Aim Point variations from an elevated position

DDMPrecision · 10-15-2010, 05:58 AM

Gang, I need a little guidance here.
I shoot a Diamond Victory, pushing my mini-spears at about 285 fps.
I've got my pins set at 20, 30, 40, 45, and 50, and they're all spot on.
Everything is set up for ground level shooting, and that's what I practice, as I don't have a tree I can put my stand up in to practice from where I am at.
My question is, when shooting from an elevated position, IE treestand, what's the aimpoint variance you use to compensate for the altered trajectory angles?
I've heard both "shoot high/shoot low", and frankly, I don't know which to believe.
I won't take a shot at more than 35 yards, as that's my outermost comfortable distance, so that's a factor too.
I'll be hunting all fashions this season, stand, blind, ground, climber, so your guidance is sincerely appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Dave

V8Ranger · 10-15-2010, 06:07 AM

I think allot of it depends on how high up you are. IMO, I don't think that 15' in a tree stand and shooting out 35 yards makes allot of difference. Maybe a couple yards, and to me, at least with my bow, I can shoot 10 to 35 yards with 1 pin. I think it depends allot on your equipment and how high you are. Thats just my experience anyway.

HoytMT2332 · 10-15-2010, 06:41 AM

I just bought a treestand. I'v hunted strictly from the ground the last 6 years. I know that shooting from an elevated posistion will make your arrow hit slightly higher. How much i'm not sure. I'm going to bring my block and my climber in the woods and see just how much elevation makes a difference.

matt068 · 10-15-2010, 06:52 AM

Ive found out to 40yd from 20ft high pretty much put pin on and release. Only thing you must think about is angle for placement of shot on actual deer if hes closer you must in turn aim a bit higher on the deer to allow your arrow to completely take out both lungs. I envision the angle and want my arrow to exit approx 4 inches from bottom of deer on offside On shots over 30 I aim a bit lower as deer tend to react and drop a bit

*twodogs* · 10-15-2010, 06:57 AM

One of the biggest things you need to be mindful of is bending at the waist, don't drop your bow arm, bend at the waist. I always come to full draw as if I was going to shoot the tree opposite of me at the height I am at. Once at full draw I slowly bend at the waist until the animal comes into the sight window, pick a small spot, settle the pin, fire.

To avoid misjudging distances, mark off the distances at ground level based on your pin settings, use different color tape or spray your trees with different colors.

MOhunter46 · 10-15-2010, 07:05 AM

When shooting out of a tree stand i always just bend at the waist and aim right where i want to hit. I wound say most people shoot high from an treestand because they just lower their arm which changes the way you see the pins through the peep. So just bend at the waist and aim where you want to hit, unless your shooting at a nervous deer, then you might want to aim a littler lower or pass up the shot compleately.

Alex G. · 10-15-2010, 07:23 AM

Well there is actually alot of difference in your aim point, but it does depend on your bow and its speed. If your using the same pin to shoot at 40 & 45 yards, then there will be no difference, but if you have 2 different pins for those distances for your bow, then there will be a difference.

And I use this as the example.
If your 20 feet up a tree and you range the target at 45 yards. The actual distance to the target from the tree your in is a tad over 40 yards (40.3 actually). So you should use your 40 yard pin. (arrows care about the distance that gravity effect them). Also you should aim with the trajectory in mind that the arrow will travel thru the targets body with vitals in mind.

There is a general rule of thumb if your using a range finder without angle compensation to just subract 3 yards from the measurement (close ranges... ie bow range) but that of course depends on how high up you are as well.........

travis_ranger2000 · 10-15-2010, 07:25 AM

Heres my $.02, 20 yards is 20 yards, Bend at the waist not your arms. Something else that is important with me anyhow, when I am target shooting, I always bring my pin up to the bullseye just like I do on a deer (pin up the front leg), if I bring the pin down to the bullseye I always shoot high. The key is,,, doing the same thing everytime.

DDMPrecision · 10-15-2010, 07:54 AM

I thank everyone for their input!
JRBSR had some whizz-bang calculator thingamabob that he was able to plug in my stats to gauge what my variances are, the end result being a 35yd shot shooting like 34yds.
I get the concept of using a 3 dimensional aspect for shot placement, factoring in the location of the vitals inside the animal based on angle of shot.
This group is amazing! Good Luck and God Bless!
Dave