The Close Shot

[TenshiB]

Earlier in the 2015 deer season, I had a deer come in WAY closer than I had expected.. I was around 25 feet up in a pine tree and he mosied on by me at 8 or 9 steps away from the base of that tree one morning! I had my scope zeroed to 25 yards and had no CLUE how to aim at a critter that came that close.. So what do you do? Just aim a good bit lower on the vitals with your zeroed crosshair? What if it's a crazy steep angle, maybe put the crosshairs on the back (above vitals) and a little closer to your side?

I let Ol' Goofy Horns keep walking while I pondered what I should do...
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[BryanGrizzlyohio]

Good question wish I had the answer. As I hunt a blind ole knee doesn't allow me to use a climber.. But I'm.sure someone will answer your question for ya..

[Waif]

I've been hunting on the ground for a decade....
When in a tree with a compound shooting under my foot it meant bend at the waist only,(not dropping arm) and holding as for a 10 yard shot , but that was with my set up.

The only way I had confidence was through shooting target arrows from hunting height at various ranges during practice.
I would every few hunts or so , also pick a leaf on the ground and shoot at/ it when light allowed. That meant before some hunts and after others.
Some areas taking a shot risks too much from the noise , but anyway Practice from usual hunting height and at various ranges.
From directly under you out to your proven effective and acceptable maximum range;will tell you where to aim from as far as your sites/scope.

[GRUNDY]

You should try shooting a target that close just to see where your arrow hits. I typically just settle the crosshairs and squeeze.

I shot one this year from about 10yards from base of tree 20 ft up. arrow hit where I was aiming, but I knew it was gonna do that based off some close practice.

Regards,

B

[Tom]

I shoot a 150lb bow with the cross hairs set for 30 yards. With my setup, 8 yards is also good for the cross hairs.

With your bow faster and scope set at 25 yards, I would guess 10 yards would be good for your cross hairs as well. Best bet would be to practice different yardages for your bow so in the future you will know and not guess.

Tom

[paulaboutform]

There's something called 'archer's paralax' that will apply with crossbows as well. It basically describes the trajectory of the arrow vs the visual line of sight and the crossover point....and the close distance holdover points. The best way to understand it is to do a Google search and read about it then go to your target and find your marks for 1,2, 3,4.....yards until you're back to to your 20yard mark. It'll be an eye opener. Also, for uphill or downhill shots, shoot those for the distance they would be from shooting on the horizontal plane. So, if that buck of yours was nine paces from the base of the tree you'd shoot it for three yards.

Paul

[nyexhunter]

With a vertical compound bow, shooting a little slower; use your longest distance pin. This is due to the path of the arrow, starting out lower, then raising up until dropping at distance to hit the target. Visualize this and it will make sense. It is the same if you are up in a tree or on the ground.

Some of the scientific types on this board will explain it better.

The same principle will apply to your Xbow. Practice with your 40 yard crosshair, to see if that works.

[xcaliber]

Some practice at a 3D target up close is the best path, this way you'll know where arrow is going to hit. Most folks don't practice that shot, yet it happens very frequently in the field. Remember, aim for the exiting point of the arrow just as you do for quartering shots.

[TenshiB]

Thanks for all the responses! Going to look into these suggestions after work. Will have to practice this coming weekend! I think I do remember reading somewhere that for a lot of shots, 8 yards away = use the 30 yd holdover point in the scope...

[nyexhunter]

Yes, practice will confirm it for you. It seems counterintuitive,however,using the longest yardage pin on your vertical bow or a long yardage crosshair (say 40 yards) on your crossbow should do the trick for you for those shots that are right below you or right next to you.

[Carnivorous]

The buck I shot in 2014 was 7 yards away quartering away shot. I was in my 18' ladder stand.The arrow hit exactly where I aimed with the main cross hair. Matrix 355. 30 yard recovery. This was with the NAP FOC broad head...

[sproulman]

I would let that buck walk as he will have better horns most likely next year and bigger buck that is young buck
..Just let him get a little more out before you shoot..broadside only if he walks away so be it fun is not kill its hunt..DAM I LIKE THIS...I am getting GO PRO camera this fall for my hunts from my Summit 180 treestand ..Also we never practice on ground at our deer targets I set up my Summit climber in yard on telephone pole and have my brother get arrows BUT Having a crossbow now I am moving to roof of my home to tough to load crossbow in my climber ..If you do not have range finder a mature buck is not going to get close as you stink up area setting your ranges,range finders have increased my buck hunting unreal ..As i get older its little harder to say that rock is 25 yds and that bush is 30 WITHOUT a pocket rangefinder..

[Bullzeye]

I agree, I'd let him pass to gain some weight for next year.
I've brought my target to my tree stand, and with my Exocet, up 15ft, my POI does not change at the distance your talking about.

[nchunterkw]

I have my Micro setup for a 20yd zero. According to my Hawke trajectory App I have a "near zero" around 5 yds. Also, I have a max height of around 1" (above line of sight) at about 15yds.

First off, this all applies when shooting horizontally, so gravity is pulling on your arrow at 90 degrees to the direction of travel. In other words gravity is having it's maximum impact.

Your scope is pointing directly at the target in a straight line. Your arrow is sitting on the rail about 1.5" below the LOS of the scope. So it has to travel at an upward angle to hit where you are aiming. This angle also has to be sufficient to overcome the effects of gravity. So the arrow leaves the bow and quickly crosses the LOS on the way up to it's max height. This is the near zero. Then it falls from the max height back to zero (in my case at 20yds) and continues to fall from there. You will have a different near zero distance and max height distance (both height above the LOS and distance from the shooter where that occurs) for each aiming point in your reticle.

Now, if you are pointing your bow at a very steep downward angle, gravity will not be having it's maximum impact because the arrow is travelling more in line with the force of gravity versus 90 degrees to it. So if a deer is under your tree say 1 yards away from the base, gravity will have basically the same impact on trajectory as for a 1yd horizontal shot. Remember my "near zero" of 5 yds? .... at 1yd I will hit lower than where the 20 yd crosshairs are pointing.....pretty much about 1.5" lower which is distance the arrow sits below the LOS if the scope.

Hope this helps.

Technically the same thing applies to any treestand shot, but at a height of 15' to 18', even 20' ....if the deer is 20 yards or more LOS, away from the hunter (and the ground is basically level ) then the difference in horizontal distance and LOS distance is less than 1 yard. But....somewhere like out west where you could be shooting at a decent angle (say 45 degrees up a slope) at a deer 25 yds away (LOS) .... then the actual horizontal shot distance is shorter by 7.4 yards so if you use your 25 yard sight you will miss high.

[cld.1]

When they are 5 paces or so from the tree I don't worry about exactly where the arrow hits, its all within the pie plate kill zone if you are aiming in the center. A couple inches high or low is still within the pie plate. The problem I have is when the deer is as the base of the tree or 1-2 steps away and where to aim to get a double lung. I know some people will just spine shoot at these steep angles, but I have yet to try and just let them walk and hope to get a double lung opportunity as they walk a little farther away. Unfortunately most times they catch on something is wrong right before I am ready to take the shot after they have passed. Its very hard not to spook the deer or make any noise when they are right at the base of the tree and you are contorted and leaning trying to see the deer right under you.