uphill target

[stevemfwills]

when your shooting uphill how can i draw my bow and not change my draw length...i have a target that i put it in a tree by ropes and pullies i have it up about 25 feet..i am fine to about ten yards from it then when i get close its a weird feeling when underneath till about ten yards then im fine,,,can someone help me here

[Pete McMiller]

Bend at the waist, not your upper body.  Try drawing horizontally then bending your waist to shoot up.

[eric-thor]

bend your knees as well just try to keep ur shoulders allined

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

Should you shoot higher then usual in addition to bending at the waist?

[Pete McMiller]

No, not higher, lower.  You aim as if the target was at the horizontal distance not the linear distance.  For example:  You are up in a tree 40 yards and are shooting at your target that is 50 yards away but only 20 yards from the base of your tree.  In this example you would aim as if the target were 20 yards away.  Same thing if the target is up rather than down - you would aim as if the target is actually the horizontal distance ie. if you are 20 yards from a tree and shooting a cougar that is 40 yards up you still aim as if it is only 20 yards away.

It may not seem intuitive but gravity works on the horizontal distance only.  The slight drop in speed is not a significant factor

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

That's funny because I can hit downhill targets just fine but shoot under uphill targets.

[stevemfwills]

im hitting it good at any distance it just feels akward as all get out i guess the more i shoot it,the less akward it will feel

[kodiakkid]

I agree with Pete on bending at the waist.

Aim higher for uphill and lower for downhill

[Pete McMiller]

If you need to aim higher for uphill shots the only reason I can think of is that you are shortening your draw length by not bending at the waist.  There are only two limiting parameters to arrow trajectory- gravity and wind resistance.  Gravity doesn't care whether you are shooting up hill or down hill or on the flat, for our purposes it effects an arrow the same for the same "horizontal" distance.

Try this, have your target up in a tree, hill, etc.  Draw on the horizontal and then bend backwards in order to shoot.  My bet is that you will struggle to keep your draw length the same.  Either that or put a cloths pin on your arrow and actually measure your draw length in both scenerios.

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

Thanks for the advice Pete, I will try that this weekend.

[stevemfwills]

so i need focus on a spot high on what i want too hit...so a perched squirrel focus on its head and hope it drops into the chest