Crossbow shooting question

Got a crossbow sighted in at 20,30 and so on dead on from the ground. Long story short was on a hot area yesterday with acorns pouring down. Been passing does and friend wanted one. Well had what I thought was a slam dunk at 3 different does and missed them all. Farthest shot maybe 35 yards. I’m no genius for maybe figuring out the problem until I thought about me being 30 to 35 ft up the tree. Is there some compensation that u have to do like maybe a deer at 20yrds u have to use the 30yrd mark to allow for ur height I don’t know. and I should have practiced that way if so. Is shooting a regular bow the same way? I was about ready to sling that thing like a golf club after all that.

Don’t have one but my answer would be no

Where Did you aim? Did you have your cheek down on the stock? You need to shoot it and see from ground and stand

Did you miss high or low?

Missed low and from the ground have no problem.

Sometimes when you are considerably higher than your target you have to aim a little higher than normal to compensate for the angle. That's been my experience anyway.

Do you practice with the same broadheads and bolts you hunt with?

A sq + B sq = C sq
35' up + 30 yards out = shot distance of +/- 33 yards.
Aim high.

On a crossbow that is likely shooting 350+ FPS a 3 yard error shouldn’t make a difference.

Thanks for the info. Gonna shoot from up in the tree with same broad heads and go from there.

If you haven't been shooting with your hunting broadheads then you may not even be close. I never even shoot field tips even when sighting in with mine.

This, sounds like a broadhead issue. I'd bet they are shooting low vs field points.

I have an old Barnett and at 30 from the ground it hits the same when I’m up a tree. I have a single dot and mine hits the same from up close to 30. Sounds like a broad head issue where they shoot different than your field points. Mine shoots my field points and Shwackers the same.

Possibly shot the wrong line in ur scope? I've done that.

It is the horizontal distance - ALWAYS, whether shooting uphill or downhill, from a tree or in a hole. Many rangefinders have a true ballistic range or something along those lines that will give you the horizontal distance from you to the target and not your actual distance.

For example, if you are 35' up in a tree and a deer is 20 yards (60') from the base of your tree (on flat ground), the deer will actually be 23.15yards from you, but you should still use your 20 yard pin.

Don't blame the angle for you shooting low. Something else was going on there. You either used the wrong pin or your scope is now off, or something.

In other words, if you are at the base of your tree and the ground is flat, you use your 20 yard pin for a target that is 20 yards away. If you climb up 10' up a tree, still use your 20 yard pin. If you climb up 100' up a tree, still use your 20 yard pin, even though the target will look much farther away. If you dig a 100' trench and are standing at the bottom, still use your 20 yard pin.

I agree pretty much with this. Gravity does play a small part in all of this. If I’m 27’ up and shooting level terrain my rangefinder tells me to shoot a 35’ shot like its 33yds. To compensate for angle and drop.
As Joe Dirt said. “I don’t know how it works. It just does”!!

The shot may have been 2-3 yards further than you thought but would have little effect on POI. Try spinning your arrow broadhead combination. If the broadhead wobbles when spinning, it will not shoot straight.