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Tree Stand Shooting Rails

Hunting & Fishing Gear Review

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Yesterday I sighted in my Tikka T3 and from the bench I couldn’t have been more pleased with the accuracy of the rifle. It’s when I left the bench to do some free hand shooting I realized just how important having a good rest can be to your hunting success. Suddenly the gun that was so dead on from the bench was all over the place when shooting without a rest. Since I’ll be hunting from a fixed position tree stand on the first day of Pennsylvania’s buck season in a few days I realized I need to look for something for me to use as a rest. I did a quick search on Bass Pro and found the API Shooting Rail.

The API Deluxe shooting rail is a padded rest which surrounds the hunter in the tree stand. It quickly installs on most fixed position and hang on tree stands. It attaches to the tree via a 2 inch wide web strap. The API Deluxe shooting rail features a padded back rest and also easily adjusts to the upright position for bow hunters. Although the manufacturer makes no claims of this device increasing safety I would have to think it would serve as one more means for avoiding a slip and fall.

There’s no doubt that having a rest will help you increase your accuracy when hunting from a tree stand and if you’re like me there’s a lot of adrenaline flowing when you haven’t left your tree stand all day and along comes a nice buck.

The API Deluxe Shooting Rail rest for tree stands sells at Bass Pro for $49.99 as of the writing of this article.