By Jeff Johnston, Field Ethos Hunting & Shooting Editor
Part of a rifleman’s evolution is learning that accuracy can greatly be enhanced by going prone with a bipod. The next step is mounting a bipod on your hunting rifle, promptly followed by tossing the gangly thing back in the storage bin and learning to shoot off a backpack. This process is the result of realizing that 99.9% of your time in the woods is spent carrying the rifle, not shooting it.
But bipod tech is evolving too. Today there are better options than the old Harris spring-loaded mousetrap. One of them is brand-new from the long-range hunting gurus, Gunwerks.
The Wyoming firm’s Elevate Bipod is quick to detach via a pic rail so you can carry it in a pocket and mount it in an instant. More than that, its aluminum and carbon-fiber build rotates, folds, splays, cants, telescopes and swivels so it can be used in any shooting position you find yourself in. Most significantly, this engineering marvel weighs just 12 ounces—so light that I can slap it on my rifle when I first spot a game animal and forget about it. Whether kept on or stored in a quick-access pouch on my backpack, it has now become a regular part of my hunting kit.
Over the years I’ve come to respect Gunwerks for its superiorly designed gear made by people who clearly know the long-range game. Certainly, its products are not cheap, but neither is a BC sheep hunt where every MOA and every ounce matters.
Pros: Lightweight, quick-detach, multi-axis rotation, incredibly well designed
Cons: Expensive; rifle must have a bottom-mounted picatinny rail
