shooting uphill/downhill

All of the hunting uphill/downhill shots I have made were either close enough or shallow enough angle that I just ignored the fact that I was shooting uphill/downhill, and still made quick humane kills.

I have shot targets uphill/downhill just to practice and found that I generally avoid the terrain that would lead me to have to calculate such an uphill/downhill bullet drop:D
 
I've had some shots with the 7mm mag that were pretty extreme downhill at around 350 yards. Shooting a coyote with a straight line distance to 350 and the corrected distance of 300 for horizontal distance can cause a miss over the animal. This can also happen on small hogs due to the fact they are pretty compact. I'm quite happy to range 'em with my RXIII and shoot what it tells me. I rarely miss then.
 
myfriendis410 said:
I've had some shots with the 7mm mag that were pretty extreme downhill at around 350 yards. Shooting a coyote with a straight line distance to 350 and the corrected distance of 300 for horizontal distance can cause a miss over the animal.
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In order to have a 300 yard shot on a 350 yard straight line, you'd have to be 180 yards (540 feet) above your target.
 
I agree with trying to avoid the country where angled shots are a necessity, usually makes for a long day if something gets killed. I have been there though and wondered if I should aim high or low or what, that's why I wondered about practicing. Good to know that it really doesn't make much difference until you get past where I feel comfortable shooting anyway.
 
Yes, but to have a 25 degree angle at 1000 yards you'd have to be a 1/4 mile above your target.
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How do you think the 338 Lapua beat the 50 BMG for longest confirmed sniper kill?

Lots of mountains in Afghanistan.

Jimro
 
When aiming downhill, if there are trees or something standing as the same height as the shooter, it's easy to judge the horizontal distance, without any math.
 
Jimro said:
How do you think the 338 Lapua beat the 50 BMG for longest confirmed sniper kill?

Lots of mountains in Afghanistan.
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That may well be, I have no idea about the circumstances of that kill.

In the civilian target world and especially in hunting, it's not an issue that will ever matter to most shooters.

It would be extremely rare to even be 200 feet above a 350 yard (straight line) target.

A 25% grade is a very steep hill under normal circumstances. Certainly steep enough to be a significant challenge to ride up on a bike. That's only about a 14dg angle. On a 350 yard straight line, being on a 25% grade would put the true shot distance at 339 yards. Using your 350 yards zero with most any major caliber would make a difference of around 1".

A 14dg angle might not sound like much but you'd have to be 255 feet above (or below) your target. That's a steep hill and it only makes a difference of 11 yards.

In archery, it makes almost no difference. It's all a marketing gimmick. If you're 25 feet up a tree, which is higher than most guys hunt, and you're target is 20 yards in a straight line, the actual shooting distance is 18.1 yards. Even with a slow bow, a 1.9 yard difference is irrelevant. Consider that up until a few years ago many range finders only did 2 yard increments and most hunters can't shoot well enough to hold a group smaller than the difference between 18.1 and 20 yards anyway.
 
In order to have a 300 yard shot on a 350 yard straight line, you'd have to be 180 yards (540 feet) above your target.
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That would be about right. We have some pretty steep hills and canyons that often preclude getting closer to an animal.
 
Of course, the size of the target matters, as well as the distance.
That apparently small difference could be important for hunting squirrels and rabbits with a traditional bow.
And assuming the archer has the skill to hit something that small at that distance.
 
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A 25% grade is a very steep hill under normal circumstances. Certainly steep enough to be a significant challenge to ride up on a bike. That's only about a 14dg angle. On a 350 yard straight line, being on a 25% grade would put the true shot distance at 339 yards. Using your 350 yards zero with most any major caliber would make a difference of around 1".
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Brian, I'm not disagreeing. At short ranges, pbr and under, it doesn't matter much.

At long ranges, it matters much more.

Unless you are hunting in the mountains, or similar terrain (tall buildings in an urban environment), you'll probably never need to use this (unless you are using a round that has an extreme ballistic arc and a short pbr, maybe a 45-70 with a 500gr bullet at 1,200 fps and hunting something smaller than big game size).

I knew a sniper instructor who had zero data on his rifle from 0 to 1200 meters with data every 25 meters. When you are trying to hit a target 4" or less at range, then slope matters a lot more than if you have a 12" sweet spot on a deer or elk.

We've had plenty of instances where the extreme elevation differences here in Afghanistan have caused dismounts to miss, even inside the PBR of the M4 with M855 ammunition. We have to train them and remind them to aim low when shooting up and downhill. Of course the 300m battlesight zero of the rifle system has a max ordinate around 160 meters, so that is the normal range when folks miss, even on a flat range.

Jimro
 
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