how important is it to shoot from your treestand before going hunting? the reason i asked is because i have people say that you dont need to, then i have heard people say you need to. so which is it?
thanks

Well think about it! Do you plan on hunting from a tree stand? If your answer is yes then I think you know the answer already. Always practice the way you will be hunting.

Its a must. Practice sitting down and standing up and shooting from the stand. Your feet will probably be closer together when you shoot from the stand. Remember to bend at the waist. Take notice of any differences in arrow flight from the stand at diffferent distances.

Miller...

If you've never done it.....it's a "must" (like someone above stated). You'll find that your POI (Point of Impact) shouldn't change.....but the BIGGER issue is your comfort level at standing on that platform and drawing and shooting your bow (at least it was, for me). It takes a while to get comfortable at drawing while standing in different positions.

Get up a tree in the yard or nearby woods and go through the motions. You'll be glad you did.

As Predator says...... Again...more great advice. Good luck!

Also need to practice bending at your hips or waiste, if you do not and just lower your arm you will shoot much higher. As stated above practice the way you will be hunting gloves, cloths and all.

Oh and dont forget getting used to shooting with your safety harness. They tend to get in the way sometimes![:@]

WOW. Can't believe I forgot that. That is HUGE.

You'll likely HUNT several, several times befor eyou come up with a method that is both safe and "the best" for YOU. Experimenting NOW "might" save you a shot at a good deer.

That's a BIG one......and great catch, Predator.

I put up a stand in my yard the other day to practice putting it up and getting comfortable at that height (20 ft), so I climb up there and I say to myself.. this isn't bad! then I grab my bow, wow! what a difference! drawing from up there is allot harder! Maybe it was just me being nervous but it was harder to draw and shoot from the tree stand. If I were you I would shoot of the stand till you're completely comfortable shooting in the stand and at the height you want to be hunting in..

This is a related story... I've got a buddy who's killed a few deer with his bow but has missed many more than that. He said he shoots over there back and had determined the reason for that was that he didn't have one of the new range finders with angle-compensation. I told him that was probably not the cause but he went out bought one anyway.

He came over recently and shot from the ground and was spot on. Then I put him in oneof my treestands andall of a sudden he'****ting high and to the left everytime, even at 20 yards.

The culprit? He wasn't bending at the waist and he was canting the bow. After a few form adjustments, he was hitting right where he aimed again.

He was simply amazed b/c he'd never practiced from a stand before. It can be quite eye-opening if your form is suspect.

While I agree it's best to practice from a tree stand if that's how you'll be hunting, where I live I don't have that as an option. You can't go on public land and practice (out of season)out of a tree either. If you exercise the basics of proper shooting there shouldn't be a problem with the POI being the same at reasonable distances. JMO