Understood, but when I said I shoot in th valley, I meant I stand in the gully at shoot sideways towards the rising sides. Plus I never point upwards, only straight ahead. I did try the crossbow at about 30° when I was absolutely sure that there were no people or livestock around, the bolt went about 400 yards. At 45° I'd imagine it could go much further, but I'm in no hurry to find out, I have enough trouble hitting targets 30 yards away, let alone 400 .