shooting downwards, on a diagonal.......(shotgun?) help?

[bowhunter4334]

hey again forum of wisdom,

missed a doe just the other afternoon,

i was in a tree stand, about 15 feet up, and she was about 40 yards away,

i was using a shotgun with a slug........

i aimed about 6 inches higher than i wanted to hit her,
but nothing.........clean miss.......i had time to aim and everything,
i'm still shaking my head

i know the logistics of the shot represent a distance of more than 40 yards, more like.......43 ft?

but.....as with a bow, i guess the drop rate is faster than when shooting a horizontal shot.......so.......please, can someone give me a quick crash course......?

thank you

bowhunter4334

[BigUgly]

Aim lower than you think you should.

[peter p]

With a gun you should just aim where you want to hit and the bullet should hit where you aimed.
No need to compensate.

[butch]

Here's the scientific way of fiding the slant range. First figure out the angle in degrees from you to the deer. Take that number punch it into a scientific calculator and hit the COS button. Take that answer and multiply by the true range (obtained from pacing or range finder). That will give you your answer.

[Hoss]

With a gun you should just aim where you want to hit and the bullet should hit where you aimed.
No need to compensate.

theroy says thats true but to what extent...that close I would agree..However Bstout is correct in saying When shooting at an angle you need to aim low whether it is up or down. all of this plays into Kentuky windage as they say..

Ifn you had a long uphill or down hill shot Bstout is correct..

But in your case dead on should do it.....

glad it was a clean miss..........now get back out there and get ya one..

[ch312]

id say "buck fever"

still lots of time left trhis year dont worry about it

[wabi]

When shooting down from a treestand I try to remember - "aim for the heart and take the lungs"
Aim for a heart shot, and if you do hit high you'll still get the lungs. Either way = a dead deer.
Actually at that height & distance with a gun there will be very little, if any, need to adjust your aiming point. Even with a crossbow from only 15 feet up there is very little change in point of impact.
I would suggest you get a portable target and spend some time practicing your shooting from an elevated stand. Shoot until you know where to aim, and know you can hit your target before shooting at live game. I have a hunting buddy that shoots a Horton with a red-dot who shot under a buck a couple of weeks ago. When we got out my portable foam "kicker" target we found he was shooting great groups that were about 6" low? Must be his red-dot, and the angle of his eye??? Anyway, he's now tuned in for the center of the dot from 15' up. With my Phoenix and factory peep & f/o sights I hit perhaps 1/2 - 1" high at 20 yards, not enough to worry about as they're all still in the 3" bullseye!

[peter p]

There can be more to this than just shot placement like
what type of gun you were using,
if it had a fully rifled barrel or smooth bore,
what type of sights on the gun.

[BOB VANDRISH]

You definitely have to shoot lower,in either case,as both have an arc to their travel.
If you have a shotgun sighted in to hit dead on at 100 yards,I would suggest that you are at least 3" high at 40 yards,just shooting on the level!
Aiming 6" high at 15 feet up certainly guarantees a miss!!
A bow sighted in at 40 yards would also have considerable arc,and the aim point again would have to be on the low side if you were up in a tree.
It is a lot of bother,but trying some shots at targets set up as you would shoot in the wild will save a lot of heartaches!
This topic keeps surfacing every once in a while,as some people may have missed the replies on earlier postings.
The same thing happens on an uphill shot,you would aim lower.
Bob.

[maddog]

If the deer was 40 yards away (horizontally) aim exactly as you would as if you were on the ground 40 yards away. (I dont know how your gun is sighted in). Its a basic law of physics that most do not understand. Thats all you need to know whether shooting up or down hill.
Your shot went over the deers back.

Bill

[BOB VANDRISH]

Not wanting to flog a dead horse,what bowhunter has to confirm is what his shotgun was sighted in at in the first place.
We all agree he shot high,but shooting dead on may still cause a miss,depending on the distance it was set up for on the range.
It only makes sense to shoot lower than the sighted in distance for any uphill or downhill shot.
As an example,a shotgun slug will drop almost a foot more at 125 yards compared to 100 yards-check the ballistics curve on most boxes.
Bob

[bowhunter4334]

hi guys.......

my shotgun, a browning 12 guage pump,
using 3" rifled slugs in a smooth bore,
is sighted at dead on 60 yards on level ground......

seeing as though i was aiming 6 inches high, and did a clean miss,
me thinks i should have been aiming 6 inches low instead...

will certainly do some experimenting from a tree.....

thank you for all of the input

regards,

bowhunter4334

ps

like someone said not too long ago....

"i love this forum"

[peter p]

At 15 feet high and at 40 yards, just aim for the vitals and shoot. I guarantee you that you will hit your mark.
I do alot of slug shooting and this is what works for me.
I found that for the foster type slugs (rifled slug) out of a smooth bore and with both front and rear sights that sighting in at 50 yards will be good out to 100 yards. Iv'e done plenty of 100 yard shot kills with my smooth bore slug barrel sighted in at 50 yards.
I just aim at the vitals and shoot no need to aim higher or lower.
With my scoped fully rifled barrel shooting sabot slugs, I sight in at 80 yards and it's still good out to 120 yards.

JUST AIM FOR THE VITALS AND SHOOT.

[ogo]

At 43 ft JMHO I don't think it would matter. I would say you had a case of good ole BUCK FEVER.don't fill bad it happens to 50% of all hunter's at one time or another the other 50% LIE lol**************ogo