treestand angle

[ogg]

If hunting from a 20ft stand and a deer is 30 yards away,should i aim low or aim straight on ?

[smokepolehall]

assuming you have a 30 yd. pin/dot/xhair aim couple inches lower than your aim spot

[Cossack]

There are two issues to consider in your question: 1) the angle at which your arrow will penetrate the target to cause the desired effect (massive bleeding) and 2) the trajectory of the arrow to the target. Hight has a profound effect on the former because as it increases hitting both lungs becomes more difficult. However, hight has no effect on trajectory. Trajectory is affected by horizontal distance during which gravity acts on the arrow. Therefore, for trajectory purposes, only the horizontal distance from the target to the bow matters. In short, aim as if you were on the ground, i.e. the distance between the deer and the base of the tree you're in.

[Arthur P]

If the deer is 30 yards from the base of the tree, then hold point on.

If it's 30 yards away on your line of sight angle then you're looking along the hypotenuse of a right triangle. You know two sides, the height and the length of the hypotenuse. Solve for the third side. In your illustration, it's 29 yards.

So, unless you want to be solving trigonometry equations while sitting in the treestand [:'(], make measurements from the base of your tree to landmarks around your stand. That way you'll know that bush is 20 yards, that sapling is 25. That rock is 35. You won't have to be guessin' and cypherin'.

[Win.88]

good point Arthur P. I use a rangefinder and pick out different trees in my shooting lanes and take the readings at my stand height.

[awshucks]

I'm a big guy. sitting on a 12' ladder stand, I hit w/in 1/2" at 20 yds [from base of tree] aiming right on, rested scoped Excal, aiming w/ 20 yd hair right on.