Spartan gear is built to cover every corner of the hunt, but the right setup gives you the biggest edge. Choosing a lightweight hunting bipod, a carbon fiber tripod, or the best shooting sticks for deer hunting comes down to the ground you’ll be in and the distances you’ll likely shoot. Match the species you’re chasing to the terrain kits below and you’ll find a system that steadies your rifle, saves weight, and keeps you ready for the shot.
Every piece of hunting gear is a trade-off between speed, stability, and weight. The terrain and your expected shooting distances are the key factors. To narrow it down, check the species you hunt most, then select the Spartan bipod or tripod kit built for those conditions.
Mountain Gear
Species: Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Brown & Black Bear, Caribou, Mule Deer, Elk
Core Gear: Ascent Tripod, Javelin Pro Hunt Tac Bipod
Add-ons: Classic Gunsmith Adapter, Heavy Duty Optics Adapter, Binocular Tripod Adapter, Trekking Pole Handles, FHF Aspis Javelin Bipod Holster, Hoplite Mini Tripod (Our Ultralight alternative to the Ascent)
Drawing a mountain tag is a once-in-a-decade shot. Miss it and you’ll be replaying that moment for the rest of your life. Trust the ruggedly tough gear that was developed specifically for mountain hunting, by a fanatical backcountry hunter. Extended periods of glassing mean you need a tripod. The Ascent tripod enables you to glass, shoot, and even unscrew the legs to use as hiking sticks. Now you’re able to save weight by leaving other equipment at home. Add a Heavy Duty Optics Adapter for your spotting scope, a Binocular Tripod Adapter, and Trekking Pole Handles to make the most out of this system. If you don’t anticipate doing long hours behind the glass and want to shed every possible pound, an option is to swap out the Ascent for the Hoplite Mini Tripod.
Pack the Javelin Pro Hunt Tac, for prone shots. Steep and uneven terrain mean it’s important to have these bipod legs that lock open so there’s no risk of it collapsing on itself. When you’re crawling around in awkward positions, stowing the bipod in a holster makes it harder to lose and easier to access. Even though it’s more work, it’s worthwhile installing Classic Gunsmith Adapters into your rifle stock to maintain its flush surface. When you’re taking your gun in and out of horse scabbards or backpack holsters, the less you can have sticking off the forend to get hung up the better.
This terrain is characterized by high elevation, long and rugged hikes, and steep hillsides with gnarly footing. You can encounter this terrain in the western side of the United States and Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and Alaska.
Woodland Gear
Species: Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer, Elk, Black Bear, Moose
Core Gear: SpringBok Bipod, or SpringBok Quad Sticks
Add-ons: Classic Guide Adapter
In the timber, shots are fast and tight. Don’t think this means you can be sloppy though because there will likely be only one opportunity. If you’re covering many miles or climbing over downed timber, a SpringBok Bipod stows neatly in a pack and out of the way. Pop it on in a second if you need the extra stability of a kneeling, sitting, or prone shot to thread a bullet through the foliage.
When you plan to cover shorter distances or don’t have to combat the brush, consider a set of SpringBok Quad Sticks. These offer handy binocular support when still hunting and provide two points of contact to from what Mr. G calls his mobile shooting bench. SpringBok technology gives it a flexible silicon head so it can be a rest from seated to a standing position, without making any mechanical adjustment. Often the guns we use here are classics, or firearms that aren’t naturally suited to a cluttered stock. You might want a Classic Guide Adapter if you plan to use the existing front sling swivel stud for a bipod mount without changing anything on the forend.
Hunting conditions like this appear all over North America. You could be prowling the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, threading your way through the pines of Montana, or stalking a whitetail in the big woods of the Northeast.
Medium Distance and Mixed Terrain Kit
Species: Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer, Elk, Black Bear, Wild Hog
Core Gear: SpringBok Tripod, Javelin Lite TL
Add-ons: Binocular Tripod Adapter, RedKettle Lite Javelin Holster
Most hunts in this terrain will be day trips and not very glassing intensive. The Springbok Tripod is a lightweight, versatile option ideal for a variety of shooting positions. Its silicone head and rapid leg articulation allow for quick tracking and flexible movement, making it easy to maneuver around obstacles, especially in time-sensitive situations.
Despite being the most affordable tripod in the Spartan lineup, it offers impressive control and adjustability that’s highly valuable in the field. It’s an excellent choice for Whitetail hunting and tracking deer through your scope.
Add a Binocular Tripod Adapter to steady your view when scanning open fields or peering through branches to spot antlers.
A Javelin Lite TL will let you adjust the legs with a simple twist lock to account for moderate hillsides when you need the precision of being prone. Stow it in your FHF ASPIS Holster so your hands are free for carrying a tripod or using binoculars.
You can find country like this in the western part of the United States where the landscape ranges from hills to small mountains, anywhere in North America where there is farmland, and throughout much of central Canada.
Wide Open Country Kit
Species: Antelope, Coues Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Caribou
Core Gear: Ascent Tripod, Valhalla Bipod
Add-ons: Heavy Duty Optics Adapter, Binocular Tripod Adapter, Classic Rifle Adapter & Picatinny Rail
Maximum stability is the name of the game for this setting. Look at the Ascent Tripod with its four position legs and adjustable center column to get you in a comfortable position for long hours behind big glass. A Heavy Duty Optics Adapter and Binocular Tripod Adapter will unleash the flexibility of this system.
Typically, your eyes do much of the walking here, so you can get away with a little extra weight. To be prepared for a potentially long shot, the Valhalla bipod can deliver an advantage with its wide base and low bore axis. Many precision-biased rifles come with a picatinny rail. Replace it with the Classic Rifle Adapter & Picatinny Rail so you can maintain the Picatinny section while simultaneously making your rifle Spartan ready with the integrated MagnaSwitch adapter.
The dry southwestern parts of the United States will be full of situations like this in states such as Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Nevada. Hunters will also encounter this terrain in places like northern Mexico, the expansive crop fields in central Canada such as Alberta, and tundra that’s home to caribou in Alaska.
Hunting from a Blind Kit
Species: Whitetail Deer, Blacktail Deer, Wild Hogs
Core Gear: Mr G Clamp, Davros Head, SpringBok Tripod
Add-ons: Classic Gunsmith Adapters, Javelin Lite Bipod
Often when hunting from a blind you have the chance to rest your rifle on a rail or post. This provides support vertically, which means only on one axis. Fasten a Mr G Clamp or two and you will make that rest Spartan ready, which dramatically increases steadiness by giving support vertically, side to side, plus fore and aft. If you already have some kind of shooting aid such as Primos Trigger Sticks, screwing on a Davros Head will make it ready to use with any Spartan MagnaSwitch adapter.
A SpringBok tripod is also a great choice for stationary hunts because its flexible head allows it to conform to just about any space. Fit it inside a blind, perch your rifle on top of it so you can sit with hands free, or leave it folded up on the ground until you need it. Get a Classic Gunsmith Adapter installed in the center of your forend so your rifle can balance on all the aforementioned Spartan rests. Should your blind have a table or shelf around the edge, a Javelin Lite bipod is an affordable way to support the front of your rifle on it.
This style of hunting is a tradition for much of the central US, the south, and the east coast. Whitetail and bear hunters in central and southeast Canada will also be familiar with this setup.
Predator & Varmint Kit
Species: Coyote, Bobcat, Fox, Wild Hog, Prairie Dogs, Ground Squirrels
Core Gear: SpringBok Bipod, Vidarr Bipod
Add-ons: Classic Rifle Adapter & Picatinny Rail & Disc-Lok™ Adapter.
Sitting, kneeling, and prone shots will be mostly what the predator hunter encounters. Select a SpringBok Bipod so you can easily move the rifle from side to side when a predator comes from an unexpected direction. The flexible SpringBok technology in the bipod head makes it simple to adjust height by grabbing one leg and walking it in or out.
Your AR or tactical style rifle can pull double duty between matches and predator hunting. The Vidarr Bipod folds up and stows on the rifle conveniently for walking between calling spots. A different attachment system called Disk-Lok takes up any trace of wobble in the mounting interface, so you gain confidence for precise shots during a match or long pokes at a hung-up coyote. The fantastic thing about predator hunting is it can take place anywhere in North America. From small farm fields to expansive prairies, to frozen forests, you can find varmints in a massive variety of landscapes.
