treestand trouble

[daniel reynolds]

I'm having trouble shooting my recuve accurately out my stand . I'm pretty new to trad shooting but I'm proud of the way I shoot most days from the ground . I just can't seem to get it from up high . Any suggestions ? Can you be too high? or what am I doing?

[Peachey]

Make sure you are bending at the waist so you are coming to full draw. On sharp downward angles it seems harder to reach full draw. How high up are you?

[daniel reynolds]

18-25 on average

[daniel reynolds]

I seem to hit real high and it causes me to lose confidence and focus about treestand hunting.

[daniel reynolds]

come on now I need some advice.  hehe

[indianalongbowshooter]

Bend at the waist and look at what you want to hit just like you do on the ground. Your probably not concentrating as well because your worried about being in the stand etc. No harder to hit something from the air then it is from the ground if you practice enough.

[katman]

Bending from the waist not dropping your bow arm helps a bunch, changing the angle of your bow arm/shoulder/torso changes your impact point. Also I like to feel I am keeping my draw arm elbow high at full draw.

[R H Clark]

I expect a little more practice is all you need. When shooting at extreme angles down or up you will shoot high untill you shoot enough to know how to compensate.

[Bonebuster]

I had this exact same problem when I swithed to a trad bow. From the ground I was good to go. From a tree stand I would ALWAYS shoot high on my first shot.

I look back and I think my eyes were telling my brain that the target was farther away than it was. Things just looked farther away I guess.

I overcame this problem by forcing myself to concentrate by shooting ONE arrow at a time. Climbing down, getting back up and doing it again.
(I had an actual treestand set up,safety belt and all)

You do have to be sure to bend at the waist, so your draw length stays the same. For me that was not an issue. I just had to train myself to get used to the height.

I learned to bend at the waist to the angle needed
to line up on the target. I hold my bow arm fully extended, with my fingers on the string. BURNING a hole where you want your arrow to be. Get to FULL draw, anchor, release, and follow thru. Just like your are on the ground. You must get to the same full draw.

I had to put in the time but it was worth it. I am as accurate from above as I am on the level.
I hope this helps.

[daniel reynolds]

Thanks everyone. Very helpful advice!

[Snakeeater]

Daniel,

When you hunt from a treestand there are a couple of things that affect your accuracy that many of us don't think about, the real range and our form.

As mentioned above, make sure that you keep your arms/shoulders at the same angles that you have when you are shooting from the ground. You do this by bending at the waist. It keeps your arms at right angles to your body. This way you are drawing the same amount as on the ground, which puts the same amount of energy into the arrow as on the ground.

The second thing to remember, which is a big part of why you are hitting high, is that the range to your target (the animal) is not how far away it is from where you are but how far away it is from the bottom of your tree. You are actually holding for something farther away which is what raises your point of impact.

And for a final point about treestand hunting, and this is because I want to see you posting here more often, ALWAYS where a full body harness while in the tree. Attach it to the tree and move it up as climb up, while you are on stand, and while you are climbing down. More than half of all bowhunting accidents are related to treestand hunting, so don't become a statistic.

Snakeeater

[madness522]

Another reason for hitting high is when you're in a tree and shooting down toward the ground your arrow is less effected by gravity.  You will have to train your brain to compute the right shot when in a tree.  Same process that was used to learn the site picture on the ground.

[Deadeye]

Missing from up high or shooting up is nothing more than form. At 25 yards gravity means nothing...........

[Wile E. Coyote]

Are you standing or sitting? Try both. I for one prefer sitting as I feel it gives me a more stable shot.