aim low hit high?
 

last year i missed a very nice 8pt buck from my treestand. he was about 20 yards away and i was about 20 feet up in my climber....i put what i thought to be the correct pin on him, squeezed, and the arrow shaved his back above his lungs.....later that day i did the same thing on a doe from the same stand....one of the old guys at our hunting camp said when u shoot from a tree with a bowu have to aim lower than where you want to hit....is this true or is it time to just go buy a rangefinder? i know i had a lil buck fever but i kep it pretty well contolled and i am VERY god with my bow shootng 3D targets...

RE: aim low hit high?
 

It is true especially when the deer is so close.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

This is why you should always practice from a treestand before season if you plan on hunting from one.

Know your equipment and how it handles before you take it into the woods.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Have to respectfully disagree...I took the advice of some members here on my only kill with a bow...doe at 15yds...I bent at the waist, maintaining a T shape from my waist up and hit exactly where I was aiming.

Bo

RE: aim low hit high?
 

ok....ill practice shooting from a tree or raised deck to get used to it....thanks for the info guys......

RE: aim low hit high?
 

With my set up, I only need to aim an inch low at twenty yards. The main thing is to bend at the waist. I usually practice off my back deck during the summer to simulate shooting from my treestand.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Just remember;

Aim for the exit hole.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

It is very true - especially if you're zero'd in from shooting on the ground.
BUT - don't leave it to chance. Practice from an elevated position, so you'll know where you're hitting.
There is also another phenomenon that comes into play: from an elevated position, the kill zone is not as high as it is from a level position. You're looking at part of the deer's back,and the "side" of the deer appears several inches smaller than when you're looking directly at the side view.The point of entry you want is much lower on the deer's side than you are used to seeing from the level. In fact, if the deer is close enough, and you're high enough, you may not even be able to see that "sweet spot" behind the shoulder very well.
I always have a practice arrow with me when I go into my tree stand. If it's an evening hunt, I pick out a leaf on the ground about 20 yds out and shoot it as soon as I get settled into the stand. Pick it up as I go out. If it's a morning hunt, I shoot it just before I climb down. That way, I'm continuing to practice from THAT stand every time I go out.
NOTE: I also have a little sign taped to my riser right above the sight window that says, "Aim Low, Stupid!" (You might guess that I've "shaved" a few, too). ;)

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Bend at the waist when aiming from a tree stand to keep the same form as when you're on the ground. If you drop your bow arm instead of bending at the waist, it'll make you shoot high. Test it out, I did.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Like washington said, aim for where you want the arrow to come OUT.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Your room for error is smaller from above, and so it may seem like it hits high when in reality it goes where you aim it. Deer are also famous for "ducking the string". However, that is an often over used excuse for a miss.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

1. Bend at the waist to maintain proper form. I am dead on from the ground or a tree, except when shooting in real tight.
2. Shoot from an elevated position so that you can practice keeping the proper form.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

The effect of gravity on the projectile (arrow) is slightly less than when shooting from level ground. I used to adjust my pins from an elevated deck. Last year I tried a pendulum sight and it effectively compensates for the elevation. That being said practice from a raised platform and maintain the proper form(bend at the waist).

RE: aim low hit high?
 

pendulum sight? please explain if it helped....all i have now is 3 pins...red yellow and green...

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Well every deer Ive shot Ive never aimed low and it went high. I hit where I aim. It makes no difference whether Im 20 ft or on the ground. I do practice from the ground and from my stand. Id say maybe you peaked as you release the arrow or bow arm got ya.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

I am very surprised and disappointed at some of the veterans here saying that this is true. ??

There are some very correct bowyers here telling you to bend at the waist and aim where you want to hit. That is very correct. It does not matter if you shoot uphill or downhill if you draw straight out, bend at the waist and keep your form you aim for the exact spot where you want to hit or better yet as many said, aim for the exit hole but if you simply drop your arm changing your form you will go high....bend at the waist, practice it and know it when you hit the woods for the real thing.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

One thing to remember when hunting out of a treestand is that the direct distance between you and your target isnot the same distance that you shoot from when you are on the ground. Trajectory is based on gravity's pull on the arrow. So even if the deer seems to be 20 yds away from you....he is actually less than that in the distance between the base of the tree and it. That is the distance gravity is pulling on the arrow. Anyone remember Pythagorean's Theorem? A squared plus B squared equals C squared.

Say you are 15ft up a tree and the deer looks to be 20 yds away. Even though the deer looks to be 20 yds away, the distance that gravity has to pull on the arrow is ~13.22 yards. So if you use your 20 pin on a deer ~13.22 yds away...you are going to shoot high.

I always mark distances when I am on the ground, then I don't have to worry about the actual distance once in the tree. I just use the marks as references, and bend at the waist.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Deer will have a tendency to squat or duck the string as some call it.
With that said you must still maintain proper form. Like so many others have been saying that means bending at the waist to keep everything in line as you would on the ground.
On a live animal I will aim a little lower than I do on a target to allow for the squat. I still have the pin on the heart area so if they do not squat it will still produce a lethal hit.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

PA bow/flinter,
Your math is way off.
15 ft up, 20 yds on the slant to the deer, he is 19.36 yds on the horizontal. Not a real issue when aiming.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Aim dead on, if you miss most likely it was poor forum, enviorment, nerves etc. Aim dead on.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Bend at the waist. I did the same thing last year, more times than I want to say. I know to bend at the waist, and practicing from an elevated stand I do, but in the heat of the moment I just put the pin where I wanted to hit and let it fly. When that deer just kept on feeding as if nothing happened, I knew 2 things. 1-my bow is quiet enough and 2-I need to remember to BEND AT THE WAIST!

RE: aim low hit high?
 

It depends on your form and stance. My advice, practice from that far up and see what happens. I aim where I want to hit. It's worked dozens of times. If the deer is super nervous or on edge I will aim low expecting a drop from the deer.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

I have been useing pedulum sights for years because I mainly hunt out of tree stands. Which means I practice both on the ground and from elevated sights. There are lots of theories to proper form, bending at the waist, gravity, etc ... all of which Im sureadd to the overall factors in arrow flight, but, I have never missed an animal yet using a pendulum sight. Its made for shooting from elevatedheights and Ijust took that for what it was worth whenI bought my first pendulum sight, a Keller, worked great. Now I shoot a Trophy Ridge Mantis because it has a lock out for ground shooting as well.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

I use a tru-glo pendulum it also locks. The pendulum does compensate for shots from elevation.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

I agree doc, they work great for me from 10 feet all the way up to 25 feet with out adjusting anything. I know you dont need them and most guys are content with keeping regular sights on their bow and using different techniques to compensate for the elevations but to me its just easier to use a pendulum, no guess work until you are shooting past 30 yards in which case you would be compensating with a regular sight anyway even on flat ground by using another pin, or holding up on a single pin set up etc ...

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Mosrly all good advice especially bending at the waist. If you shoot by just droping your bow arm you have just changed everything including draw length and anchering point. When you are ready to shoot draw your bow just like you are on level ground get to your ancher point then bend at the waist to get on target sound like a lot but it only takes less then a second and you poi will remain the same as at the range. There are a lot of folks who live in the city and can't get out to shoot out of a treestand and this works for them. But if you are where you can practice from an elevated position by all means do it. Mike

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Gravity...............The aim low hit high from either a elevated or low position can be true. The gravity equation becomes more noticeable on longer bow shots or with rifle hunters particullary in mountain hunting.

when you are up in the stand 20+ feet and the animal by arrow flight is 30 yards it may only be from the base of your tree 20 yards. That 20 yards is your true distance according to gravity. If you use your 30 yard pin you will hit high.

This works the same way shooting uphill.

You are starting to see a lot of range finders anymore that will calculate your true ballistic distance based on grade. It does make a difference.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

pythagorean theory (sp?) - 15 feet high and 20 yard (60 ft) shot from base of tree results in the "C" leg of the right triangle being 20.6 yds...Right?? use your 20 yd pin and use proper form

RE: aim low hit high?
 

I agree however I have a single pin pendulum sight works great!

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Wow I remember it well and use it virtually daily and you sir, are waaay off.
True A^2 + B^2= C^2
But in this case A=5 yards (15 ft high in stand ..Remember we must have like units)
B= 20 yards the horizontal distance to the deer (if both on grouund)
C= the hypotenuse the distance your arrow travels from your elevated stand to the deer

so we see that A^2 =25 yards b^2=400 yards and c^2 then equals 425 yards.
The square root of 425 equals the arrow travel distance of about 20.62 yards.

While all this is fine and dandy the only real issue we need to know is the Horizontal distance. If you use a range finder you need to shoot yardages on the same plane that you are shooting from. In the case used as an example, the range finder would tell you to shoot 20.62 yards instead of 20 yards. Maybe with todays bows that 18 inches doesn't make a huge difference. But a good shot will definitely be high of your mark by some degree.
I'm not saying aim low or anything like that I'm just saying know what that yardage on the rangefinder really means.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Poor forum; I like this forum. Environment spelling for you too.HCH

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Thank you for posting the Pythagorean Theorem I was hoping someone would remember!

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Right, GR8atta2d - the leg of the triangle that represents your shot is LONGER, not SHORTER as was earlier posted. Add to that the fact that shooting downward, the arrow will not drop quite as much at the same distance, AND the fact that yourtarget (ie, "sweet spot") appearsto belower on the deer - and I have found (in my experience) that if I aim just barely above the lowest edge of deer I can see, I get a hit. When I aim at the normal "1/2-way up" the deer, I have shot overa few times. Also, the greater the distance from the tree, the greater the chance that the deer will begin its instinctive "duck" as it crouches to run at the sound of the string.
Also - there is a reason why they make pendulum sights - it's to compensate for the downward angle so you can hit the same spot without aiming low.
So - in my experience (which is what counts for me) the phrase, "aim low hit high?" is not correct. It is "aim a little bit low, hit the spot that best kills the deer".
I guess everyone will have to experience this for themselves, but I have heard of many hunters missing over the backs of deer, and not very many missing under the chest (unless it was a very long shot).

Good Luck this season! :)

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Pythagorean theorem tells us that unless you are VERY high in the tree, or the deer is VERY close, the change in "effective distance" isn't really significant.20.6 yards versus 20 yards just doesn't matter. That's why I think pendulum sights are not necessary.

I think most guys miss high because they drop the bow arm instead of bending at the waist. Like somebody said, dropping the bow arm changes draw length, anchor point, everything. Try it sometime.

RE: aim low hit high?
 

Deerslayer, Just as some of the guys have said, the most common mistake hunters make is when you are in a stand you must bend at the waist or you will shoot high ever time. Walt

RE: aim low hit high?
 

i am noticing a difference when i shoot both ways from my back deck (10'). whats all this i hear about a pengilum sight though? gary.....