Shooting from a treestand.

[Matthew Bolton]

I understand bending at the waist to compensate for the angle and I've done it with success. However it feels uncomfortable to me when I do it which makes me think I'm doing it wrong. Could any of y'all post a video or explain it to me better than just "bending at the waist"?  I appreciate it fellas

[Caughtandhobble]

I'll give a shot at an explanation... By bending at the waist you keep your body alignment in check. When you keep your body alignment your shot sequence will remain the same resulting in no surprise high shots.

You're right, it does feel funny at first but you will get used to it with practice. Speaking of practice, try shooting from an elevation before you hit the woods. Good Luck!!!

[moebow]

Try to think of it this way.  At full draw, we ideally want our bow arm to be 90 degrees to the torso/spine.  (The archery "tall T" or the "magic 90*).  So if you draw so that you have the 90* angle and maintain it for the shot, IF the shot is lower than your shoulder, you try to maintain the 90* angle and move the entire body to adjust.

Most of the time for most folks just "tilting" our upper body forward will do the trick.  For others bending the forward leg works and still for others moving the pelvis away from the target works.  You have to play with it to find your approach.

MAINTAIN the 90 degree angle bow arm to body!

Arne

[joe nichols]

I M a stand hunter with a compound bit ihave killed from the ground.  Now that I have a self made long bow, I don't feel right in a stand with it.  It could be that simple.  
The act of hunting on the ground with a long bow is quite exhilarating, I can't seem to get the position correct with a climber and I think it is mostly a mental thing.  We will see if it pays off.

[McDave]

Remember that although you're bending at the waist, you're still keeping your center of gravity over your feet, so you shouldn't feel uncomfortable or out of balance.  So half the story is bending at your waist; the other half of the story is flexing your hips back in the opposite direction so half your weight is still on each foot.  It's different from diving into a swimming pool; in fact, that's something you would probably want to avoid when you're in a tree stand.

[Bill Turner]

That's a good point about the hips "McDave". Something I haven't really thought of. Have to give that a try. Could be something I'm doing without thinking about it but u never can tell. Thanks for the suggestion.

[karrow]

one thing that helped me was drawing as if shooting on flat ground. then bending. i always do this on stand.