# shooting uphill or downhill



## utbowhntr (Sep 11, 2007)

Is there any type of general rule of thumb when shooting uphill or downhill at an animal such as +/- 5 yds.? What do you all do when shooting uphill or downhill? I know bows are faster and more flat shooting nowdays, so it may not matter as much, but if you shoot something older or not as flat shooting, then what would be the general rule? Thanks for your responses. Utbowhntr


----------



## elkfromabove (Apr 20, 2008)

utbowhntr said:


> Is there any type of general rule of thumb when shooting uphill or downhill at an animal such as +/- 5 yds.? What do you all do when shooting uphill or downhill? I know bows are faster and more flat shooting nowdays, so it may not matter as much, but if you shoot something older or not as flat shooting, then what would be the general rule? Thanks for your responses. Utbowhntr


It isn't quite as simple as +/- 5 yds, but the key to shooting both uphill and downhill is to pretend you're on the same level as the animal and aim as if you were. No matter whether the arrow is headed up or down, gravity pulls the arrow in only one direction, down, and the amount of gravity pull in a normal archery shot (under 50 yards) isn't significantly different no matter the angle. Longer shots, maybe, but even then it probably wouldn't be too far off. The best thing to do is practice those kind of shots.


----------



## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

It really doesn't change a whole lot til you get into 30 degree shots or more. It can really change a lot when you get into the 40 degree range. You can make a "cut chart" with a program like archers advantage to take off the yardage, or most new archery range finders will cut the yards automatically for you.


----------



## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

north slope said:


> It really doesn't change a whole lot til you get into 30 degree shots or more. It can really change a lot when you get into the 40 degree range. You can make a "cut chart" with a program like archers advantage to take off the yardage, or most new archery range finders will cut the yards automatically for you.


+1, when you get to shooting at these more extreme angles, you going to shoot higher. I've seen a lot of otherwise competent bow hunters look like stark amateurs trying to shoot a lion out of a tree at 60 degree plus angles.


----------



## elkfromabove (Apr 20, 2008)

Kevin D said:


> [quote="north slope":3pznoz8w]It really doesn't change a whole lot til you get into 30 degree shots or more. It can really change a lot when you get into the 40 degree range. You can make a "cut chart" with a program like archers advantage to take off the yardage, or most new archery range finders will cut the yards automatically for you.


+1, when you get to shooting at these more extreme angles, you going to shoot higher. I've seen a lot of otherwise competent bow hunters look like stark amateurs trying to shoot a lion out of a tree at 60 degree plus angles.[/quote:3pznoz8w]

We tend to shoot higher because we think we need to shoot the angled distance (the hypotenuse of the right triangle) instead of the horizontal base of the triangle. What looks like 20 yards to that cougar in the tree is only 5 yards as far as gravity is concerned. We put the 20 yard pin on the target instead of the 5 yard pin. And the steeper the angle, the greater the difference between the two. The new archery range finders simply calculate the horizontal distance using basic trigonometry.

When I set up a treestand, I walk off (measure) the distance from the base of the tree to several prominent objects and physically or mentally mark them so that when the animal shows up, I know which pin to use.

Another problem with sharp angles is our body position. We sometimes angle our shooting position from the shoulders instead of the waist and thus change our shooting stance, our draw length, our line of sight, and our release. Good luck with that shot!!!

All I can say is practice, practice, practice all kinds of shot scenarios 'cause that buck doesn't know he's supposed to stand there broadside, at exactly 20 yards, on the level, in the open, looking away, for 5 minutes or three shots whichever comes first!


----------



## lifeisgood (Aug 31, 2010)

elkfromabove said:


> We tend to shoot higher because we think we need to shoot the angled distance (the hypotenuse of the right triangle) instead of the horizontal base of the triangle. What looks like 20 yards to that cougar in the tree is only 5 yards as far as gravity is concerned. We put the 20 yard pin on the target instead of the 5 yard pin. And the steeper the angle, the greater the difference between the two.


+1 Last yeat was my first season bow hunting and I was worried about this as well, so I did a lot of research on it. Elkfromabove is right use the pin that is close to the horizontal base. You can calculate that on the fly if your good with trig (horizontal base= cos(angle)*hypotnose),but I have a hard time guessing what angle it is and don't want to think that much on the fly. Pacing out the distance is will work, but if your target is down the hill and partiall up the other side that is a little hard to pace to horizontal span. What I have been doing is I range a tree with my range finder near the likely target points. I dont range this where the deer will stand, but rather I range it part way up the tree at a level that is horizontal to where i am. Then I use that distance.

For an example if your shooting angle is 20 deg and the target is 40 yards then the base=cos(20)*40 which equals 37 yards. Not a big difference but at a 40deg angle the horizontal base now becomes 30 yards and a miss if you did not correct. I also took my block out to the field and set up shots both uphill and down and tried it out. I was pretty close ranging a tree part way up at a spot horizontal to me. Good luck


----------



## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

I am no mathematician, but I simply use the ol' pythagorean theorem to give myself an educated guess on yardages less than 50. I estimate how far above or below me my target is and then range the target. If the target is say 30 yards away and slightly uphill, I might guess that it is five feet above me. That would give me the equation A2 + 5=30. My horizontal distance to my target, then, would be approximately 25 yards. 

Once I get upwards of 50 yards, though, I tend to stick a little closer to the ranged distance to take gravity into account.

My math is probably screwed up, but it seems to work...but, then again, I have never shot from a tree or up into a tree....


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

> I am no mathematician, but I simply use the ol' pythagorean theorem to give myself an educated guess on yardages less than 50.





> If the target is say 30 yards away and slightly uphill, I might guess that it is five feet above me. That would give me the equation A2 + 5=30. My horizontal distance to my target, then, would be approximately 25 yards.





> For an example if your shooting angle is 20 deg and the target is 40 yards then the base=cos(20)*40 which equals 37 yards. Not a big difference but at a 40deg angle the horizontal base now becomes 30 yards and a miss if you did not correct


I am soooo showing these quotes to my students at school tomorrow!


----------



## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

wyoming2utah said:


> I am no mathematician, but I simply use the ol' pythagorean theorem to give myself an educated guess on yardages less than 50. I estimate how far above or below me my target is and then range the target. If the target is say 30 yards away and slightly uphill, I might guess that it is five feet above me. That would give me the equation A2 + 5=30. My horizontal distance to my target, then, would be approximately 25 yards.
> 
> Once I get upwards of 50 yards, though, I tend to stick a little closer to the ranged distance to take gravity into account.
> 
> My math is probably screwed up, but it seems to work...but, then again, I have never shot from a tree or up into a tree....


I didn't do to swell in math I'll stick to my archers choice rangefinder :lol:


----------



## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

Another reason people tend to shoot poorly at severe angle is they forget to get their anchor(s) set at level draw and then BEND AT THE WAIST rather than just raising or lowering your bow arm... if you change all of your string positions relative to your anchors used on level shots, you can expect very different shot accuracy.


----------



## poacher (Sep 12, 2009)

get a sight that has a 3rd axis adjustment get it leveled out, buy a fancy angle range finder, take your bag to the mountains practice that way when you do get a shot at a buck you will already now you can hit him you wont be guessing or trying to do math in the heat of the moment


----------



## ktowncamo (Aug 27, 2008)

Very likely the most informative thread I've read in a long time. Sure beats complaining about SFW over in the Big Game forum. Thanks guys!


----------



## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

Did you have to bring that up here?! We were going along pretty good til you brough that up ktowncamo!?


----------



## utbowhntr (Sep 11, 2007)

I believe I am going to buy the archers choice rangefinder as I am not real good at math, but I have to say all of the responses on here have been very helpful and informative for me.


----------

