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OK, not wanting to start a war here as I see many are against shooting up in the air. I choose (many times), to do so, making sure the tree is the backstop.

So....question is, I have sited in my squirrel guns at 25 yds. Obviously on a level plane. When shooting tree rats do you guys aim dead on or shoot low per the angle? I have always shot dead on but last yer seem to miss too many shots :idunno:
 
Find a walnut tree.....Pick out a walnut or cluster and shoot it...If you miss, adjust your aim and shoot again.....This is the best way I know to not only asses your squirrel headshot ability, but to also practice at the same time....and it's fun.
 
Colorado Clyde said:
Find a walnut tree.....Pick out a walnut or cluster and shoot it...If you miss, adjust your aim and shoot again.....This is the best way I know to not only asses your squirrel headshot ability, but to also practice at the same time....and it's fun.

Very few walnut trees round bout these parts but good idea. Pine cones though :grin:

Do either of you find the need to aim low?
 
Fyrstyk said:
If the angle of the shot is plus or minus 45 degrees, aim low on the target or game.
I aim at my target, the angle should make no difference - gravity is a constant regardless of your initial angle and will attract the ball in the same way. The ballistic trajectory really doesn't change whether you are shooting dead level, down or up. The only thing that changes is where the arc is interrupted by the ground.
 
At 25 yards makes little difference unless using really light mouse fart level loads. Using standard loads (20-30 grains under a rb in 32 caliber for example), 2” bull, using ”˜pumpkin on a post’ hold, will sight in to hit center of 2” bull..... dead tree rat from head shot. That said, my safety concern is always what is backing up shot. I know, you dont want to start a war, but still worth mentioning.

Best way to understand point of aim vs point of impact is actual range time. Practice from up or down a hill or a tree stand to gain confidence. Nothing beats actual range time.
 
I think the real reason that people miss when shooting up in a tree has nothing to do with gravity or trajectory....I think they miss because when the point the gun up and crane their neck and change everything from eye alignment to the way they shoulder the gun.
 
I agree with most of what you said, especially the last part about the arc of trajectory of the ball. At 25 yards, there is probably little change. At 45 degrees up or down the actual travel distance of the ball is only 53 feet. Now if you are sighted in dead on at 25 yards (75 feet), depending on your ball trajectory, you could be low or high at 53 feet. I generally site in for dead on at 50 yards, so I use a loli-pop hold for shots at 25 yards, and hold low for up or down angle shots of 45 degrees.
 
Fyrstyk said:
At 45 degrees up or down the actual travel distance of the ball is only 53 feet.
That's not correct. The ball travels the full 75 feet in your example.

If what you said was true, then you could go out on a sunny day at noon, stand straight and tall, measure your shadow and find you are 2 feet 8 inches tall. :haha:

Spence
 
After reading my post I realize that I was thinking faster than I can type, which is not unusual. What i meant to say, is that gravity only works on the ball over the actual horizontal distance, which in the cited case is 53 feet.
 
Most rifles sighted at 25 yards the ball is still rising towards the line-of sight. They'll be "on" again at 85 to 100 yards.

For squirrel I used to hold for the corner of their mouth.

Sometimes I missed and hit them in the eye.
 
Maybe I am eccentric. I climb to my 15-foot stand and reach up to staple a target on the tree. Back on the ground, I range off 25 yards and sight in my squirrel rifle on the target. 90% of the squirrels I shoot are in the trees. After sighting in this way, I shoot a horizontal/parallel target from ground level so I have a reference. My groups are about 3/4" at 25-yards and I cannot tell any difference between the angled shots and the horizontal shots. With an air-powered gun I see a half-inch difference in overall group that is slightly higher on the horizontal target compared to the angled one, but not enough to make me change my POA in either case.
 
Fyrstyk said:
What i meant to say, is that gravity only works on the ball over the actual horizontal distance, which in the cited case is 53 feet.
And that's what I was disagreeing with. The ball travels the full length of the hypotenuse of the triangle, not just that of the horizontal leg. Gravity works all the time, so it is working on the ball for the complete length of its flight. That projection of the flight onto the horizontal leg like a shadow is a red herring which leads many shooters down the primrose path. That idea has been around for a long time, looks as though it's never going away. But it's wrong.

Spence
 
George said:
Fyrstyk said:
What i meant to say, is that gravity only works on the ball over the actual horizontal distance, which in the cited case is 53 feet.
And that's what I was disagreeing with. The ball travels the full length of the hypotenuse of the triangle, not just that of the horizontal leg. Gravity works all the time, so it is working on the ball for the complete length of its flight. That projection of the flight onto the horizontal leg like a shadow is a red herring which leads many shooters down the primrose path. That idea has been around for a long time, looks as though it's never going away. But it's wrong.

Spence

The affect of gravity is not a constant throughout the flight path....Time is a factor, as the bullet slows down the affects of gravity on it increase because time of flight increases....
 
Gravity works with the same force, at the same rate, all the time. What you are describing is the cumulative effect over time. In the instance being discussed the ball is in the air for the same total time when fired on the slant as when fired on the level, so the accumulated effect is the same, not reduced because the shadow or projection of the flight is shorter.

Spence
 
Gravity works with the same force, at the same rate, all the time.

Actually the force of gravity is less standing on a mountain top than it is at sea level and it is also different at the poles than it is at the equator.

Gravity is a constant, but it's intensity varies across the surface of the earth.....Not enough for you to notice though....

And yes, with regards to bullets, time is a factor, that is the point I was trying to make.. The time differential can be adjusted by increasing speed or shortening the distance to the target.
 
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