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Anyone sight their bow from elevation?

I didn't read all of the responses but I'm sure they're excellent. Keep it very simple. Sight in from a horizontal distance and when shooting at elevation either below or above you, always aim for the horizontal distance to your target not the line of sight distance. Without the aide of an angle compensating rangefinder, I aim a little low (either way i.e. shooting uphill or downhill) to compensate for the line of sight distance.
 
Are you assuming that he is sighted in for the horizontal and also shooting the horizontal distance from the tree?


For instance, if you are 30 feet up and the deer is 10 feet from the tree base, then your straight line distance is a touch over 10 yards and if you shoot your 10 yard pin then you'll be off. You should shoot for 10 feet.
if a deer is 10 feet from the tree you shoot it for ten feet. I am no math wiz but understand that the one line in a right angle.triangle is longer than the other. If other people don't then I can't help.
If this were true there would be no need for angle compensation in a rangefinder. Gravity plays a small roll in this. If you hunt 8-10 feet up you won’t see a difference, but in a steep hill at long distances you will.
 
We have to get real here… if a deer is 10 feet from a tree you can use your 10 yard pin and probably even hit it with your 50 yard pin being that close. Let’s go to the other extreme. Your hunting up high on a very steep hill. A deer is 60 yards down the hill but it’s only 30 yards “out away from the tree”. What pin to use??? I’m betting a rangefinder with angle compensation is going to read 60 yards line of sight and something like 52 yards compensated angle. What I do know is the 60 yard pin will miss high and the 30 yard pin will fall short.
 
We have to get real here… if a deer is 10 feet from a tree you can use your 10 yard pin and probably even hit it with your 50 yard pin being that close. Let’s go to the other extreme. Your hunting up high on a very steep hill. A deer is 60 yards down the hill but it’s only 30 yards “out away from the tree”. What pin to use??? I’m betting a rangefinder with angle compensation is going to read 60 yards line of sight and something like 52 yards compensated angle. What I do know is the 60 yard pin will miss high and the 30 yard pin will fall short.

50 yard pin actually might be more accurate at extremely close ranges...every pin hits dead on at 2 yardages
 
50 yard pin actually might be more accurate at extremely close ranges...every pin hits dead on at 2 yardages

You beat me to it! At 10 feet or 3.33 yards, your 50 yard pin will almost certainly be more accurate than your top pin. Slightly different for every draw weight, draw length, arrow weight, etc.

Everything 10-20 yards should be “spot on” with your 20 pin.


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You beat me to it! At 10 feet or 3.33 yards, your 50 yard pin will almost certainly be more accurate than your top pin. Slightly different for every draw weight, draw length, arrow weight, etc.

I was told this and it seemed likely so I tried it and it hit higher than my top pin everytime. Idk.
 
I was told this and it seemed likely so I tried it and it hit higher than my top pin everytime. Idk.

If you're like most folks, then your top pin will be low at extremely close ranges (sometimes so low that you'd miss/wound a deer with it). So, using a lower pin that shoots higher will get your closer to the bullseye in that case. My brother missed a buck 2 years ago because he thought the closer it is then the lower you aim, so he had a buck right in front of him and put his 20 yard pin at the bottom of his belly and the arrow went like a foot or more under it.
 
If you're like most folks, then your top pin will be low at extremely close ranges (sometimes so low that you'd miss/wound a deer with it). So, using a lower pin that shoots higher will get your closer to the bullseye in that case. My brother missed a buck 2 years ago because he thought the closer it is then the lower you aim, so he had a buck right in front of him and put his 20 yard pin at the bottom of his belly and the arrow went like a foot or more under it.

Guess I'm not be like most folks, lol, but it didn't work for me. I can't say why. After 3 or 4 shots I was tired of pulling buried arrows out of the target and have moved on. Maybe I'll give it another go, but my shots with my low pin were higher than my top pin when I tested it. And I was in the bullseye with my top pin.

Probably a good thing to try out and see for oneself before trying in a hunting scenario, imo. The guy who told me about it is a fantastic archer and definitely not a bs'r. Just for whatever reason, I didn't get that result.
 
All the time. I use a Trophy ridge pendulum sight on one bow and an EZV on my other.
 
I was told this and it seemed likely so I tried it and it hit higher than my top pin everytime. Idk.

That’s very odd but every setup is different. It only took one target at two yards on tournament day to learn targets less than 10 yards require a lower pin.


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Guess I'm not be like most folks, lol, but it didn't work for me. I can't say why. After 3 or 4 shots I was tired of pulling buried arrows out of the target and have moved on. Maybe I'll give it another go, but my shots with my low pin were higher than my top pin when I tested it. And I was in the bullseye with my top pin.

Probably a good thing to try out and see for oneself before trying in a hunting scenario, imo. The guy who told me about it is a fantastic archer and definitely not a bs'r. Just for whatever reason, I didn't get that result.

Maybe you weren't close enough? Did you try it at less than 10 feet?
 
Guess I'm not be like most folks, lol, but it didn't work for me. I can't say why. After 3 or 4 shots I was tired of pulling buried arrows out of the target and have moved on. Maybe I'll give it another go, but my shots with my low pin were higher than my top pin when I tested it. And I was in the bullseye with my top pin.

Probably a good thing to try out and see for oneself before trying in a hunting scenario, imo. The guy who told me about it is a fantastic archer and definitely not a bs'r. Just for whatever reason, I didn't get that result.

That’s interesting. I’d be interested to know your full set up details. Regardless your top pin should be high at 3 yards.


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That’s interesting. I’d be interested to know your full set up details. Regardless your top pin should be high at 3 yards.

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Mathews Switchback XT, Zeebra strings, 29.5", Ripcord Max Micro, trueglo sight w/ tritium top pin, Gold Tip Hunter XT arrows w/ 3 Blazer vanes, standard GT nock and HIT insert, 100g field point, string loop, True Ball release, peep sight.

I was at my first 3D tournament and was slightly high at the turkey (short distance). Crushed every other target. That's when I got the tip. Never tried it until last offseason, at home. I just didn't get the result. Reinhart NASP target.
 
Mathews Switchback XT, Zeebra strings, 29.5", Ripcord Max Micro, trueglo sight w/ tritium top pin, Gold Tip Hunter XT arrows w/ 3 Blazer vanes, standard GT nock and HIT insert, 100g field point, string loop, True Ball release, peep sight.

I was at my first 3D tournament and was slightly high at the turkey (short distance). Crushed every other target. That's when I got the tip. Never tried it until last offseason, at home. I just didn't get the result. Reinhart NASP target.

Thanks.

Assuming your shooting between 60 and 70 pounds and a typical arrow weight, that’s an interesting result. Obviously I couldn’t diagnose without your bow in my hands/press.


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I was told this and it seemed likely so I tried it and it hit higher than my top pin everytime. Idk.
It's supposed to hit higher. That's why you would use the lower pin - to correct low impacts.

The arrow is still on the way up at close range so hits low if you use a 20 yd pin. How close is close?
 
I sight in at ground level, but I practice a lot from elevation, especially as it gets closer to the season. I shoot all sorts of weird angles and unknown distances (point blank straight down out to about 30). I try really hard to keep my actual shots on deer in the 6-to-25-yard zone. I like to be able to see the spot I want to hit, judge the distance and hold subconsciously and shoot. None of my bucks have given me more than 20 seconds of shot opportunity. Does will sometimes hang around a while. I rarely use a range finder.
 
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