ORIGINAL: excalibur43
ORIGINAL: KodiakArcher
ORIGINAL: excalibur43
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that every drawing that I have seen that explains the " ARC" is a hunter in a tree stand, down to the tree base, and out to the target. If I'm not mistaken, that creates a " Right Triangle". I may be mistaken, as it has been alot of years since I have taken Geometry, but wouldn't the distance from the hunter in the stand to the target represent the " Hypotenuse" ( ? ), of the Right Triangle, which is found by adding the distance from the hunter to the base of the tree, to the distance from the base of the tree to the target? If so, then the distance should be longer, not shorter. I think it's the Pythagorean Theorum ( ? )- A2 + B2 = C2 ?
What the rangefinder is giving you in your example is the hypotenuse so your knowns are (A) and (C). What you want to know is the base (B) which is the distance that gravity is working on your arrow. That distance will always be less than the hypotenuse (straight line distance) whether you're shooting up or down.
I could go along with that if I were shooting beyond 50 yards, but I usually shoot 35 yards or less at deer. When practicing, I just use my regular range finder and it puts me in the bullseye everytime.
The difference is greater at steep angles.Steep angles are usually encountered at closer yardages.
(under 50 yards)