Harris Bipod vs. Primos Trigger Stick

About 1.5 years ago I asked for opinions about what rifle to get my, then 14, son. I ended up getting him a Tikka T3x in .270 WIN and I’m glad to report he’s taken a few deer with it. Now we’d like to try to get a coyote this winter and was looking for advice on whether it would be best to mount a Harris bipod to the rifle or would it be better to get a Primos Trigger Stick short tripod Gen 3. I know Randy suggested a Harris HB25 or HBH bipod back when I was originally looking to get the rifle. To me, it seems the Primos tripod with it’s easily adjustable height might be better than the Harris bipod mounted directly on the gun. I get the impression that it’s hard to adjust the height of the Harris bipods but I’ve never tried to do it so I don’t know how easy it really is to adjust things. But it also seems like it might be nice to have the bipod support mounted directly to the gun so it moves with the gun if you have to adjust positions to make a shot. But perhaps it’s hard to reposition a gun that has the bipod mounted directly to it.

We will be trying to call the coyotes. While my son will take his rifle, I plan to carry a shotgun in case we get a close shot.

Thanks for the advice,

Boone

I have a Harris 25s mounted on my 22=250,but also have a bog pod tripod that adjusts up to 62″that I have on a sling,that I carry on my back.
If I had to pick just one it would be the bipod,because when I’m calling I try to call into open areas,where I have plenty of hieght with bipod.The tripod is used on slough edges and brushy pastures,etc,where I need a little more hieght to get above obstuctions.
The s(swivel) series is worth the extra bucks in my opinion
Also steadier shooting prone.

‘

I have a few tripods and use them a lot. Bipods are great, but often I’ll sit in brush, steep inclines, or amongst other obstructions where a tripod prevail.

I really like the rail system on the Caldwell tripod. I can easily adjust it to accommodate my rifle with a bipod on it. Downfall is the actual tripod. They used CHEAP tiny undersized plastic pieces on the tripod leg supports. We’ve broken a lot of them.
I did take one of the rail systems off of their tripod and mounted it to a leitz camera tripod. Super stout setup.

If it were my son, I would get the tripod now, and a bipod for his BIRTHDAY

A couple of thoughts.

The bipod is the way to go, but make sure you can use it in the sitting position. Laying down is a no-go when coyote hunting because there is always something getting in the way or you’ll lose sight of the dog due to a rise in the ground. You have to be able to see to shoot and the target zone on a coyote is only 12-16 inches off the ground.

The critical thing is to minimize movement because a coyote can see your eyes blinking. So fumbling around with shooting sticks and trying to get them in place while minimizing movement is hard to do. Also keep in mind, when a dog comes in, you have to get your sh!t together fast. Eastern dogs are wary as heck and you may often lose sight of them within seconds, so again this isn’t like the TV shows where you get to watch a coyote trotting in for 10 minutes to pick your place to stop them for a shot. If you see a dog here, you have to quickly get on it and toast it or you may not get another chance.

Personally, I would reverse your gun plans. Let your son carry the shotgun.

Called-in coyotes, in my experience, are not especially easy to hit. In fact they are dang easy to miss, not that it ever happens to me. But other guys miss them all the time.

Forget what you see on those TV shows where dumb-as-rocks western coyotes come trotting happily across 2 miles of open scrub and then stop broadside to get shot by a rifle.

Generally what tends to happen from my experience of over 10 years of calling in NE and western Minnesota is that coyotes very rarely come out in the open.
Instead they tend to appear out of the brush or trees on a trot and right on top of the call where the up close and personal shotgun is the way to go.

Last thing I’ll say is if you’re hunting with a partner, you need to have a pre-set plan in case multiples come in or there is a 99% chance you’ll hose it up. Again, not that it’s happened to me…

My rules are that the guy that’s NOT calling takes the lead dog in a double situation, the caller takes the second dog. This gives the caller a chance to get his hands free of the remote.

The second rule is to shoot the dogs in the orientation you are sitting in. In a double situation again, the guy on the left shoots the left dog, guy on the right shoots the right. This helps avoid both guys choosing the same coyote.

Grouse

Grouse, I want to go hunt coyotes with you. I haven’t shot one in almost 2 years that was less than 200 yrds.(other than dispatching from traps). I’m beginning to forget what its like to look at them in shotgun range. With so dam many guys running hounds and calling down here, they just step out in the edge of a field at 400 yrds and look at you, bark, walk a small circle, bark a few more times, and wonder off. Spent hours waiting on closer shots that never happened. Maybe 1 out of 20 will sneak into the 200ish range and repeat.

Yeah wasnt thinking of the difference in terrain from here to there,Out here we can watch our dog runaway for two weeks!!So we do get a fair share of shots on the table top,but longer usually because pretty skittish coming across alot of open ground.
But I do like sitting with the bipod,and the versatility of the bog pod is hard to beat,like 16-62″.It’s a little heavy but I use one of those looped shotgun slings to carry,not bad then.

Thanks for the input. I know our chances of calling in a coyote and actually being able to shoot it are slim to none. But it’ll still be fun to try.

Boone

boone wrote:

Thanks for the input. I know our chances of calling in a coyote and actually being able to shoot it are slim to none. But it’ll still be fun to try.

Actually, your chances are good and you have to have that mindset going in because they will come! The #1 issue with MN coyotes is you have to call where a coyote can hear you. And of course, you’ll never know that until they show up. So you have to be ready at all times.

The volume isn’t as high as out west in NB, OK, NV, etc, but there are certainly plenty out there because the coyote is now in so many areas the did not traditionally have them. Between the late 1970s and early 1990s, we almost never saw coyote out in SW MN where we pheastant hunted. Fox yes, coyotes, no. Now it is 100% coyotes. Almost no fox can be found. Coyotes rarely were spotted in the metro area until the late 1980s and now they are commonplace.

In fact, I can neither confirm or deny that some guy has been calling and getting responses from coyotes using an eCaller in (get this!) Maplewood Calling only, I hasten to add. NOT shooting, that would not be legal. Bottom line is they’re everywhere in the metro.

Grouse

Randy Wieland wrote:

Grouse, I want to go hunt coyotes with you. I haven’t shot one in almost 2 years that was less than 200 yrds.(other than dispatching from traps).

It may be a product of me simply doing more of what seemed to work, Randy. I rarely, if ever, make a stand in my hunting area where I can SEE 200 yards. I tried to call coyotes onto open ground for years. It just never seemed to work for me.

What did work is getting into the thickets and timber and basically hunting them where their tracks are. In this area, the tracks are in the travel routes and in the rabbit hunting areas like alder thickets and creek bottoms.

I think it’s just a natural result of the fact that I’m hunting in an area that is now mainly beef cattle ranching. The cattlemen shoot at any coyote that gets caught in the open, so I think that any coyote that makes it past puppyhood learns soon enough that trotting through open fields gets you shot at.

Maybe if I started calling nothing but open ground spots again, I’d have different experiences, but around where I hunt it just never seemed to work.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Randy Wieland wrote:</div>
Grouse, I want to go hunt coyotes with you. I haven’t shot one in almost 2 years that was less than 200 yrds.(other than dispatching from traps).

It may be a product of me simply doing more of what seemed to work, Randy. I rarely, if ever, make a stand in my hunting area where I can SEE 200 yards. I tried to call coyotes onto open ground for years. It just never seemed to work for me.

What did work is getting into the thickets and timber and basically hunting them where their tracks are. In this area, the tracks are in the travel routes and in the rabbit hunting areas like alder thickets and creek bottoms.

I think it’s just a natural result of the fact that I’m hunting in an area that is now mainly beef cattle ranching. The cattlemen shoot at any coyote that gets caught in the open, so I think that any coyote that makes it past puppyhood learns soon enough that trotting through open fields gets you shot at.

Maybe if I started calling nothing but open ground spots again, I’d have different experiences, but around where I hunt it just never seemed to work.

Grouse

I was at my farm yesterday and thought I’ld slip out and make a few sets when the front came through here. 1/2 mile down the road and there is 6 trucks, all with dog kennels in the back of them. Figured they were running somewhere between 15 and 20+ dogs. Heard them barking like hell on my neighbors property. I stopped and told them a friendly reminder that they didn’t have permission for my land and I would appreciate them staying out. Response (after the laughter) “Dogs go where they want to go”

Response – Hopefully not in my traps

Couldn’t believe it when they started cussing me out. And this is becoming the new standard down here. I was serious about wanting to get out and hunt somewhere else. I’m fed up with it.

Anytime you’re over for a show or whatnot, Randy, let me know.

My coyote hunting area is east of Hinckley and they are getting thin on the ground since the wolves have overrun the area. There are still coyotes up near the bigger cattle ranching areas as the wolves generally stay away from the areas where there is frequent human activity.

I’d love to get north and west and get into some areas with heavier populations. The first 1 or 2 times the area is hunted seems to produce good results usually.

Grouse