Up & Downhill shooting

Depends on the angle and distance......too many variables to give one specific answer. But each (uphill & downhill angled shots) will require you to shoot it for less than the line of sight reading on a rangefinder.

you will want to shoot for the horizontal distance!!! gravity has the same effect whether you are shooting uphill/downhill/flat its all the same. and like stated before, your gonna want to take off distance if anything, never add!!!

9er

Like the other guys said, you gotta cut distance no matter if it's uphill or downhill. It all depends on the yardage and angle as to how much you have to take off so it's pretty much impossible to answer the question really, each situation is different....That's where the newer rangefinders with the angle compensator built into them comes in handy.

So I see the question I submitted may have been a difficult one. I had no idea they made rangefinders that take angle into account, amazing!! But as far as angle compensation it makes sense that more angle, less gravity or in other words more angle, less distance needed. The one thing I am sure of is that whatever the projectile may be the flatter the trajectory the more effect gravity will have. Simple physics.

Simple trigonometry really. I use a simple formula I found that will give the approximate yardage to shoot. The hypotenuse being the ranged distance and the base of the triangle being the distance gravity acts on the arrow. I figured it for 25 and 45 degree angles and it seems to get me close enough. 25 degree distance= [hypotenuse - (hypotenuse divided by 10)]. If you ranged 30 yards you would subtract 3 yards from 30 and shoot it for 27 yards. At 45 degrees it triples itself so the formula is [hypotenuse - (3 X hypotenuse divided by 10)]. This figures out at 30 yards to be 30 minus 9 which is 21 yards and you would shoot it for about 20 yards. I played with the trig for hours and noticed that this association works out pretty well. Hope this helps some. Also remember to draw the bow level to keep your arms and spine in a "T" then bend at the waist to aquire the target. Just moving your arm up or down will destroy your form and make for a bad shot. Just remember to practice.
mark

Mark no wonder I miss so many up and downhill shots. I was terrible at trig in college.

"m gardner" wrote:Simple trigonometry really. I use a simple formula I found that will give the approximate yardage to shoot. The hypotenuse being the ranged distance and the base of the triangle being the distance gravity acts on the arrow. I figured it for 25 and 45 degree angles and it seems to get me close enough. 25 degree distance= [hypotenuse - (hypotenuse divided by 10)]. If you ranged 30 yards you would subtract 3 yards from 30 and shoot it for 27 yards. At 45 degrees it triples itself so the formula is [hypotenuse - (3 X hypotenuse divided by 10)]. This figures out at 30 yards to be 30 minus 9 which is 21 yards and you would shoot it for about 20 yards. I played with the trig for hours and noticed that this association works out pretty well. Hope this helps some. Also remember to draw the bow level to keep your arms and spine in a "T" then bend at the waist to aquire the target. Just moving your arm up or down will destroy your form and make for a bad shot. Just remember to practice.
mark

uh-- what was that??? :)) :)) and how much was that rangefinder that does all this for us??? :)) :))

Mark, you are the man!!! That was the kind of answer I was looking for! Great advice and once again you come through in the clutch. :thumb

By the way, the pin bracketing technique is working out beautifully and will give me much needed confidence regarding quick reference distances in the field.

Thanks again,

Brandon

Oh yeah, remember that as your shooting angle on the animal changes you'll need to change your aim to get as many vitals as possible. The steeper the angle the harder it is to center both lungs which is what we all hope for. If you are above the animal you must hit them higher and if you are lower than they are you must hit lower to angle the shot into the center of the vitals. High angle shots are the hardest to accomplish. If you think about it a 45 degree shot will get the top of one lung and the bottom of the other. I always try for the heart and the arteries around it when I have a bad angle. Useing a big diameter broadhead helps too.
Mark
P.S. I hunted whitetails back east for years out of a tree and found no compensation for the downhill angle was necessary as long as I held in the usual spot. The arrow hit slightly higher than intended which was perfect to angle down into the vitals. Out to about 30 yards and not more than 25 or 30 degrees this works out. I think that's why most hunters I talk to think there's no compensation necessary from a high angle.

Once again, good advice. Thanks Mark.

This is the first time I have clicked on a thread regarding this question and found nothing but the correct advice! :thumb Kudos guys!

Great advice, THANKS!

One good way to test this is if you can get a face target like a FITA 10 ring target or large piece of paper and place a shooting spot in the center and put it at the different angles and see the change you get you may be suprised. The ten ring target is nice because the rings help measure the distance of drop or rise.

Good Luck!