Cut charts

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Jan 14, 2019
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I have historically used an angle compensated range finder in the past with decent results, though have started comfortably stepping up my long(er) range game. Practice shooting in the field, I have noticed slightly high impacts on longer (60yd) shots at steeper downhill hill angles (~40 deg).

I have read a few threads on this, seams to be a mixed bag between guys sticking to their range finders, and guys being aware of the difference. The difference may not be enough to bother, though it also may be the difference between high lung and back strap on a longer marginal shot in steep terrain.

like shooting rifle, ballistic software is nice, but nothing beats validating your data in the field. Im thinking about diving into this in the summer and making a usable chart from say 30-80 yds and 20-50 deg.

My question is, how many of you actually carry, or are conscious of, cut charts to correct an angle compensated range at steep angles while hunting? where do you put it? tape to range finder or bow riser?
 

dkime

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If I am shooting for money I will have my own cut chart and It will be verified, If i am hunting I will rely on my rangefinder cut because it's not enough for me to worry about not killing an animal.
 
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I guess I’m lazy with the Leupold RF. It has been perfect so far. I wasn’t planning on getting one but my 10 year old rf went out and got the new one on a trade in. I have ranged out to 1100 yards which is just short of my archery range....
 

dkime

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I guess I’m lazy with the Leupold RF. It has been perfect so far. I wasn’t planning on getting one but my 10 year old rf went out and got the new one on a trade in. I have ranged out to 1100 yards which is just short of my archery range....

The issue with rangefinders is that they don't take into consideration TOF of the projectile, the paradox of the sight to shaft, type of projectile, peep height paradox, angles greater than about 25deg, etc. To your point, most of this doesn't matter for the hunting situations guys put themselves in.
 

whitetail88arch

Lil-Rokslider
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The issue with rangefinders is that they don't take into consideration TOF of the projectile, the paradox of the sight to shaft, type of projectile, peep height paradox, angles greater than about 25deg, etc. To your point, most of this doesn't matter for the hunting situations guys put themselves in.

I thought the Leupold rx-4 or whatever it’s called takes all this into consideration?


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dkime

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I thought the Leupold rx-4 or whatever it’s called takes all this into consideration?


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The Rx4 full draw is suppose to do this and I would assume it’ll do it better than anything that ever been made but only time will tell.


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The RF has Archers Advantage software. It takes about a minute to put in your info and gives your drop. It also shows the highest point of flight. It was dead perfect at TAC and that is steeper and longer than I have ever shot.
 
OP
sickles107
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Thread is about using cut charts not about getting a new $500 range finder lol


If I am shooting for money I will have my own cut chart and It will be verified, If i am hunting I will rely on my rangefinder cut because it's not enough for me to worry about not killing an animal.

Dkime, what is your cut on say 60 yd 40 deg? Are you cutting angle compensated range or calculating off raw LOS and angle?
 

dkime

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Thread is about using cut charts not about getting a new $500 range finder lol




Dkime, what is your cut on say 60 yd 40 deg? Are you cutting angle compensated range or calculating off raw LOS and angle?

If I’m cutting for a field target I will have a cut chart that is used in conjunction with an inclinometer and LOS like you mentioned. If I am cutting for an animal I’m relying on my range finder because I am not operating with the luxury of time on my side. Having said that 40 deg cuts are a lot steeper than what the majority of my (and most folks) cuts fall under. If I were in goat country I would probably have quick set of cuts taped to my bows riser for reference. If you’re asking for my specific cut I can’t give you an answer right now because I have two new bows setup for this year and neither of them have been put through their paces just yet. I will play around on AA tonight and get you a rough number based on last years setup. I’m not trying to talk shit about this leupold range finder. I think it’ll be a great product, BUT I think what we will see is most people who are shooting actual competitive archery tournaments where money is on the line they will have cut charts and inclinometers in hand as well as the leupold. However, OPA and Redding pay a lot of damn money to win and I don’t see folks not going at it with out a cut chart. TAC; sure knock yourself out but keep in mind you’re paying them to shoot your bow and not the other way around.


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I think this is just another topic to ensure someone has something to say. If your RF is capable of giving you an accurate angle, as well as an accurate distance, the calculation is straight forward no matter how fast or slow your bow shoots. If its accurate to 2 degrees, most guys wouldn't know the difference.
 

dkime

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@sickles107 Roughly 12.8 yds for uphill at 40 deg and 15.2 yds for a downhill 40 deg at 60yds. (These are very rough numbers but for arguments sake lets just say they have been proven out and are a constant for this specific scenario.

To @Coveyleader point. Say I was off by +-2deg on that at 60yds (conservative because most rangefinders arent worth jack at that type of angle). If I am shooting my normal 500gr arrow moving at 272fps with a 4 deg spread you're looking at about a 3yd difference from high to low. At that distance my arrow is dropping 3 inches per yard so thats grand total of 9" difference so in that scenario (assuming you have zero dispersion in your group size, if you consider that most guys cant shoot a 3" group at that distance, youre looking at a possibility of literally missing by a foot) I would hope that we would all see the difference. Archers advantage is a super cheap investment for the casual technical archer to really gain an understanding of all of this.
 
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sickles107
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The horizontal component (what a compensated range finder would give you) of 60 yds LOS at 40 deg is 45.96 yds... and your shooting for 15.2 yards downhill? or cutting 15.2 off of 60?
 

dkime

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The horizontal component (what a compensated range finder would give you) of 60 yds LOS at 40 deg is 45.96 yds... and your shooting for 15.2 yards downhill? or cutting 15.2 off of 60?

Cutting the 15 and the 12, for all intents and purposes it’s easy to just use the Pythagorean theorem for most hunting scenarios but remember that our arrows move in an arc and that arc segment is influenced by the parallax of the peep height to the arrow shaft. The differences in uphill and down hill come from this arc and the time of flight of the shaft. Super nerdy stuff


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dkime

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If you want to really complicate things try figuring out what your cut should be on a 30deg uphill at 25 FEET and then identify what sight mark you should use. Most of this stuff isn’t applicable to bowhunting scenarios but what it does is it makes you become extremely intimate with your own setup as every single person is going to have something different.

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