High Or Low?
05-16-2011, 11:33 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sulphur,Indiana
Posts: 1,350
High Or Low?
When bow hunting from 15 to 20 feet high,shooting from 20 to 30 yards out,do you tend to shoot high or over the top of the deer or low and under the deer when you miss? What is the most common error to make when shooting from a deer stand at this hight?
05-16-2011, 01:13 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
In general over the past 4+ decades of archery hunting from a tree stand of one sort of another, usually 15' - 25' off the ground, I have missed high. This is primarily due to the deer dropping, loading its legs to haul tail as soon as it hears the bow fire. I have long ago "trained' myself to intentionally aim "small", and somewhat low ... but not ever out of the "kill zone". The newer bow designs that create arrow launch velocities around 300 fps +/- have mitigateed to some degree the issue of deer "jumping" the string. I have no clue what velocity that my first hunting bow did. It was a realitively inexpensive fiberglasss Ben Pearson stick. My second was a fine recurve that cost me a whopping $45 in 1966. It was a vastly faster bow than my old Pearson. The most recent bow that I was using, before the shoulder injury, was a Matthews SQ-2. I found it so fast, that I was easily able to shoot from right under my stand to about 30 yards with one pin .... adjusting elevation only very little from 15-25 yards. I did add a second pin for 40+ yards.
Last edited by Mojotex; 05-18-2011 at 10:25 AM. Reason: Add
05-16-2011, 03:22 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 3,606
The most common error is not bending at the waist for most people. this will change where you are aiming and cause you to miss. they will tend to drop if they are looking right at you when you shoot. so when alerted and nervous about what is happening around them aim lower
05-17-2011, 04:43 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sulphur,Indiana
Posts: 1,350
I do appreciate it when you guys with years of skill and knowledge share it with us who must constantly review our technique based upon the proven experience of seasoned hunters. I'm getting ready to start my regime of practice and sharpen my skills to make sure I'm up to the task come September. Thanks
05-17-2011, 11:12 AM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Franklin WI USA
Posts: 336
This is something of a pet peeve of mine but if the deer is 30 yards from the trunk of your tree, and you are 5 yards up in the air, the straight line distance is 30.41 yards from you directly to the deer. It's a trivial difference but its also FURTHER than if you shot from the ground.
05-18-2011, 04:06 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sulphur,Indiana
Posts: 1,350
RR, I would love to spend a week learning 1/10 of what you know about shooting. It would help me to grasp the basics which would surely make me a better hunter. I do much better learning hands on than reading or seeing illustrations of how it's done.
