sights off from being elevated in a treestand?

[herefishy]

Got into a friendly argument with my buddy. I'm sure its been on here before but what is your opinion on your sights being high/low from shooting on the ground vs shooting 15ft in the air? I personally don't think they differ but the change in body position from sitting in a stand and such can be the cause to shoot higher or lower from an elevated position. what are your thoughts?

[StumpJumper]

I think you are correct. Whats up over in Marshall?

[ENCORE]

I regularly shoot at 20 - 30 - 40 yds, and just for fun, shoot at 50 yds from the ground. I'm shooting anywhere from 30 to 60 arrows per day, sometimes more. I put up three (3) ladder stands in the yard a few days back to practice from. One's at 17 yds, one at 30 yds and the other is 34 yds. (by the laser). I have 2 - 15' stands and one 17' stand, which is at 17 yrds.
I shoot the same from the stands as I do from the ground, using the same pins. Now, when I shoot from a stand, I bend at the waist (which you should) and not try to just lower my bow arm which is wrong (I try to stand and shoot if possible).
Hitting a 2 or 3" dot is one thing. You have to remember to look through a deer to where you would expect the arrow to exit if it went straight through.

[part timer]

Technically your friend is correct - from a practical perspective you are correct. For example: Assume a deer is 75 feet from your stand on level ground and you are 15 feet up. The line of flight is 77.6 feet. If you had a pin set at exactly 77.6 feet you would shoot a tiny bit high since the effective gravitational pull on the arrow is the same as a level 75 foot shot.

From a practical standpoint the affect from the physics are almost negligable. I'd be willing to bet that posture and release point anchoring are far more important factors in accuracy.

[herefishy]

I guess we are both right in a way. is it even worth trying to figure out how much an arrow would drop from a 75ft. shot to a 77.6 shot. not even worth doing the math over. Not much going on in marshall, same "old" stuff.

[yooperkenny]

Conventional wisdom is that you should aim low when shooting from an elevated stand, which will account for both the shorter distance that gravity "works" on your arrow and the fact that deer "jump the string", i.e. they duck when they hear the shot (even the fastest modern arrow travels at less than a third of the speed of sound). My personal experience bears this out, but that's just me.

Experienced shooters claim that if you bend at the waist, the need to aim low is negated. I'm sure that's true, but it still doesn't account for the Jumping The String factor IMHO

[GVDocHoliday]

"Aim fer the heart...thatway, if the deer jumps the string yer still in the kill zone."

Words of wisdom from one of my favorite television personalities.

[sniper's mojo]

I am not a bow pro or factory shooter by any means. But I have used a dozen different arrow and broadhead combinations in the last decade or so. With slight variations to all. Dont take anyones word on this forum about what your equipment will do in various situations. If you want to know the truthe, the only way is to try it under real world hunting conditions and see how it performs. More practice never hurt anyone anyhow. Also having shot form your elevated stands and having confidence in your equipment from that postions is invaluable in the field.

[skidoojc]

I second sniper's mojo on this I was a little worried about the same thing and shot placement so I climbed up my tree in the yard and shot. I know where it will hit now.

[yooperkenny]

... If you want to know the truthe, the only way is to try it under real world hunting conditions and see how it performs. More practice never hurt anyone anyhow. Also having shot form your elevated stands and having confidence in your equipment from that postions is invaluable in the field.

And that is the final word on anything that you want to go right at the moment of truth!