Here is a example that I ran into this year:
After setting a treestand I ranged the deer trail below me. The rangefinder (with no angle compensation) tells me to shoot it for
34 yards. My treestand was 25' up a tree that was on a hillside and the deer trail was 45' lower than the base of the tree I was in.
When I shot my practice shot out of the treestand I was shooting high so after a couple of shots I tried shooting it for 25 yards instead of 35 and hit dead on. That is when I decided I had to have a angle compensation rangefinder. Awhile later when I went back with my new rangefinder the exact same shot read
24.6 yards.
I totally agreee that alot of people do not need a angle compensation rangefinder but I can also assure you that there are people out there missing shots because they do not have one. In the above example that is
almost a 10 yard difference
and that is huge.
In the area I hunt the example above is a very common example for a treestand setup. It will also be very helpful in the area of Colorado where I elk hunt. If you hunt flat land or gradual rolling hills I am sure this would not be much of an issue.
IMO its our responsibility as hunters to due everything we can to make a good clean kill
That is exactly why I think it is very important to make sure people understand when this type of rangefinder can help them. If we just say things like:
Unless you are a long range rifle hunter that hunts mountains, the angle comp is about useless.
then we have not really helped other hunters do everything they can to make that good clean kill we are all looking for.
and IMO a shot at that kind of angle with a BOW is not a good shot, there is to much room for error,and to much of a chance of wounding animals! Even if you do know the exact yardage!!!
As far as the shot angle goes.
The example I listed above has the same shot angle as a 12 yard shot from a 25 foot high treestand, it is a very common angle and not extreme by any means.