Thread: Incline / decline shooting

Reading everyones answers I don't believe they are conflicting. Everyone is onboard with same principles of how the projectile reacts in relation to gravity and horizontal distance travelled.

There are two basic methods for managing projectile drop in the context of up/downhill shooting.

1. Hold over
2. Dial the scope

1. When the term "aim low" is used for holdover you need to understand the context. It doesn't mean aim lower than where you want to hit the animal, it means aim lower then you normally would for the same shot at a 0 degree angle as the bullet will still drop but it will drop less. In a nutshell, if you aimed 20cm high on a flat shot at 300m, then on a 30 degree angle shot at 300m you might only need to aim 10cm high and in theory are "aiming low" for that shot (just a crude example). If the distance is not far enough, then you need not worry, just aim and shoot.

2. Ballistic apps can have angle input manually along with the distance or most range finders these days give you true ballistic range (TBR) which rules out the need for a manual angle input. This is just a mathematical calculation that takes the angle of the shot into account with the distance and gives you a range that you can dial for. For example a 600m shot on a 30 degree angle might give you a TBR of 520m (just an example not legit numbers) so you then dial the shot for 520m which takes into account the fact that the projectile will drop less over the 600m shot because of the 30 degree angle involved.


With regards to missing high, that is common with a steep uphill shot. The way you align with the rifle in this scenario makes it very easy to exert forces upon the rifle with the shot that sends the projectile high. Downwards cheek pressure from trying to get under the scope and the rifle not naturally aligning in the shoulder etc as examples. My mate had exactly this happen on our Tahr trip last year on a steep uphill shot and missed him high over his back twice - its easy to do.

I agree mate. I’ve also found that shooting at the range in a controlled environment is easy to do. By comparison, shooting in the field even on flat ground with a bipod, one foot on hard ground, the other on soft (bouncy) ground, perhaps moss or tussock with a heavier recoiling rifle, the shot can be thrown off