Shooting from: 15 ft treestand vs ground

[1turkeykiller]

When shooting from a 15 foot high treestand and my range finder says that it is 20 yards to the target, can't I use my 20 yard pin but aim just a little low? Should I always aim just a little low or should I aim right on target with what my range finder says?

[Arthur P]

Oh Boy! I get to whip out the trig tables.[8D]

From 15' up, your rangefinder says the target is 20 yards away. That means you're shooting down at about 14.5 degrees. Cosine of 14.5 degrees is .96815. That makes the distance from the base of the tree to the target just a hair over 58'. You shouldn't have to aim very low with your 20 yard pin because the difference is less than a yard.

[Paul L Mohr]

My bow pretty much shoots dead on at 20 and 30 yards from a height of 13 to 16 ft. And it's not very fast. The difference may only be about an inch if anything. The higher you go or the farther the distance you shoot at it will effect it more. But from most average height stands with average speeds you really don't need to compensate much.

However the only way to truely know is to shoot your bow from a stand before you hunt with it. I can't believe how many people don't do this at least once, let alone practice this way, before going out and trying to kill a deer. Then they wonder why they miss.

Remember to bend at the waist and keep your form and anchor points solid. Another reason people's impacts shift from a tree stand is because they stand straight and aim the bow down, or have some other sort of form problem when in the stand. Rather than bend at the waist. I have a hard time shooting from a stand just because I am afraid of heights. I actually pull less poundage in a tree because of it.

Good luck,
Paul

[OH_RedNeck]

Good advice Paul. Practice from your stand, sitting, standing, and whatever awkward shots you think you might encounter when the big one sneaks up on you. I plan on getting out next week and hitting the tree stand practice session hard.

[Oneball61]

If your under 25 feet you can range from the base of the tree (ground level) So if your range finder says 20 yards at ground level and 22 yards at stand level shoot the 20 yard pin.

[Straightarrow]

From that height, assuming near-level ground, the most difficult judgement will come on extremely close shots. In order to get a meaningful yardage difference, you have to be either very high in the tree or shooting downhill. I've had deer come in on the downhill side of a tree where they were 10-15' below the base of the tree. All of a sudden, actual distance is significantly greater then the distance your sight needs to be set at. The basic rule of thumb, is to shoot the horizontal distance to the target.

[Jerky]

Using the Pythagorean Theorem(a^2+b^2=c^2), it is fairly easy to find the exact distance from your stand to your intended target. However, you should always aim small and you will miss small. I've always tried to aim at the heart, especially at 20 yds. A deer can "jump the string" and cause your arrow to hit 4-8 inches high. Though this isn't much of a problem for bows shooting 300 fps it is still something to consider.