Can You Hit Your Target?

[Swede]

Some people (quite a few) seem to have trouble hitting the mark from a tree stand. Here are some of the problems I have heard about or seen over the years.
Several people I know hit high consistently. When they are on the ground they do ok.
Some claim they need the stand faced just right in order to be able to shoot. They claim they are left handed and it is a right handed stand, or vice versa.
Last year a fellow could not draw his bow because of nerves when the elk arrived.
Some are just nervous when they stand so they cling to the tree.
I don't know if anyone here, or a friend of anyone here has any of these or other problems, but lets discuss them. If you had a problem shooting from a stand, but cured it; what did you do to get it right?

The problem I have is not much of a handicap. I can't sit and draw my bow effectively. I need to stand up. I could fix that problem by reducing the draw weight of the bow, or maybe more practice would cure it.

[Ryan Conkle]

The problem of hitting high either when shooting out of a treestand or when at a steep decline can certainly pose a problem if you do not have a means of compensating for the angle of the shot when shooting the perceived distance of the shot rather than the actual distance, which is why I have a Nikon Archer's Choice laser rangefinder, which has arc compensation. This has been a relatively small investment which has provided me with much peace of mind when not only shooting at an incline or decline but also before any shot, if the situation allows me time to do so. As far as being comfortable/accurate when shooting out of a treestand or trying to maintain your nerves while hunting, I believe the key to improving in these areas' best comes in the form of experience and putting yourself in these situations' before being a hunting situation, in which nerves' are running high, will help to gain comfort and confidence, an example of this would be such as setting up a treestand up in your backyard in the summer and climbing and shooting out of it on a regular basis, well before season arrives' is the best way to gain confidence and experience with accuracy or comfort. As Far as maintaining nerves' when you have a screaming bull in front of you, I believe that the best thing that can be done is to gain confidence through your preparation for the hunt, in that you will act on your training and conditioning when the moment arrives, because I can say that I will continue to get nervous/excited during these moments' as that is why we as elk hunters' continue to come back for more and I do not ever anticipate that to change in my case! lol

[T.B.]

As an avid whitetail hunter I have spent many hours in a tree stand. Not bending at the waste has always been a huge problem for me. This almost always causes a shot to be high. The cure for me is to develop a mental checklist and use it while practicing. Of course with the excitement of big racks or screaming bulls many times the checklist goes right out the window as the adrenilene Rush takes over. But then without that huge rush of nerves hunting wouldn't be as much of an adventure. With elk I hunt from the ground but I'm sure my whitetail mistakes apply no matter the game

[rowdycwby1]

Bending at the waist is key as T.B. said I draw level then bend at waist to keep my anchor point the same. When I first started shooting out of a tree stand in shot high maintenance reason was in drew back at a downward angle so it changed my anchor point. I live in southeast NM so we don't have trees so I'd put my stand on a telephone pole and they move a lot. I'd practice stand and just got us to standing up slowly then started drawing back after I got use to it. One other very important thing is make sure your a 100% tied of before doing anything in your stand. If you still feel unsafe they make ropes you can tie to bottom rung of step to stay tied of going up and coming down also also livewire makes a safety system that will lower you down slowly if you falla

[Swede]

One thing I still do, even though I have a good range finder, is to measure some out to some prominent objects surrounding my stand, and keep a mental note of their distance from my tree. Sometimes I hang a piece of plastic ribbon on a few bushes out thirty or forty yards from my stand for quick reference points. I don't mix 30 and 40 yard markers. If I go with one then I stick with just that distance.
Has anyone heard of people having problems with left, or right handed stands? Maybe the guy I hunt with is unique. He is also very lucky/successful.

[T.B.]

Good point on the tie off system rowdy. We now have a 100% tie off rule from the ground up. Just not worth the risk for the minimal cost

Swede I find a right hand or left hand set up is very important. Depends on the direction you anticipate the critter coming from. And of course they will show up unexpected and on the opposite side of the tree often enough.

[rowdycwby1]

Swede what do you mean by left or right handed stand? If you're referring to setting up for a lefthand person vs a right-handed person it makes a huge difference. My cousin is left handed and I've hunted out of his stand but it's a little more challenging cause I have to stand and turn a full 180 couse his shooting lanes are on my right side. It can be done but makes it tuff.

[Swede]

Good point guys about always being tied off when you are in a tree. I use a safety line, just cuz I want to walk away when I get back to the ground.
The right handed stand is what my left handed friend calls most of the ones I set up. I pick the best tree around and face it in the direction I want to watch. Often I shoot to the left. He says he can't use the stand as it is right handed. I have killed elk and deer off to the right with no problem. I can do it fairly easily as my tether is tied off well above me. When I sit down my tether strap is nearly snug. I have about an inch of slack in the strap so I can lean forward, but I can't bend over. Since the tether is behind me it doesn't matter which way I turn. The main reason I tie my tether off up high is because I do not want to slip and fall, even 6 inches. A benefit I get is ease of shooting for about 270 degrees, depending on the diameter of the tree, because I stand out on the end of my platform.

[rowdycwby1]

Your buddy must be a lefty! Since I'm left handed in set my stands so I can watch to the left also but I leave a small shooting lanes to the right if I need to turn around and shoot to my right

[Lefty]

I haven't (rifle) hunted out of a stand for years. Having flexibility and being comfortable with heights is important.

[WYO_ELK]

I grew up sitting in treestands, hunting river bottom whitetails. I haven't added the stand to my elk hunting arsenal yet, because I don't want to pack a stand a treesticks 2 miles in. I have the perfect wallow for an all day sit though, it's tempting.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[TurkeyBowMaster]

I wouldn't expect an elk tp be near as difficult to hit from a tree stand as a smallish doe and not nearly as apt to squat at the release. It would be cool to have one under you. I have actually pondered the idea of incorporating a fast stand setup for calling. Gaffs and a tree sling would be a light enough for mobility and breaking limbs on a climb could help with the calling sequence. If I try that this season I will let y'all know how it goes.