Holdover question

C

cdoc42

New member
It is my understanding that aiming at a hunted quarry at an angle of 45 or more degrees requires the aiming point to be lowered since the point of impact will be higher than expected.

My question is, if one uses a range finder in that circumstance, would that also change the accuracy of the distance observed?
 
some range finders compensate for the angle...the one i use is old but i think it even tells the degree of angle
 
Any angle needs compensation, especially over 20 degrees. Typically your rangefinder gives you a los or line of sight distance. Drop should be figured on a cosine of the line of sight angle. Wind should be calculated on the full distance. Ideally, you would put los distance and the angle in your ballistic solver.
 
Unless the angle is extreme, and the range is long it usually isn't much of a factor with rifle cartridges. This is really more of an issue with archery hunters.

When you're shooting at a target or game animal that is higher, or lower than your elevation a range finder will measure that distance. But the target/animal is actually a bit closer in relation to the earth.

Some good illustrations here.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=compensating+for+elevated+targets+when+shooting&FORM=HDRSC3



One of those graphs shows a deer 21 yards from the base of a tree. The hunter is 20 yards up the tree. A straight line from the hunter to the deer shows 30 yards on a range finder. But the arrow is only traveling 21 yards. That 7 yards will make a huge difference in point of impact with an arrow.

With rifle shots inside 300 yards you have to be shooting at a pretty significant angle for the bullets point of impact to change enough to miss.

You would see the same difference in trajectory if the hunter were shooting upward at the same angle.
 
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