Judge yardage from a treestand

[metrx]

If you cant get a cheap rangefinder, get some string and cut in a 30 yard length.  Get a buddy and go up to your treestand and hold one end of the string and have your buddy stretch out the string and walk around your stand and mark off 10, 20, 30...whatever yardages you want by putting surveyers tape on a few trees.  Do 2 or 3 just to give you an idea.  Its simple.
 
When in doubt, when shooting from an elevated stand, aim a little lower than normal.
 
Practice from elevated stands in the off-season and try to use 3D targets.
 

[scotman]

It is all dependent on how high your treestand is. The higher you go the lower on your target you will have to shoot. Always hold slightly lower on your target if your in a treestand than you would from normal ground position. If your at all unsure about it is best to shoot some practice arrows out of a treestand before opener so you can get used to the difference between shooting from ground and shooting from a treestand.

[epd68]

a basic range finder from any reputable maker will do when i get in my stand i range the surrounding trees that encircle my stand at 20-30-40-50 yards when the deer approaches the appropriate circle use the corresponding pin ..........its not minute of angle but it is minute of deer(68speak)

[hookset6969]

LOT2LEARN, when shooting real close from off the ground like say 5yds use your 30 or 40yd pin, If your bow is shooting in the 150-170fps range, I have not tried this from up in a tree but from the ground it is a must. I can tell you that if the target is 3-5yds away and you use your 20yd pin you will shoot low about 1-2 inches, This factor really means much of nothing in the hunting world as 2 inches more than likely will still result in a kill shot, However in the 3-d world it is the difference between a 12 or 10. I have done many shots from my tree stand and have found if I'm hunting from 15' that everything is about right on, Forget the angle factor, Put out some markers and your good to go [:)]

[bowhuntr15]

Better late than never, but here I go..., I read, and read, and read,  IMO - Hookset6969, YOU NAILED IT!  IMO, AGAIN, part of preparing a ground  or tree set-up, besides cutting lanes, etc..., should be taking some mock shots, setting some markers, and KNOW your shots.  KNOW your shots.  And yes, carry a rangefinder for an unexpected situation.  My comfort ZONE is 30 yrds., so I mark with tape, or land markers on 3-4 different areas to mark my Zone.  The land markers may be from a hardware store, old arrow shafts,  or from nature (a rock, branch, pile of dirt, ect. and all free).   

[fasteddie]

Here is what I do sometimes .............

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj14 ... Holder.flv

[SwampLife]

ORIGINAL: shaman

If you want the formula for calculating the distance from up a tree vs. on the ground, you can't do any better than the pythagorean theorem:  a^2 * b^2 = c^2.    Let's assume you see a deer standing next to a tree that you know to be 20 yards out.  Your stand height is 20 feet.

a^2=20^2 = 20 X20 = 400 feet
b^2 = (20*3)^2 = 60 X 60= 3600 feet

c= the square root of ( 400+3600)=  63.25 feet or 21 yards.

What Pythagorus is telling you here is that at 20 feet up, the difference between the ground and the treestand ain't all that much.

The big problem is going to be the fact that by being elevated, and shooting down, you are somewhat negating the effect that gravity will have on the arrow.  The formula to calculate that is much more complicated, but a high-school physics textbook would teach you how. 

The rule of thumb used to be: Beyond 20 yards, subtract one pin.  That is, if the deer presents himself at 30 yards, shoot with the 20 yard pin.  I bought my last bow in 1996, so forgive me if that rule does not fit your new bow.

That should not be something you take for granted anyway.  To find out where your bow really shoots, you need to go up the tree and actually fire at your target from  straight down all the way out to your farthest shot and actually get a feel for it.  The faster your bow shoots, the less you will have to compensate for distance and elevation.

This is probably the best advertisement incentive i have ever seen as to why you should buy a friggin rangefinder.


excuse me while i go uncross my eyes...

[Randy3003]

I try to do a lot of practicing from the various stand heights that I use and Always remember bend at the waist and aim low.  Practice will dictate the amount.  Or you can do as I now do, and that is do it the hard way and hunt from the ground.  This gives the animal even or better odds of survival.   It allows them full use of all their senses, and of course it helps if you're an accomplished hunter, as then the hunt becomes more important than the harvest.  Good luck and good hunting no matter the method.

[epd68]

practice , know your shots ,range trees if you can BUT REMEMBER EARLY HUNTERS COULD DO ALL THIS PRIOR TO POCKET RANGEFINDERS......THEY HUNTED TO EAT AND SURVIVE NOW THEY JUST FILM A COUPLE OF COMMERCIALS FOR GEICO AND THEY CAN FEED THEIR FAMILYS FOR A LIFETIME

[fasteddie]

mtptl77 ----------- Heard you the 1st time . [;)]..[;)]..[;)]