shooting instinctive from different elevations

[silverarrowhead]

I normally hunt fairly flat land, but am considering a tree stand.  If I shoot instinctively, do I need to make a mental adjustment for shooting downward?

[ChrisM]

No if you practice out of a stand then it will take care of itself.  The key thing to shooting instinctively is to practice every shot scenario that you might take.  If you have practiced it before then you subconscious will take control.

[McDave]

You really need to practice shooting from a tree stand before you take a shot at an animal. Different angles downward require different adjustments, which you need to figure out. Generally, you will miss high from a treestand, so you need to aim low. If you are already a good shot, I would guess a morning's worth of practice should do it.

[Guru]

No, I find I don't have to make any mental adj. or have to "aim" low.

 I just have to make some physical adjustments like bending at the waist to make sure everything stays in line.

If it's only slightly elevated I find I don't have to worry about it much at all....but....the steeper the angle, the more you have to bend.

I still just pick my spot and concentrate on nothing but it, and everything works just the same.

But you will have to practice elevated shots to learn how to bend...

[Terry Green]

Most high shots from high  are from lowering your  bow arm instead of bend at the waist....check the form clock thread featured up top.

[silverarrowhead]

thanks

[xtrema312]

I am with Guru.  It is all about lining up for proper form.  I never got the big deal on the distance thing shooting out of a tree at trad bow range or any bow range for that matter.  It really is very little difference on most shots unless you are up 30’ or something.  Now on a mountainside with long shots it would be different, but I only go up about 16’ max most times.  I got one of those range finders that tell you angle and true horizontal distance vs. line of site distance.  It was the best deal going at the time so I got it with the feature.  I like them for practicing estimating and for some long-range stuff I do without arrows.  I took it into some stands last year and tested it out just to see if it was a big deal.  I think the biggest difference I got from 15-20’ off the ground and 10 yd. out to my trad bow max range of 20 yd. was like one yard. That is rounded off so maybe it is a bit more or less.  Now once you get real close you can get some larger differences like 2 yd. longer line of site than horizontal distance, but you’re so close it still doesn’t matter for me because it is only 5 yd. and the narrow exposure to the vitals and extreme down angle to try and shoot are much bigger issue.  My brain and shooting is just not that good that I can sweet 1 yd inside 20. I always just figure I aim at the top of the heart all the time and let fly. At least in Michigan that works.