Unfortunately, most bowhunters don’t practice shooting from a treestand, and come opening day of whitetail season, they become surprised when they shoot or miss a buck high, despite holding solidly and releasing smoothly.
There could be several reasons for this. One, they failed to acquire the proper shooting distance — that is, the true horizontal distance rather than the line-of-sight distance. With today’s awesome angle-compensating rangefinders, this problem can be completely avoided!
Of course, you can do it the old-fashioned way, too, by ranging potential shooting spots before the hunt, while standing at the base of the tree and clicking away to acquire the right distances. Either method will yield the proper horizontal shooting distance so you hit on target.
However, the biggest culprit behind shooting high or off the mark is usually a shooting-form issue. Bowhunters tend to lower their bow arm, draw, and then take aim at the animal, rather than keeping their torso and shoulders in proper alignment just prior to drawing and shooting.
The key to making a good treestand shot is to keep your torso or chest area perpendicular to your arms and shoulders. To do this, it’s best to draw on a level plane, using proper T-form, then to pivot downward at the waist. If your bow-hand, arm, shoulders and elbow are not aligned, you’ll come out of proper shooting alignment, which causes all sorts of problems, including changes in your draw length.
To practice the correct shooting posture for downward treestand shots, try using a string bow. You can make this training aid out of an old bowstring or a few feet of paracord, then tie a knot to create a large loop exactly the same length as your draw length. You should also tie in a D-loop onto the holding end, so it feels just like your bow setup. The beauty in using the string bow is you can simulate steep shooting angles right in the comfort of your living room.
With the string bow, you can quickly recognize poor shooting form. For example, if you anchor with the string bow while using solid T-form, everything will feel just right. But if you lower your bow hand and arm to change the shooting angle, without bending at the waist, you’ll notice the tension increasing greatly on the string bow, so much so that your release hand will pull away from your face. This type of drawing pressure, torque or change in your draw length will certainly cause a bad shot. You’ll also notice that with sharply angled positions, you may have to open up your shooting stance a little more, to ensure proper shoulder alignment.
Once you’ve mastered shooting technique with the string bow, you’ll shoot with greater control and accuracy with your regular bow setup. Give it a try.
