Most hunters will practice year-round with their bow and arrow setups, but few take the time to practice with their rifles. My guess is that rifles never seem to miss, regardless of the skill of the shooter. But if you have ever shot at extreme angles, you know that this is definitely not the case. So how can you become a more accurate rifle shot at steep angles? Let’s talk about it!
Angles and Shot Impacts
Whether you are shooting uphill or downhill, a steep-angled shot will have a different point of impact than if you were shooting on level ground. This is due to a number of factors such as gravity. At different angles, gravity works differently on your bullet than it would on a level shot. In general, shooting at an extreme angle will give you a higher point of impact than if you are shooting horizontally, even at the same exact range. This means you will have to adjust your shot in order to ensure you get a good shot at the animal’s vitals.
Adjusting the Shot
The first thing that you need to do when shooting at extreme angles is to know the exact range that your target is at. This will help determine your point of impact as you will be able to compare it to shooting horizontally at the same exact range. For example, a shot under 300 yards will probably not need to be compensated for. But the longer the distance, the more you can expect to compensate your shot to account for the angle.
To find the proper range when shooting at angles, you will need to calculate the true ballistic distance of the shot. This will give you the actual horizontal distance that you should be aiming for. Luckily, most modern rangefinders will do this calculation for you and give you the actual distance and a distance that you should be shooting for depending on the angle. If you do not have a rangefinder like this, I highly recommend getting one as doing the calculations during a hunting situation could be almost impossible.
No math calculation can prepare you quite like practice can, however. The more you practice shooting in these scenarios, the better off you will be. Steep angled shots can often be challenging in the sense of finding a reliable shooting position. Sometimes you will be in awkward positions just to be able to shoot at a certain angle, so by practicing this you can be better prepared for when it happens during a hunt.
Final Thoughts
Shooting at steep angles and hunting in the mountains and hills of the wild go hand in hand. If you haven’t yet, you will most likely eventually find yourself forced to shoot at a steep angle, so now you will hopefully be a little more prepared when you do!
For more great ideas on how to fish and hunt from the experts, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Hunting & Fishing Blog for more great tips & tricks.
