Shooting from up high

kt · #1 10-03-2010, 10:55 AM

Missed a doe last night. Something spooked her to me and she was ready to bolt when she got there i rushed the shot under her chest by an inch. but it got me thinking a friend has offered to have me to his little slice of woods to hunt. i notice all his stands are damn high up. i have no way to practice from 20ft up at what point do you need to compensate for elevation. the only time i ever adjusted was on a doe under me. straight down. cant get the miss off my mind

kt

bigbrother · #2 10-04-2010, 08:37 AM

Kt, I think that the level of compensation depends upon how close the deer is to you. Once you're over 12' or so and the deer get in close, you don't have a lot of "body" to shoot at. It's very easy at even 15 or 18' to not be shooting at the ground under the deer instead of at the deer itself. The higher up, the worse the angle.

Don't worry about practicing 20' up, practice at your target CLOSE! If the deer is 5 steps from your tree and you hold your 20yard pin right where you want to hit, the arrow is going to strike low....why? Because the arrow has yet to reach the line of sight height that close. On a shot that close, use your 40 yard pin....(I'M NOT PULLING YOUR LEG HERE) When you get a minute stand 5 steps in front of your target and shoot a small dot with your 20 yard pin, then shoot at the same dot with your 40 and you'll see what I mean.

All of this compounds on an accute angle shot and you'll most often shoot right under the deer. Don't worry about missing, that in my opinion is the toughest shot in bow hunting. (personal experience speaking lol)

Rustywreck · #3 10-04-2010, 02:15 PM

kt,
a little more information is needed: how far away was the doe? (you mentioned a doe right under you, but I read that as being a different one) Do you have an idea what your arrow speed is?
Twenty feet up a tree isn't high, to me anyway - it is more a minimal height. My bet would be that you didn't miss because of trajectory of the arrow; rather, if you were shooting at a steep downward angle you may have had a breakdown in shooting form. Many, many people draw with the bow pointed down toward the target with their shoulders adjusting for the angle. This causes people to miss.
A better way is to come to full draw and anchor horizontally, then bend at the waist to the target. Doing this will keep your shoulders aligned and form in tact.

kt · #4 10-05-2010, 06:53 PM

that is really interesting stuff about the 40 yd pin. no the doe i missed was out of my climber a mere 12 ft up she was 20 yds up. in my frustration of getting eaten alive by bugs i put too much angle in the foot rest so when i stood my feet were kinda pointing up. it just pissed me off error all over that shot. but as for the question at hand his stands arent 20 ft up closer to 25 minimum. (im not crazy about heights either) last year when i was with him i had a spike walk under me and i just thought, i wouldnt even know where to hold for a deer that just showed up under me. yes 5 yds from trunk of tree
kt