Compensating for taking a shot from Treestand

[beachpeaz]

Just curious what everyone's experience is when / if adjusting your aim for shooting from a Treestand?

If you have read some of my other topics, you will know that I have only bow hunted for 3 years. I have not shot a deer with my bow yet. Traded in the "hand me down" for a new Bear Anarchy this year. Been practing out to 50 yards all summer. It is very fast.

I just don't see that there could be that much adjustment from shooting in my 20' tree stand!

I'm not talking about adjusting to make sure the angle allows the arrows to hit vitals (steep angles you aim higher to make sure you get a good exit point....get that.....no different than a gun). I'm referring to the actual yardage difference that is claimed to effect the shot. Like I said, my bow is stinking fast. Can't fathom being 20' up would change my yardage so much that it would effect the shot,

Any insight you folks have would be great.

[mbucks27]

When you are in the stand you dont aim high on a deer you aim low. If you aim high you will either shoot over the deer or hit the spine. I usually aim about an inch low at 20 yards.

John

Edited September 22, 2012 by mbucks27

[ncountry]

If you do not change your shooting position(anchor ,arm position,etc) ,ime the arrows hit pretty dam close to where you are aiming. It is actually pretty hard to get high enough and far enough away for there to be much difference in trajectory. Bend at the waist. Do not drop your arm or shoulder. Practice from an elevated position to see for your self. I know some people have a difficult time maintaining proper form , and this will change how you shoot.

[deerpassion]

see, horizontal distance(base of your tree to deer in yds) is only slightly shorter than diagonal distance(from your stand to deer in yds) , however, look at the height of his stand, 35 ft!!!! no one bow hunts that high, so if you come down to 20- 25 ft the difference in distances will shrink.... so (20ft) squared + ( 90ft or 30yds) squared = 8500ft... the square root of that is 92.2 ft which translates to 30.73 yds.... so only a difference of less than a yard do to angle, not enough to even blink an eye at... just range hold on the heart in case he jumps the string and either way you've got a kill shot.. simple as that... hope this was helpful ... i laugh when guys get so caught up in angle compensating range finders costing hundreds of dollars for stand hunting.... those only do you good out west when making long shot uphill or over a rock face, standard 100 dollar range finder does the trick every time... good luck , Joey

[nyslowhand]

Vitals:

http://bowsite.com/b...r/deergeometry/

http://huntingny.com...shot-placement/

Deerpassion is correct. Worst case scenerio is shooting less than 10yds, where the 2 distances may vary a couple of yards. So, a deer right under the stand probably isn't a shoot you'd get or take anyways. The distance variation of the shoot isn't so much a problem as the angle & a good hit on the vitals. So before you release the arrow, just visualize the arrow's trajectory into the deer's body. The higher you are in the tree & the closer the deer - the more the angle is accented. Get some graph paper and make a stand & varied distances to scale. Or you can pay D&DH $20 for a shoot simulator.

Edited September 22, 2012 by nyslowhand

[Doewhacker]

Just aim a hair low, or aim where you want the arrow to come out on the other side.

[fasteddie]

No need to go through all the math figuring out the hyponenuse , etc .. The distance to be concerned with is the horizontal distance ( the distance from the bottom of the tree to the deer ) .

[beachpeaz]

see, horizontal distance(base of your tree to deer in yds) is only slightly shorter than diagonal distance(from your stand to deer in yds) , however, look at the height of his stand, 35 ft!!!! no one bow hunts that high, so if you come down to 20- 25 ft the difference in distances will shrink.... so (20ft) squared + ( 90ft or 30yds) squared = 8500ft... the square root of that is 92.2 ft which translates to 30.73 yds.... so only a difference of less than a yard do to angle, not enough to even blink an eye at... just range hold on the heart in case he jumps the string and either way you've got a kill shot.. simple as that... hope this was helpful ... i laugh when guys get so caught up in angle compensating range finders costing hundreds of dollars for stand hunting.... those only do you good out west when making long shot uphill or over a rock face, standard 100 dollar range finder does the trick every time... good luck , Joey

First, love the deer drawing! Pretty sweet!! Lol

Second, you just confirmed my own feelings. I did some quick math in my head and could not understand why 2 or 3 yards would make a difference. Yet, people make such a big deal about it. Thought I was missing something. Then to the other comment, why the hell would someone buy one of those range finders?? Better yet, why are they even made?

Edited September 22, 2012 by beachpeaz

[beachpeaz]

So, the question is, what IS the common issue when shooting from a tree stand? Is it breaking form to shoot down, thus throwing off your eye angle? If so, what do you do to mentally avoid that when the time comes to let it fly?

[fasteddie]

Bend at the waist and "don't" drop your bow arm ! And remember , the horizontal distance is the only distance you need to know ................

[Skillet]

see, horizontal distance(base of your tree to deer in yds) is only slightly shorter than diagonal distance(from your stand to deer in yds) , however, look at the height of his stand, 35 ft!!!! no one bow hunts that high, so if you come down to 20- 25 ft the difference in distances will shrink.... so (20ft) squared + ( 90ft or 30yds) squared = 8500ft... the square root of that is 92.2 ft which translates to 30.73 yds.... so only a difference of less than a yard do to angle, not enough to even blink an eye at... just range hold on the heart in case he jumps the string and either way you've got a kill shot.. simple as that... hope this was helpful ... i laugh when guys get so caught up in angle compensating range finders costing hundreds of dollars for stand hunting.... those only do you good out west when making long shot uphill or over a rock face, standard 100 dollar range finder does the trick every time... good luck , Joey

The illustrations are fantastic! Looks like Me, big head and everything.

[Nomad]

The guys above got it covered. I'd say practice from a stand if you can. I shoot from my roof and one arrow from my stand each time I hunt. From a stand you'

ll learn many things,your arm may hit the trunk,or the strap from the harness gets in the way turning around and so on .

Up close bow shots can often lead to a one lunger, a thin target like those square white ones shot close off your roof will show you this.

I aim the same as on the ground works well for me. Last year I killed a doe with the bow while seated (me not the doe) and leaning out from the seat and shooting behind me just shy of 20 yards,double lung kill, she went less then 60 yards.

Good Luck. Practice like you hunt.

[deerpassion]

So, the question is, what IS the common issue when shooting from a tree stand? Is it breaking form to shoot down, thus throwing off your eye angle? If so, what do you do to mentally avoid that when the time comes to let it fly?

its your point of anchor.. when you shoot on the ground you draw and anchor level right.... but some people in the tree draw at a downward angle without bending at the waste and drop the arm to aim, so the basic concept is everything above the waste stays in correct form as if you were shooting on the ground, then bend at the waste so your eye meets your peep at the same angle as shooting on the ground...

[deerpassion]

First, love the deer drawing! Pretty sweet!! Lol

Second, you just confirmed my own feelings. I did some quick math in my head and could not understand why 2 or 3 yards would make a difference. Yet, people make such a big deal about it. Thought I was missing something. Then to the other comment, why the hell would someone buy one of those range finders?? Better yet, why are they even made?

thats not actually my drawing, found it on google images, cause if it were my drawing , stand height wouldn't have been 35 ft lol ...... so when you come down to reality, 20-25 feet stand height, the difference in horizontal and diagonal yardage is only 1 maybe 2 yards, nothing to even think about...

[deerpassion]

basically in a NUTSHELL, practicing from a stand height = maintaining correct form, NOT a significant difference in yardages... BEND AT THE WASTE is the motto for the season... 9 MORE DAYSSSSSSS yyyyaaaayyyyyaaaaaaaaa......

[biggamefish]

The big thing is to practice from where you are going to shoot. If you are going to hunt with a treestand shoot elevated if on the ground shoot on the ground. You will see the difference if you practice from both.

[beachpeaz]

You guys rock! Thanks.

I set up a tree stand in my back yard and practiced out of it today. Can only shoot 30 yards in my yard but it was good practice. The yardage was dead on. And, I get the "bend at the waste" thing. On a longer shot that's not much of a factor, but on a close one I can see that could be a big deal!!

Thanks again.

[Geno C]

Say you use your 20 yard pin and your 20' up and you have a deer at say 15-17 yards or so. if you hold right in the middle chances are you will be hitting high which can end up being a spine shot or miss. and if the deer jumps the string forget about it, could be a big miss. I have what i call a "tree stand pin" and it sits just above my 20 yard pin. I have shot 20' from my stand to test it out on a very small object that does not move and i was hitting high or not hitting it at all. the arrows always seem to stick into the ground above my target. After adjusting my pins i used my tree stand pin and its a bulls eye everytime from 10 to even 20 yards i can use it.

works for me

[covert]

One thing I noticed is that 30 measured yds looks a lot farther when I'm in my stand than it does when I'm standing on the lawn!

[beachpeaz]

Say you use your 20 yard pin and your 20' up and you have a deer at say 15-17 yards or so. if you hold right in the middle chances are you will be hitting high which can end up being a spine shot or miss. and if the deer jumps the string forget about it, could be a big miss. I have what i call a "tree stand pin" and it sits just above my 20 yard pin. I have shot 20' from my stand to test it out on a very small object that does not move and i was hitting high or not hitting it at all. the arrows always seem to stick into the ground above my target. After adjusting my pins i used my tree stand pin and its a bulls eye everytime from 10 to even 20 yards i can use it.

works for me

Thats a rather clever idea. As long as in the heat of the moment with buck fever, knees shaking, palms sweating, you don't start wondering what the hell your pins are...lmao.

[Geno C]

nope lol i have 3 pins... top pin is tree stand pin, middle is my 20 -40 yard pin and bottom i usually never use but it could be a 40 yard and up. Fast shooting bow shoots flat so i dont need many pins at all

[beachpeaz]

right, that is how my new bow is. I started a topic thead on siting it in since my old bow was slow as mollasses. I have 1 pin that shoots from 0-35 yards. 2nd pin for 35-45 and a 3rd for 50+. I like the idea of having a "tree stand" pin. I have 2 other pins I don't use on my Tru-glow site. I just have them slid all the way to the bottom out of the way.

[slickrockpack]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2012 at 10:12 PM, mbucks27 said:

When you are in the stand you dont aim high on a deer you aim low. If you aim high you will either shoot over the deer or hit the spine. I usually aim about an inch low at 20 yards.

John

yes, especially since they often crouch before taking off, people often call this jumping the string , more often its the movement and noise from the hunter's release but in any case holding low will bag more deer than holding high

also, in shooting downhill steep angles with a gun you're going to also hit high, bullet path is higher than line of sight, exacerbated by the steepness of the down angle, so you want to hold even lower

more important than anything when shooting steep angles with the bow is you MUST keep the same plane between bow riser and your upper body, not bending properly and fully from the hips is what makes difficult anchoring..

[The_Field_Ager]

My bow is set for 25 yards. I shot my Buck at 35 from about 16 feet. I aimed as I would for a  target on the ground at 25 yards and In fact hit a tiny bit higher than desired. I was surprised by that, but at 35 yards from 16 feet the angle was pretty flat.

 

Edited November 3, 2016 by Papist

[chiefbkt]

see, horizontal distance(base of your tree to deer in yds) is only slightly shorter than diagonal distance(from your stand to deer in yds) , however, look at the height of his stand, 35 ft!!!! no one bow hunts that high, so if you come down to 20- 25 ft the difference in distances will shrink.... so (20ft) squared + ( 90ft or 30yds) squared = 8500ft... the square root of that is 92.2 ft which translates to 30.73 yds.... so only a difference of less than a yard do to angle, not enough to even blink an eye at... just range hold on the heart in case he jumps the string and either way you've got a kill shot.. simple as that... hope this was helpful ... i laugh when guys get so caught up in angle compensating range finders costing hundreds of dollars for stand hunting.... those only do you good out west when making long shot uphill or over a rock face, standard 100 dollar range finder does the trick every time... good luck , Joey

Nice diagram, I'm glad you showed an exaggerated stand height cause that is what is required for any major yardage difference. Like you stated, bring it down to 15-20' like a normal person and the difference is minimal and not worth losing sleep over. My only question is, why didn't you use trig for the calculation? Hahaha...