Archery shot sitting down

[JordanAdams]

Last year I hunted from the ground with my bow while I was trying to kill this one particular buck. Long story short, I missed and then that evening I hit him but it wasn't a kill a shot (high leg/low brisket). At 30 yards when I made the shot that hit him there was no excuse for why I hit low except that I had never tried shooting from a fully seated position on the ground and I felt myself drop my bow a little as I shot. That buck ended up being killed a few weeks later by someone else and I could see plain as day where my arrow hit after he was dead. We had seen him a few times prior where he was getting along just fine chasing does and jumping fences but it was interesting to see how fast he adjusted to the hit and kept on keepin on. Tough little boogers. I ended up killing a mule deer from my knees that November. After season closed I got to thinking that I need to practice a full seated shot. While I was watching Western Hunter I saw how he was sitting allowing him a full ranged shot with no disturbance so I gave it a try. 20-40 yards were surprisingly good shots but I was on even ground. I know I need to go shoot at an incline and a decline but does anybody have experiences making fully seated shots in situations that would mind sharing tips on how to make that shot study or more comfortable. Leg positions, hip bends, torso tilts, anything of the sort really.

 

[GunsAreFun]

All I can say is that I hunt out of ground blinds a lot so I practice in a seated position. A tripod chair with no arm rest and a triangle shaped seat are very helpful. You also need to setup so that the most likely shot you will take will be between 8 to 11 o’clock—assuming you’re right handed. It is almost impossible to shoot dead straight in front of you and to the right. You’d have to turn yourself on the seat and that will likely alert a deer.

Beyond that, I don’t feel much different shooting sitting down. I do practice shooting downhill a lot because that makes me be conscious about shooting over the bottom of the blind window.

 

[5MilesBack]

Always practice any potential shots you might have to make ahead of time. I like practicing the challenging shots........up, down, kneeling, sitting, leaning around a tree......just to see what if anything different happens. Then if there's a pattern you can plan for that. I always shoot high on uphill shots so I know I need to aim a little low.

 

[Newtosavage]

Anytime your lower limb catches the ground, or a tree branch or whatever, the arrow is going to go low. I've been there myself and it's cost me a couple animals in the past. The solution is to cant your bow more when you're on the ground. However, that's sometimes not possible. So you have to elevate just enough to get that lower limb to clear.

Best of luck in the future.

 

[Billy Goat]

Did a lot of this stuff in the alpha bowhunting section at the top of the archery sub forum. Phil went over several shooting scenarios to practice.

We use to just go around as a group and take bs shots. It was like playing horse, except furthest out paid $1 to the closest. Shoot off of one knee, sitting flat, squatting down to shoot under something, with your fingers since you lost your release. That no release shot is about impossible now with short a/a bows.

 

[LongWayAround]

I picked up a helinox swivel chair for seated shots at ground level. Check it out. It makes a fine camp fire chair to boot.