case, but that's shooting downhill over the trees. I will be looking at a major elk crossing area, and this spot is just about the only area that has a clearing, but is covered in low gamble oaks. It is a hillside that is very steep downhill to a canyon/creek, and there is nowhere to lay down prone. So I'm thinking of something like cutting some limbs to make some kind of rifle rest where my back will be to the mountain, and gun out in front... but wondering if anybody has already skinned this cat? Any advice on techniques that you've used successfully?
Here's a pic that shows a good portion of the terrain, I was standing when I took the pic, even when you sit down you lose a big portion of the lower shooting lane, and lyig down prone not an option. Most of the oaks patches across the canyon in the pic are shootable except to the high right, and of course super distant ridges. Closest shot is about 400 yards , while some of the oak clearings where elk cross could reach out to 1500 yards. This pic shows about 50%, or the right half, of what I'll be looking at. There's more clearings down and to the left that I do not have a picture of, but the elk would very likely move out to what you can see in the picture. So anyways, just trying to figure out if this spot is realistic to set up for a long shot without a true prone position? Thoughts?
On my elk rifle backpack hunt, I've got a spot in mind that I want to setup for a long cross-canyon shot. The shot itself will not be an extreme angle, only the terrain I will be standing/sitting on... The shot angle likely will not vary more than maybe 20 degrees from horizontal worst case, but that's shooting downhill over the trees. I will be looking at a major elk crossing area, and this spot is just about the only area that has a clearing, but is covered in low gamble oaks. It is a hillside that is very steep downhill to a canyon/creek, and there is nowhere to lay down prone. So I'm thinking of something like cutting some limbs to make some kind of rifle rest where my back will be to the mountain, and gun out in front... but wondering if anybody has already skinned this cat? Any advice on techniques that you've used successfully?
Here's a pic that shows a good portion of the terrain, I was standing when I took the pic, even when you sit down you lose a big portion of the lower shooting lane, and lyig down prone not an option. Most of the oaks patches across the canyon in the pic are shootable except to the high right, and of course super distant ridges. Closest shot is about 400 yards , while some of the oak clearings where elk cross could reach out to 1500 yards. This pic shows about 50%, or the right half, of what I'll be looking at. There's more clearings down and to the left that I do not have a picture of, but the elk would very likely move out to what you can see in the picture. So anyways, just trying to figure out if this spot is realistic to set up for a long shot without a true prone position? Thoughts?
