So I was shooting yesterday from about 20 yard and got the thinking about how the distance will change once I'm 20ft up a tree. I know it will change and my range finder doenst compensate for me being off of level ground. How do you guys know how far the deer/target is from up in a tree without having the newer range finders with the arc option?
The difference is so small for me that I don't worry about it. If you are 20 feet off the ground and the target is 30 yards (90ft) from the base of the tree, then the target would be 92ft (roughly 30 yards and 2 feet) from your stand. A two foot difference has little effect on my arrows trajectory at 30 yards.
Practice and use your rangefinder from an elevated spot I am lucky to have a hill that puts me at 15 ft high at 20 and 20 ft high at 30 and then levels off just enough for 40 and 50 yd particle shots. This has helped me keep tighter groups in a stand like situation. I have shot off the roof of the garage and out of the stand before I got lucky with this pice of ground
Like Smitty said, the distance difference is so little. You can also range trees, etc. at eye level to know how far they are from your tree.
Yes. No matter how high you are in the tree, the shooting distance is still the same as it is from the ground but your range finder could read a farther distance. The difference isn't critical at those distances though. Also, who needs a rangefinder when the target is within 20 yards?
If were teally concerned about it you could range several points of reference from the ground. That's going to be your distance in the tree even though your range finder will have a higher distance up there.
My wife is horrible at judging distance in a tree stand. So when we set her stand up I ranged various tree,bushes,logs whatever. Then I attached a small ribbon the color of her corresponding pin the obect. In-between distances got 2 colors.
If I were concerned about it, I'd range tree tops. But as other's have said, the difference is moot unless you're hunting steep hillsides and mountains.
For years I used a 60 foot piece of rope. I would climb the tree during the off season with the rope in my hand. I would tie it to the seat and then drop it down. I then would pull it to different places in the hunting area and mark my 20 yard shots. After a few times I learned to judge the yardages by sight. I have range finder wit ARC now, but I still look at stumps, trees and guess the yardage and then range them. I come really close in most cases.
I take many youth and women hunting to take their first deer. I drive stakes in the ground around the stand at 10yd intervals and mark them with ribbons to help me and them range them quickly especially when I am running the camera. None of my stands are above 12ft either to that the closer shots are not as steep for the beginners. Most people just beginning have trouble envisioning the arrow going through the vitals when elevated.
The best policy is to get up in a stand and just practice and if you have a life sized deer target, practice with it as the target. The biggest concern is with point of view and point of impact. Having some real time experience shooting at a similar shape and size target and making personal adjustments and mental notes is the only sure way for you to "know" exactly what you're doing from 20' up. Most guys on here do their best and do a good job at giving advice but no amount of advice is as good as real experience. We have enough going on in our heads when we draw on a deer without having to add uncertainty and self doubt along with it.
Always remember to aim "thru" the deer. Aim for where you want the arrow to come out instead of where you want to hit. This very reason is why you see a lot of high hits on deer than exit perfectly mid mass on the opposite side. Personally, I would rather hit mid mass on the front side and exiting low on the offside. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Appreciate all the help guys, I am an avid hunter bug not with a bow lol thought I'd try something new this year, not going as bad as I thought it would be.
Right Angle Trigonometry. For example, lets say your ground distance to the target is 20yds (60ft). Your tree stand is 15ft high. Your distance or hypotenuse is = the Sq. root of the sum of the two squares. 60-squared = 3600 15-squared = 225 Sum = 3825 Sq. Root = 61.84 So, basically what everyone said is true. The distance is close enough that it shouldn't matter.
