What is the best way to judge shot placemet from a tree stand?

[JDAWG]

What tips do you all have that will help with this? I'm a little confused as to what pin to place on the deer. For instance, if it is a 20yd shot, but from a treestand, do you use a 10 yd pin? or just use your 20 low?

[Squirrelhunter91]

Use the same pin for a 20 yard shot out of a treestand as you would for a 20 yard shot on the ground. The POI is right about the same.

The most important thing is to shoot for the exit. Try to picture before you shoot where your arrow would come out if you hit a deer where you are thinking about aiming. Try to picture if you would get both lungs or not.

[RangerClay]

Use the same pin for a 20 yard shot out of a treestand as you would for a 20 yard shot on the ground. The POI is right about the same.

The most important thing is to shoot for the exit. Try to picture before you shoot where your arrow would come out if you hit a deer where you are thinking about aiming. Try to picture if you would get both lungs or not.

That is great advice right there. One more thing I might add is get a target and practice from something similiar to your treestand.

[Tominator]

Use the same pin for a 20 yard shot out of a treestand as you would for a 20 yard shot on the ground. The POI is right about the same.

The most important thing is to shoot for the exit. Try to picture before you shoot where your arrow would come out if you hit a deer where you are thinking about aiming. Try to picture if you would get both lungs or not.

This is a very smart young man. Follow his advice.

[m gardner]

If you aren't very high up and the angle isn't over 20 or 30 degrees shoot your 20 yard pin and hold where you normally would. You will hit slightly higher but shooting from a tree you want to hit the animal higher so the arrow angles downward through the vitals. So at low angle shots the problem takes care of itself. At high angle shots like 45 degrees or more a 30 yard shot is like a 20 yard shot and you need to figure where to hold on the deer to get some vitals. As you get higher it's harder to get both lungs because of shot angle and it is better to aim for the heart. Just figure that gravity acts on the arrow over the horizontal distance to the target. Range the area from the ground and remember the yardages and shoot the deer for those distances not the distance you would range sitting in the stand. Remember to draw the bow level then bend at the waist to shoot so you keep the "T" form between your arms and spine. If you just drop your arm to shoot you'll miss. Climb up on the garage at home or shoot from your stand a bit before the deer come. Take some blunts or field tips with you if they are legal to have while hunting deer and shoot a bit. Good luck.

Mark

[Tony]

thats the 2 best tips i see here.

1 bend at the waist.

2 aim where you want the arrow to exit.

a tip i would like to add is, practice from a treestand before the season to determine shot placement and how you perceive the shot to look. sometimes it looks a lot differant from above.

Tony

[JDAWG]

Thanks for the tips. I've been shoothing from my deck to my target, its about a 15 ft drop. This is about as high as I'm comfortable in a treestand. Up until now I've primarily been a ground hunter, so I'm excited about the new experience. Thanks all!

[GWSmith]

I'll tell you what I do which is to imagine I can see the heart of the deer, then what shot angle will make my arrow go through the center of it, and stick in the far side leg.

Another thing I just remembered that may help was seeing a video from years ago where the shooter had taken out the removable section of a 3-D deer target.

It gave the shooter an idea of how high he could go in the treestand before losing that perfect double lung shot.

[Born4it]

You've gotten many great tips here...one more I'll add that has to do with how far forward or back on a quartering away deer is to shoot at the opposite leg. Everyone wants complete passthrough, but if you shoot a deer that's quartering away and lodge the arrow in the opposite shoulder, you'll have a dead deer. Good luck!

Ryan

[Guest IndyBassin]

That is great advice right there. One more thing I might add is get a target and practice from something similiar to your treestand.

My rookie year of bowhunting... guess I'll practice some from the roof of my garage

[RangerClay]

My rookie year of bowhunting... guess I'll practice some from the roof of my garage

It can be anything elevated. Even your kids tree fort, a raised deck, or stand on the tailgate of your truck.

[dbHunterNY]

A lot of really good tips. Most importantly though get out there and shoot your bow from an elevated position. Also don't set yourself up square and all perfect when you do it after a little while. Jumble up your footing or twist your body around. You'll start to figure out how your shots and accuracy are effected. You'll learn stuff you can't begin to explain on here in words. Just don't be falling off the roof of your house. lol Remember to be safe. If you usually use a harness, even if shooting from say a deck, wear it. You'll be wearing it when you get that shot so you'll know if things will get snagged when you're shooting at different angles.

Good luck,

Dan

[fly]

If you ever decide to go up to 25 feet or more you'll likely need to make some adjustments. Practice at the heigth you'll be shooting at and you can't go wrong.

I was on my roof last night shooting. I only have one tree in the back yard and I can only get a 20 yard shot from it. My roof gives me a 30 yard shot. My neighbors think I'm crazy.