Ground vs. treestand

[Hawkeye]

You know, I've been searching for an answer to this question here, but have been unable to find it... Is there a difference in shot placement from a treestand when the xbow's been sighted in on the ground? In other words, if I'm planning on shooting from a treestand, should I sight in from 15 feet in the air?

[canadianhunter312]

when shooting down on a target you should aim slightly lower but when shooting uphill at a target you should aim a little higher.

has to do with the arc of the arrow and gravity. best thing to do is get up 15ft (or whatever height your treestand is) and practice shooting targets from a few yards from directly under your stand out to your comfortable range.

scott

[curmudgeon]

That's why I got a rangefinder. I had heard straight out from your tree 10 yds. In your treestand, more like 13 yds, but don't worry, the excalibur will take up the slack.

[BOB VANDRISH]

This topic came up not too long ago on this forum,and for any shot uphill or downhill from a bow sighted in horizontally, you must aim low.
The amount will depend on the distance,and I think that the general concensus was that a shot from 15 feet up in the air,out to the normal 15-20 yard range,it would not be necessary to compensate at all.
That is assuming your bow was sighted in for that range.
The point of aim to hit any vital area would obviously change slightly,again depending how close you were to the animal.
Does everyone agree?
Bob.

[maddog]

The amount will depend on the distance,and I think that the general concensus was that a shot from 15 feet up in the air,out to the normal 15-20 yard range,it would not be necessary to compensate at all.

Does everyone agree?
Bob.

Yep, I agree......Thats the practical answer!.......You calculate drop based on the HORIZONTAL distance to the target. The best explanation is as follows.

The most common rule about uphill/downhill shots is that you shoot for the horizontal component of the range to the target.

For example, if you were shooting a 40 yard uphill shot at a 30 degree angle you would set your sights for about 35 yards (the cosine of the 30 degree angle times the line-of-sight distance to the target - which in this instance comes out to 0.866 times 40 yards = 34.6 yards). This would represent the actual horizontal range to the target and is a pretty good starting point.

For distances from about 20 to 40 yards this works pretty well depending on a variety of factors such as bow speed and arrow size, weight, and drag.

For shorter distances, less than about 20 yards, you run in to increasing parallax errors with either sights or your basic eyeball. For distances longer than about 40 yards you begin to feel more of the effects of drag.

This is the simple explanation.

[tigertrout]

If my xbow is sighted in on the ground and then I shoot from a tree stand at a deer and I aim for the middle of the chest for a double lung where will my arrow hit. Are we talking 1 inch at high at 20 yards, 1 1/2 at 30 or are we talking much greater errors. Although I am supposed to be capable of hitting a quarter on the target at these distances , if I am out an inch or so on a deer its not the end of the world, but much more than that would be a problem.

[wildwindom]

You should always practice shoot from your tree stand to make sure me and dad do all the time.

[peter p]

Isn't it the higher you are the higher you should aim?

[Stalker]

Bob V is correct.... on both uphill and downhill shots the point of impact will be high so to compensate you need to aim low.... how much low will depend on arrow speed, the distance to the target and the angle (severity) of the shot.

good explanation maddog..... right on the the money.......

[Hawkeye]

I guess the best thing for me to do is to practice as much as I can, in as many scenarios as I can. It'll be hard for me to actually practice from the treestand, as it is a few hrs away from me, but I will try to get there for some practice before September, when my deer season starts. Maybe in the meantime I'll try to figure another way to shoot from 15 feet up!
Practice,
Practice,
Practice!

[Woody Williams]

Good discussion here...

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=2 ... +placement

[maddog]

Woody,
Arrow Flinger needs to go back to "Physics 101". Please dont use the "common sense" approach. ( eg. a brick will hit the ground faster than a penny). The laws of gravity are always right and my previous post explains it as well as I can!!
Bill

[Jim C]

when shooting down on a target you should aim slightly lower but when shooting uphill at a target you should aim a little higher.

has to do with the arc of the arrow and gravity. best thing to do is get up 15ft (or whatever height your treestand is) and practice shooting targets from a few yards from directly under your stand out to your comfortable range.

scott

you never add yardage for an angle. You always take off. Up or down and its the same whether its up or down.

How do I know this-because I shoot a fair amount of FITA field with a recurve.

[maddog]

To Canadian Hunter......Another guy in the know. He has good experience with this phenomenon. Shooting up or down, the effect of gravity is the same.

Bill

[xbowking]

Hi guys , for an elevated shot ,u do hit a little higher than a flat shot but not very much, u can get a way better shot if u Dont Drop yer front arm to lower your sight - Bend at the Waist, try it , its very true . happy shooting ........ Dave