Shooting high from the tree.

[Junction hunter]

This weekend I took 3 shoots from the tree at deer and was high all three. Over their back.
So, put out a target and shot high again and again and again.
Do others have this problem?

[Irish]

Pick a spot, bend at the waist - I know, sounds easy.  Been there, done that, have the misses to show for it.

[trashwood]

I shot a field course that had a steep 80 yd down hill.  I shot it like it was 70 yds and scored on the target.  If the shot were laid out in a right triangle, you would shoot for the distance of the leg on the botton and not the distance of the hypotenuse, I think.

Anyway ya can shoot over pretty easily from a tree stand.  from a tree stand I gap if shooting by indirect aiming method.  90% of the time I string walk from a tree stand.

rusty

[Lost Arra]

I'm not sure about all the physics involved but I think shooting high is a fairly common miss from a treestand.
Best suggestion I received: Practice only from a treestand if you are hunting from treestands.

Good luck!
Sounds like you must be in a good area.

[vermonster13]

You also may be judging them as farther away than they actually are. Gravity only affects the arrow for linear distance not vertical. So if a deer is 15 yards from the base of the tree but the distance from where you are up in the tree to the deer is say 18 yards, you need to do as Irish said and have your 15 yard spot in the brain or you'll overshoot.

[DRR324]

From a treestand....  AIM LOW- DOWN THEY GO.
Even if bending at the waist, I focus on the lowest spot possible- from say 15 ft up, and inside 10 yards.  Have to really concentrate on the lowest visible spot to put the arrow- it will still hit a bit higher.

[Big Dave]

Trashwood and Vermonster  are right

[Straitshot]

Bend at the waste and force yourself to shoot at the center of the lower half  of the chest cavity.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I think it has a lot more to do with form than the Pythagorean theorem (A squared + B squared = C squared). For the purposes to shooting from a treestand on flat ground, A squared is the distance from the deer to the base of the tree, B squared is the hight of the teestand, and C squared is the distance between you and the deer itself.

We all know C squared is the actual distance of the shot, but A squared is the trajectory. So let's assume you're 20 feet up and the deer is 15 yards (45 feet) away.

A squared = 45x45 = 2,025 feet.

B squared = 20x20 = 400 feet

C squared = 2,425 feet

Which means C = 49.24 feet, or 16.4 yards.

That's only a difference of about a yard and a half at 15 yards. When we crunch the numbers for shots out from 20 feet up and 10 yards out, the difference between shot and trajectory is only 2 yards. At 20 yards, the difference is only a yard. I've shot a lot of slow bows over the years -- 140 fps and less -- and I can't see where even shooting 10 yards for 12 yards would cause anything other than a slightly high lung hit on a deer.

If you're taking high angle shots in the mountains, then yes, the Pythagorean theorem can definately come into play. But out of a treestand on level ground? The difference isn't enough to worry about. Concentrate on maintaining consistent form (i.e. bend at the waist) and it's not an issue.

[bentpole]

All I can say is like everyone else.Pick a SPOT and you have to bend at the waist.

[Tom Leemans]

Oh dang Jason! I'm not gettin' no 400 feet up in the tree! The deer will smell me anyway after I pee my pants!
 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Keep your shoulders, elbow, wrist & arrow inline, just like Terry said in the TradGang DVD...Plus You have to bend at the waist as well.

[eagle24]

Like the other posters said, Bend at the waist.  There is no substitute for practicing from an elevated stand.  If you can practice from a stand some, it will do wonders for your confidence.

[TXRED]

Jason,ya got any aspirin to go w/that equation?  :confused:

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Sorry, I hate interjecting math in this stuff, especially since my Mossy Oak slide rule is on back order.    :confused:  

Long and short of it: bend at the waist and shoot the dang thing.    

[Charlie Lamb]

Try canting the bow a little more than normal. The steeper the angle, the more cant in the bow.

[ChuckC]

Jason, remember too that you are shooting at a target that is in a vertical plane, not horizontal.  A miss of two inches to the side (horizontal might mean quite a bit more miss on that vertical target.
ChuckC

[STOBBER]

I made the same shot Saturday....lil' doe came straight to me ...stopped...turned broadside at 12paces....shot looked perfect till it flew about 4" over her back. I was about 10 feet up the tree and she neve knew i was there. Not the first time i've done that...i'll learn to shoot low eventually!

[Shawn Leonard]

It is a fact of life you shoot high shooting down and ya shoot high shooting up hill. it is no different than a rifle, if you shoot at something down hill ya have to hold low onthe animal, if ya put the cross hairs on the center of a deer at 100 yards and the gun is dead on at a 100 and the deer is down hill ya will be high. It has to due with angles and trajectory, even bending at the waist will not make a difference ya have to pick a spot low on the deer as you will shoot above that spot. That is why some compounder invented the pendulum bow sight. They even make range finders that ya can pucnh in the speed of your bow or rifle and it will compute the angle of a down hill or up hill shot and let ya know where to hold. Shawn

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by ChuckC:
Jason, remember too that you are shooting at a target that is in a vertical plane, not horizontal.  A miss of two inches to the side (horizontal might mean quite a bit more miss on that vertical target.
ChuckC

Chuck,

I guess I'm not understand what you said. The geometry involved in shooting uphill/downhill pertains to verticle impact. Horizontal isn't a factor anymore than it is with any other shot.