Elevation and arrow trajectory.

[Jahnke76]

Haz anyone noticed differences when shooting at higher elevations versus shooting at lower elevations.

[N5J]

We always shoot when we get into camp and we find that our arrows will hit 1 inch to 2 inches low. The elevation where we live is 3200 ft and 7500 ft elevation where we hunt, you wouldn't think it would make that much difference but it does.

N5J

James

[Freebird134]

I don't think it does. The only difference elevation can cause would be through air pressure. Theoretically, you'd have two opposing consequences of reduced air pressure. Lower air pressure would reduce air resistance, therefore you could argue 1) your arrows would decelerate more slowly, thus maintaining higher average speed and hitting higher on the target, and 2) your arrows would fall more quickly with low air resistance, thus making you hit lower.

Depending on how the relative magnitude of these 2 elements change as you increase elevation, you might under controlled conditions experience slightly different points of impact. But under realistic conditions with natural variation and a human shooter, I don't think it's possible to tell a difference. Until someone works out the math or takes a hooter shooter up on some peaks and compares it to lower elevations, I don't buy it.

[pointysticks]

i dont buy it either.

the difference must be negligible. i cant remember any trajectory equations that factor in elevation (or air pressure)..dang..now i have to look! there goes a perfectly good workday.

ooo..they do factor in gravity.. good lord, my head hurts. more coffee please.

i just shoot my bow first day in camp, and check all my points on my bow. (which i will sharpie on tonight)

[Jahnke76]

I really didnt think it does myself but some people say it does. I shoot when i arrive and in between anyways so it dont matter. But now i might have to take my shooting machine to test this theory.

[BarW]

A lot of the perceived change in arrow trajectory due to elevation comes from shooting the up and down hill angles on the mountain sides. I live in east Texas at about 200' elevation, we have a cabin in Co at about 10k elevation. I practice at both places and I only see a difference when shooting up or down the mountain never when shooting across.

[foxvalley]

A lot of the perceived change in arrow trajectory due to elevation comes from shooting the up and down hill angles on the mountain sides. I live in east Texas at about 200' elevation, we have a cabin in Co at about 10k elevation. I practice at both places and I only see a difference when shooting up or down the mountain never when shooting across.

Practicing on extreme up and down slopes is not an option where I live, I have always aimed a little low for both up and down slopes, is this correct, and how much difference in point of impact are you seeing, say at 30 yds.?

[Freebird134]

Foxvalley, you should "aim low" on all angled shots (uphill or downhill). But within 30 yards you probably won't need to worry about shot angles at all. Here is a chart I put to gether for my own reference:

Shot angles.png (33.22 KiB) Viewed 8919 times

The top row (shot distance) is the distance from you to the animal (hypotenuse of the triangle). The first column is the angle, and the corresponding values are the distance you should aim. For example, if the animal is 50 yards away from you and the angle is 30 degrees (uphill or downhill) you aim like it is 43 yards away.

With my bow, which isn't even that fast and shoots a heavyish arrow, I use 1 pin out to 30 yards. So according to this table, any shot within 30 yards -- no matter the angle-- I will still use my 30 yard pin. Even at 40 yards, the angle has to be more than 45 degrees for me to be really concerned about subtracting distance. And 45 degrees is really steep!

And, foxvalley, I totally hear ya on not being able to practice steep shots here in Wisconsin. My gun club is building up its berm, and if I stand on top of it I can practice 40 and 50 yard shots with 30 degree angles max. That's not even much...a 30 degree angle doesn't really need to be compensated for until it's past 40 yards.

[foxvalley]

Freebird,

You the man! That's exactly what I wanted to see, thanks.

[BarW]

That chart looks pretty dead on.

[MTLongdraw]

That chart is dead on. I used it this year to practice but found with the speed of todays bows and having your pins set up at 20-30-40-50 it didn't seem to matter enough to compensate. BUT I don't have a tree stand either. That was unless you were shooting over about 35-40 yards on a steep angle such as 45 degrees. Also works well for long range rife if you don't have angle drop compensator etc.

[Swede]

I live and practice at about a 280 foot elevation. I hunt at 5200 foot or higher. I have not noticed any significant difference in arrow tradjectory. Remember when shooting uphill or down, it is horizontal distance you need to determine. When I am in my tree stand I learn the down hill distances to different points by sighting on trees, at a spot approximately level with where I am perched. Also I have set out ground markers (piles of sticks or plastic flagging), for later reference, when I sighted back to my tree. Horizontal distance is what the new ARC rangeinders are calculating for you.

[pointysticks]

randy ulmer had a segment on this..few weeks back.

i was blown away. he said YES..elevation will affect POI. he also said he leaves everything alone, except the limbs. he takes a turn out of the limbs!!

i think this is so you dont have to mess with the individual pins. crazy.

[dotman]

I know everyone says it isn't true but every time I go from 1k to 11k my bow shoots high and I adjust. Simple fact is this is something I always have to do.

[stringunner]

This year my dad hunted from a tree stand exclusively. In order to practice angled shots, he built a platform on top of his barn roof, he said the peak of his barn was around 25 feet. It was crazy. He would move the target out away from his barn to various distances 10 yards to 50. He doesn't have an angle compensating rangefinder so this was why he practiced alot from the barn roof. It worked as he connected on a cow from his stand. 13 yard shot and his stand was 28 feet in the air. Doing the math, that made for a fairly vertical shot. He says his practice from the barn made all the difference. I will try and post a picture of him. (Note he is not roped off while on the barn, he got a lot of crap from me when I came by one night to watch this )

[pointysticks]

cool picture!!
this thread is more about the affects high elevation has on your point of impact. my bow was shooting high in idaho..i'm a believer.

[buglmin]

Yessir, the thin air does chnge the poi on arrows. I have a few Mathews pro shooters very year out here, and the difference from Wisconsin to Colorado is several inches higher at 30 yards...maybe that explains why I shoot so bad when I go to Ohio? Oh wait, I blame that on jet lag..

[T/H]

mine is sited in at sea level for the most part and my 40 yard pin appears to shoot the same at 8,000 ft.