Into the hunting grounds with a shooting chair?
Hunting from a chair is a very pleasant alternative to stands and elevated hides, and for the simple reason that at dusk or even in darkness you will often find game passing by, pulling out or dragging within your immediate proximity. And those are precisely the moments I often remember with pleasure. It’s a solution for getting closer to game — selecting any suitable spot during a walk, sitting quietly in comfort. It can be a valuable alternative to permanent elevated hides and stands.
Cover photo: the BOG ChairPod during shooting.
Hunters usually bring a light camping chair for such hunting. It is desirable that the chair does not creak or make noise when the hunter moves. Most such chairs or stools don’t allow for quick revolutions and also don’t offer sufficient support for shooting, even though some hunters make do with shooting from the hand, bracing the elbow on the knee, or using a shooting stick, bipod, tripod etc.
However, a year ago at a hunting fair I came across a much more effective variant of a chair – or let’s call it a seat.
Rotating, silent and comfortable chair
Specifically it is the hunting chair BOG ChairPod, which immediately impressed me with its structural and simultaneously comfort‑oriented design. It is equipped not only with a rotating platform, but also with a removable arm for the unusually stable mounting of a long rifle. Absolutely key is its excellent shooting radius — up to an angle of about 170 degrees — while the hunter constantly has the weapon at hand, so he can quickly respond to a given situation within shooting range.
The chair itself has a comfortable seat and backrest made of sturdy mesh material. In the warm months it ventilates so the hunter’s seat area and back do not sweat. Both the seat and backrest are long enough (35 cm and 37 cm) so you can sit very comfortably for a long period. The chair’s rotating platform is absolutely silent and has a pleasantly smooth movement. The steel frame is solid and stable; I appreciate the fairly wide feet on the chair’s legs, which prevent the chair from sinking into soft ground. The BOG chair can be quickly and quietly unfolded or folded. The backrest tilts like the legs. The entire construction is unexpectedly firm and I found no play even after prolonged use.
The chair is equipped with a rotating platform and an arm for stable mounting of a long rifle.
Arm with variable tripod for the rifle
The chair also includes a sturdy profile with an opening in the front lower part, into which an arm for weapon mounting is installed. Essentially it is a thoughtfully designed stand, by which the weapon can be positioned to ideally suit the shooter’s needs. It is an L‑shaped construction, which can be raised or lowered in a few seconds and then fixed by a large plastic‑headed screw. To the structure is fixed a rest, on which you place the weapon in massive rubberized forks whose height and distance can be quickly and easily adjusted as needed. Hunters who also fish will surely smile, because the tripod based on two massive extendable tubes pretty much resembles a fishing‑rod stand.
The tripod can be extended by releasing two locking flaps from 55.5 cm up to 78 cm, so the variability in terms of the lengths of rifles is really broad. Likewise, we can talk about the flexibility of the lengths of the rods with the forks (front 0 to 14.5 cm and rear 0 to 8.5 cm). The possibilities of changing angles and tilting the tripod are abundant and offer immediate adjustments based on the current situation. Meanwhile the weapon may be permanently mounted in the tripod and the hunter has free hands for working with optics or performing other tasks.
Beware when rising from the chair
The individual components of the arm with the tripod appear sturdy and I like the effectiveness of the tightening screws and knobs. The only thing I would welcome is if the rotating tightening knobs were a little larger, so one could work with them even more comfortably. The forks are massive and offer sufficient space for various dimensions of buttstocks and fore‑arms.
The chair including the arm for the rifle is truly highly stable, however at the moment when you plan to rise from the chair you must remember that the weapon must be removed from the tripod or leaned outside the chair unit, otherwise the weight of the arm and chair itself could tip it forward. The solution is also to release the arm in the lower part and lower it to the ground. Once the arm tube is resting against the ground in front of the chair, you can rise from the chair at ease and your rifle will remain safely in the tripod.
Dimensions in folded state: 65 × 48 × 44 cm including the arm.
The BOG ChairPod chair is carryable on the back.
On the back and for long treks in the hunt
The BOG ChairPod chair is carryable on the back, which is naturally a very good solution considering its format in packed state (65 × 48 × 44 cm including the arm) and weight just over 10 kg. For this reason the chair is equipped with two fixed fabric carry straps whose length can be adjusted and then both straps are fixed to loops welded to the chair with two carabiners.
The chair also offers two mounting options for the arm, so you have the full set secured on the back, and yet you have free hands for transporting further hunting gear, your rifle, etc. Yes, the weight is not negligible, but I cannot criticise it given the overall stability of the chair and the weapon mounted in the arm.
Not just for ground‑level hunting
All this time I’ve been describing the chair for use on the ground, however under certain circumstances it can also be very well used in a hide. And for this purpose essentially two variants are available. The complete chair with arm for a hide demands sufficient space and relatively low walls, so you cannot speak of any hide in this context. However, you may carry only the chair without the arm to the hide, which, thanks to the rotating platform, allows you to quickly change shooting direction. Meanwhile you still sit in a highly comfortable chair compared to a bench, which is generally the most common seating solution in hides.
Very interesting solution for a solid price
In summary, I perceive the BOG ChairPod chair as an excellent assistant for comfortable shooting even at longer distances from ground level. It is a very well made and technically refined product, it looks modern, and I praise its black colour which is very unobtrusive at dusk and especially in darkness.
The chair is truly silent when moving or changing positions, it offers an excellent shooting radius which can be changed unbelievably quickly. Everything on the chair and the weapon arm appears robust, and so one can expect a long service life.
The weight and dimensions correspond to the utility and stability of the chair, though if it were half as heavy while preserving stability, I certainly would not complain. To perfection would also contribute more comfortable carry straps akin to modern hunting backpacks so that transport is even more pleasant.
From a subjective point of view the price may not suit everyone, but given the quality of the chair I certainly accept it, and I am even surprised that a shooting chair is not yet another few thousand richer in price.
We have, among other things, also used the chair for zeroing the rifle, although shooting benches are much more suitable in terms of stability and accuracy of zeroing.
Sources of photos: Author’s archive
Author: Jiří Louthan
Originally published in magazine Myslivost 7/2025