With many states still solidly locked in the whitetail rut, it’s a good time to consider one of bowhunting’s toughest problems: Getting arrows around ... or over ... brushy obstructions. As you attempt to send an arrow through the vitals of a cruising, rut-happy buck, it can seem like there is always a twig or branch sticking out between you and your target. Should you try to shoot over, under, or around it? Pass the shot entirely?
A mistake some bowhunters make is spotting a branch in line with a buck’s vital zone and automatically assuming it is in the way of the arrow. More times than not, this is not the case. Unfortunately, many also ignore branches above the line-of-sight to an animal that may be directly in the arrow’s path. And it matters not whether you’re parked in a ground blind or up in a treestand.
The principle at play here is arrow trajectory. An arrow covering 35 yards horizontally will have a significant amount of vertical drop. This trajectory will be somewhere between one and three feet, depending on several factors, primarily your arrow’s initial velocity.
An arrow travels upward for the first part of its journey to the target. For a typical setup — let’s say a 60-pound compound shooting a standard hunting arrow at 30 inches draw — the arrow would fly about 4.5 inches high at 10 yards. So it would sail over a branch at that distance, which appeared to be covering the 35-yard target. And that arrow could very likely strike a branch that appeared to be well out of the way, above the target.
Now, given the almost perpetual motion of a whitetail buck in rut, simply knowing about trajectory and the increased danger of brush slightly above your target may be all the knowledge you need to make your next shot count. However, if a passing buck happens to linger on the fringe of your shooting lanes, here’s a good way to determine if a possible obstruction is truly in the way of your arrow: First estimate the yardage and place the correct sight pin on the target. Then estimate the yardage to any obstructions you think might be in the way and check to see if your corresponding sight pins cover these obstructions. If they do, either don’t shoot, or move to another position. If they’re clear (and the buck hasn’t yet bolted), you’ve got the green light.