Shooting at steep angles is challenging for three reasons. The first reason is the ballistics can be hard to comprehend. The second is finding a place to practice steep angle shooting. And, the third reason is getting into a stable position to shoot at a steep angle – particular up – can be very difficult.
The Ballistics
Gravity controls trajectory and gravity only works over the horizontal line of a bullet’s flight. Therefore, when shooting at a steep angle your bullet’s path is the hypotenuse of a right triangle but gravity is only working on the triangle’s base. So, the trick is figuring out how all this impacts your point of impact.
When shooting at big game animals at distances inside 300 yards with high velocity rifle cartridges, you don’t have to worry about the angles too much; it’s hard to find an angle to shoot at, steep enough to cause a miss. You can use many smart phone based calculators to solve the problem or you can use a range finder that delivers the true range. You can also use the chart below.
Practicing
Few of us live where we can practice our math when it comes to steep angle shooting. You can however, work hypotheticals in your head or on your ballistic device. More importantly, you can work with varied positions. This is critical because even if you get the math right, you’ll miss without a solid shooting platform.
Shooting Positions
If you’re shooting downhill finding a solid shooting position is relatively easy; there should be plenty of ground level supports or a bipod to use. It’s much harder to find a solid position to shoot from if the angle is up. This is even truer if you’re on a downhill slope like you might be when shooting across a canyon.
My solution came to me in a dire moment of need while trying to shoot a bear, high on a mountainside, across a steep canyon. The distance was almost 400 yards at about a 40° angle. I did the math the best I could in my head but could not find a rest suitable for a shot.
Then, it hit me! I pulled my Southern Grind Bad Monkey from my pocket, drove the blade into a burnt tree with a rock, looped up in my Galco RifleMann Sling, rested the rifle on the knife handle, and killed the bear!
