Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Swamp Preacher on August 27, 2010, 04:27:00 PM
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Wanted to see how far most people feel comfortable shooting deer.
I'm not a target shooter, but have been hunting since early 70's.
I love inside 12 yds.
If things are right I'll go to 20 yds.
30 would be on a wing and a prayer.
What works for you guys?
Swamp Preacher
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I practice at 20 yards, but when it comes to getting a shot at live game, I really hold out for the 12-18 yard shots.
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I want them close....! Four, five or six "steps" is perfect..LOL
I will shoot out to 20 but ONLY perfect broadside dbl lung killing shots.. Anything less is unacceptable on a living animal.
John III
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20 and in.
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On deer or hogs 20yds would be a max for me and prefer 15-18. I will take longer shots at jackrabbits.
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20 yards max and only with a broadside shot and anythig closer even though i know i can shoot out to 30 i wont take a shot at an animal at that distance no way :nono:
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For sure nothing past 20 yards. Prefer 12-15 yards. The last 4 shots I've taken at game, 2 hogs, 2 deer were 4,13,9 and 12 yards.
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I was once told that the indians considered it to be a good shot if the fletching never left the bow...but im not that skilled so i try to get to 12-15yrds under that if possible
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Man, I am probably gonna get drilled for this...25 is comfortable for me. Anything inside that is pretty darn dead if I got my feces coagulated and a calm animal, otherwise they walk and I count my blessings.
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I like 15yrds. and under.
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I'll shoot out to 30 if it all looks good. Alot of the old timers (Fred Bear, Jack Howard, etc)used to shoot way further and I don't think that is unethical if you're possitive you can make it.
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Well, the only one I've shot was at 18, so I'll say 18 and under, but not too close either.
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I like fairly close--15-18 is best for me, 20 works but after that I prefer to hold my fire.
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The average for traditional shooters is 14 yards. I practice to 35 a bit (to observe form issues) but I won't shoot past 25. I prefer around 15 -- closer than that and my heart rings in a deer's ears!
In 45 years and all but 5 with compounds I've shot only 3 deer past 30 yards (31-33). The vast majority have been in the 16-17 with the closest (a 265 pound field dressed monster whitetail from Elkhart, IN) was 7 yards.
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25 yards on in, unless its windy, then I limit myself to 15.
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between 6-15 yds. 1-5 too darn close over 20 I aint no good. 16-19 yds gray area.depends on my wife.If she aint hollerin at me,an my boss aint pissed at me,then I will probally take the gray area shot because my head aint so noisy.you cant take the gray area shot with a noisy head.
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I have killed critters at 20 yards but much prefer 15.
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I always thought 20 was my max. Then last year a 3x3 muley buck walked very slowly and calmly past me and I drew, picked a spot and killed him. It felt right and when asked by my hunting partner how far it was replied "I don't really know...18 or 20. Went back and stepped it off and it was 26 yards. I guess my point is I much prefer inside 20, but take the shot that feels right and I know I can make.
Travis
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I go by how it feels to me, if the shot feels right I shoot,hard to put in words
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I prefer 25 and in but I never know the yardage of the shot until after I shoot. If it feels right, I take the shot. Kind of a Zen thing I guess :biglaugh:
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Wherever the shot feels right and I am sure I can make it. How close or how far that is may depend on how I feel about the situation and how I am shooting at that particular time.
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I have to agree with Swamper. If everything feels right I will shoot quite a ways farther than mentioned. I have killed deer as close as 3ft. and as far as 48 yards with my recurve. I find some of this funny, as I just read several articles about Fred Bear and Aldo Leupold and they shot 70 yards and farther and never even mentioned that they were real confident at that far but wanted to get an arrow in an animal and than use their woodsman skills to recover that animal, whether that was trailing it or getting in range for a follow up shot which again may be another 60 or 70 yard shot. When I draw and shoot at animal I have every intention of killing it at whatever distance I have decided to take that shot, no wing and a prayer here! Shawn
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I really like that 12-17 range, but have taken shots longer the longest on a deer being 23 looked good at the time and deer died in site.
I practice out to 35 every day I shoot, and out to 50-60 at least once a week. Just fun to watch em fly at those ranges.
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I shoot 3d almost every other weekend during the spring and summer.Usualy practice 4-5 days a week.I 'm real comfortable shooting out to 25 but stick to close shots on windy days.I do think i could make a thirty yard shot but conditions would have to be in my favor.
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I reviewed my old copy of Bowhunting October Whitetails and Rick Blase showed the average reaction of a deer to the sound of a bow being shot. 18 yards seemed to be the max for a bow and appeared to include both traditional and compound. This was 1987 though. For me, in a hunting situation, 15 to 16 yards seems to be just my max.
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No more than 20 yards. Prefer 15 or less.......Randy
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I am very good at 20 yds I am deadly at 8 feet... :archer:
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I'd agree with Shawn, Swamper, and a couple others. It just depends on the shot for me, and how I feel about it. Most of the deer I have killed have been inside 15 yards, but I killed a buck a few years ago, perfect drill the heart shot, that stepped off at 27 yards. The truth is, shooting instinctively it doesn't really cross my mind what yardage the deer is from me prior to the shot. It's either, "I can make that shot", or, "I can't make that shot".
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I am not sure... I either say to myself "I can make that shot" or I say "I can't make that shot"... the numbers are probably like 25 and under, much preferring 10-15 yds.
Good luck this season!!
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Originally posted by wapiti792:
Man, I am probably gonna get drilled for this...25 is comfortable for me. Anything inside that is pretty darn dead if I got my feces coagulated and a calm animal, otherwise they walk and I count my blessings.
Nice circumlocution: "feces coagulated". :laughing:
I think anything inside of 25 for me as well.
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Prefer 15-20 yds, but will shoot out to 35-40 under the right cicumstances.
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I can't just pick a number, there are too many things to take into account. I have passed up on shots that are under 15yds that just didn't seem right, spooked animal, I'm tired etc. and I remember one shot on a small whitetail buck that I just knew would be perfect, it was, and was just over 40yds.
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Western Hunters generally take longer shots. Its the open terrain and the type of game we hunt. I have guided several eastern hunters that swore that t6hey would not take over 20 yard shots. That was stretched to 35 by the end of a week. Not by me either. They just realized that their chances at a blacktail were about zip unless the took the longer shot.
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With engines there is no replacement for displacement...with bowhunting there is no replacement for confidence.
With experience, comes confidence.
I keep my shots inside twenty these days.
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Won't take a shot a big animal unless I know I'll hit it.
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No more than 25 yards for me. Killed a doe with double lung shot at 23 yds. last year(see avatar), so I feel comfortable out to 25. Two other deer at 18 yds., by the way.
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22 is about as far as I am comfortable with. 17 and in is perfect.
Would I take a shot at a deer from further? Can't say, but I never have.
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Thanks for the feed back. We are all pretty much in the same boat. Be comfortable and let your instinct rule out of your pre-programed brain.
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because we cant hunt in the uk i shoot lots &lots of 3d shoots & stumps in winter ,in the two trips ive made to africa ive taken 3 kudu`s 1 bull 14yds (2006 1st big game animal!!! ) & 2 cow`s last year .1 at 12 yds the other at 8yds .
im confident out as far as 25yds when practiceing but on live game 20yds would be my limit
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this is probably one of my worst 35 yard groups
(http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae73/Guitararcher/DSC_1407.jpg)
I consider that pretty good, that stinkin little deer is so tiny. It seems to be about the size of a coues or a sika deer. But I love it in a way because if I can kill that little guy every time, I can surely kill the real deal that has about 50lbs on him.
The farthest I would shoot at a whitetail is 30 yards. I know I can not only hit a whitetail that far, but kill one that far. I've also got an hour a day practice to bet on it too . . . thats like 300 hours a year of shooting my bow :)
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I practice from 10 out to 25 yards. Feel comfortable shooting 20 yds and under.
Stan
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i practice out to 50 yards , but dont shoot past 30 yards shoot 4 or 5 times a week in back of the house , i like to wacth the arrows fly .
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This country is pretty open so if you wait for a 15-20 yard shot you may not get to shoot. My last two deer were taken at 25 & 35 yards. One with a 53# Shrew using a 520gr arrow and the long shot was a 50# Red Wing Hunter using a 560gr arrow.
I think if I got a shot at 10 yards I'd be so excited I'd surely miss. :eek:
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shawn you said it well
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I try to set up under 20yds from my expected shot, but on occasion I end up slightly longer than that.
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Glen StCharles once told me a story that ended in the moral that if the shot feels good take it if it doesn't don't. He said yardage didn't matter only if it looked like a clean kill shot. I've gone by that for ten years now and it has never let me down. Frank
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I always find this line of questioning funny since so many trad shooters insist they shoot instinctively which by definition means you have no idea how far the animal is before you shoot.
Call it feel or not, for me it is about the animal's posture/body language, vision. Can I pick out a spot to focus on. In bright light I can see an individual hair at 15-18 yds, in low light I can't make out a hair at 10 yds.
So basically assuming the animal isn't nervous, if I can make out the tiny details of the animal's musculature or hair/skin they are close enough.
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Bottom line for me, I practice at a variety of ranges, especially as hunting season approaches (white-tail deer in KY next Sat.) I want at least soft-ball-size groups or "kills" on my 3-D targets at least 9 of 10 shots at any range I'm considering shooting.
However, even though I might be able to do this on the range at long distances (recurve-25 yards -- compound--this morning at 80 yards) I won't shoot near that far at white-tails. A 30-yard shot would be a long shot considering the flighty and unpredicatable nature of this animal. I set up my stands for 15-yard shots. I don't want the deer under me and I don't want it passing by further than 20 if I can help it.
By the way, I'm not a fan of making noise to stop a white-tail. Often the first suspicious sound a white-tail hears puts it on alert ready to flex its legs under it, lower the body to bound away (voila ...jumped string). The next sound or movement puts this alert status into action.
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Originally posted by chopx2:
I always find this line of questioning funny since so many trad shooters insist they shoot instinctively which by definition means you have no idea how far the animal is before you shoot.
That is virtually impossible, when a grounder is caught in center field and the baseball player sees the runner heading home he probably doesn't think o that is 75 yards, he just knows it is far.
When a animal is farther than "close" you instinctively know you need to raise your bow arm to compensate for drop.
The only difference between the way I shoot and the way the Indians shot is that simple fact that I grew up in a society where measurement systems are equally uniform.
When I draw back the bow I see a target as a whole, then the specific region on a target, then minuscule details upon that target. It doesn't matter how far the target is, the process and the method of aiming is exactly the same.
Anyway, I realize that your original post was not in anyway directed towards me, but I seem to hear that a lot . . .
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as close as you can get or as close as they come is always nice. Just make sure your comfortable and confident in whatever distance it is you decide to bend the limbs.
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I like them point blank. I have a practice range out to 38yds and shoot it regularly. But my self imposed range limit is 281yds give or take!
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I've killed cape buff running out at 55 yrds. Moose through thick timber at around 60-70 yrds . 10+ Blacktails at 80 plus yrds. and turkeys 30-60 yrs or more.
Then I woke up and realized I was have that Howard Hill dream again. Dang it!!!
I've only killt 1 deer with trad so far. But I have kilt lots of frogs and squirrels ect from 10 to 30 yards??? So I guess I'm with the "If it feels good take the shot" Bunch..
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Originally posted by wapitimike1:
But my self imposed range limit is 281yds give or take!
281yds WOW! you must be an amazing shot!!!
HAHA! :laughing:
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I've been practicing a lot & feel real comfortable with a 20 & under yard shot at a live animal.
If they are calm & totally broadside to me then up to 30 yards would be my max shot
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I am comfortable around 20 yds. But feel like anything closer makes the drag less strenuous.
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Out to 20yds is my effective range. I find that I can increase my odds with my limited effective range by treestand placement. Setting up in a bottleneck or squeeze play scenerio where deer are forced to travel by my stand in shooting lanes well within my effective range. Against a fenceline, a bar way in a stonewall, a crossing at a narrow section of a brook etc. Every place I hunt has a section like this. The deer like to use them, and I don't mind being there when they do.
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I practice out to 40+ and am confidant that I can make a good hit at 35. But I'll get as close as I can.
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For me I will say 463yds. Wait that was with my rifle. I will shoot at 25yd for deer. My best shots in practice are around 30 yds go figure. Maybe because I actually see the arrow all the way to the target. My bow at 20 yds is quick enough I basically see impact maybe a little flight of the arrow. My first robinhood with my longbow was at 32 yds.
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I prefer 15 yards and under for hunting. Jim
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I usually look around from my treestand and pick out trees, sticks or whatever. If the deer is on this side of them I shoot if they are on the other side I don't shoot. I've killed a deer at 12 yards and another at 32 yards. Both shots felt right and both shots worked.
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I am good on a pie plate to 30 yards so I drop 5 yards and shoot to 25 for deer. With Elk I am comfortable all the way to 30. I can hit beyond that but don't trust my skills to shoot any further.
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20 yards max for me. I'll practice at longer, but I find doing so makes me shoot better at closer ranges.
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Size makes all the difference in the world. My yardage on a Pinto would be less than a Cadillac and MUCH less than on a Freightliner! :D
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I feel comfortable inside ca 25 yards.
Since I`m shooting instinctive I`m not so in to the distances but more in for the "feel" of what I can do in the situation.
It`s a whole other scenario to have an animal standing in front of you instead of a foam target.
But I do practice shooting under different kind of weather from sunny to rainy, windy days.
With my hunting setup and broadheads.
I also like to practice on recovery shots T long distances so I know I`ve done the basics if I should come into a situation where that is needed.
Margly
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15-20yds. with confidence!
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20 yards max 15 yds is great.
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Thats a funny question, I killed a ground hog and a racoon last year at 35 yards and missed a doe at around 15 yards.LOL.
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20 is good but then again it depends on the moment and my testosterone level. :archer2:
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I like them inside 20 yards. My favorite was when I thought I might bump a small buck with the arrow when I turned to draw, he never seen it coming... :thumbsup:
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I let a 140 class buck walk last year since it was out about 35 yards. I surburban hunt and if you don't get both lungs there isa good chance it will make it to the houses to die where you can't retrieve game or have a small chance of finding it. I like to wait until they are about 20 yards, for hogs I like 15. But that 140 class buck got shot by a compound guy at 45 yards and he thought he gut shot it but ended up hitting it in the kidney. That hurt.
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Practice to 20 but hunt to 15 yards.
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In the thick stuff, I don't clear shooting lanes beyond 20 yards or so. It helps resist temptation to shoot too far. When things are more open, I try to rely on my best estimation of 20 yards and even if the feeling is good, try to resist anything longer than that. I have not killed a large number of deer with the bow, and most shots were probably 12 - 15 yards.
I sometimes practice at longer ranges for fun but just don't seem to pick the spot as well as I move further out. A 30 yard shot may as well be 30 miles - I just can't pull it off.
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I'll go with 20 yards or Less,10 or 12 would be Great,
Kurt
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For me, 20 yards max. Prefer 10 to 16 yards.
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10 to 20 yds for me, over too uncertain to hit, under 10 too hard to draw if you are on the ground.
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On the ground, I prefer shots of about 25 yards. The only pass throughs that I did not get in the last 30 years were shots under ten feet. I have had pass throughs on every deer over that. I think that I can get by with a little more on the deer that are not so close. When they are real close it seems that they can hear me blink.
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I like shooting targets at 30, but I think 15 - 20 is a good hunting distance.
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No more than 25 for me and prefer 15.
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I shoot two deer targets in my back yard from my deck, one is at 15 yards and one at 22 yards.
This is the distance I can shoot at and this is the distance I feel good with. Closer is always better and I try to sit or set my stand for 13-15 yards.
I would shoot to 25 on a calm deer in an open area if everything was right.
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I like 15-18, if things are ideal out to 25.
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Have taken three animals since switching to trad last July.
One Muley at 30yds
One Javelina at 60 inches
One Sitka Blacktail at 35yds
I'll take the same shots all day and twice on Tuesday.
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I'll practice out to 25 yards. That should make the closer shots easier right?
:pray:
I like my hunting shots inside of 20. Where I hunt, you can't get a shot over 20 yards anyway. Too much stuff in the way.
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I like it when the arrows of my hand about 10 yards and hitting ...meat!
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practice out to 30 yds. Hunting 20yds or under.
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Originally posted by Swamp Preacher:
Wanted to see how far most people feel comfortable shooting deer.
I'm not a target shooter, but have been hunting since early 70's.
I love inside 12 yds.
If things are right I'll go to 20 yds.
30 would be on a wing and a prayer.
What works for you guys?
Swamp Preacher
10 to 15 yards are my ideal...20 on occasion.
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25 and in
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I practice at 50 and 60 yards all summer. Hunting, I feel very comfortable at 35 yards but my avrige shot on game is 12 yards
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My deer season opens in the morning. Daylight is 7:11AM. I'll be in my tree by 6:20am. I went to my deck range this morning at 6:45am and shot 12 arrows. I shot 4 at a 12 yard deer (about 15' up). Killed it with three but one (the first one was too high). Then I shot 8 at 20 yards. All eight were solid kills with the first one being my Helix broadhead -- deadcenter my favorite spot--top of the heart where lots of plumbing comes and goes. I expect shots of 12-15 yards in the morning.
I'm hoping to take my first shot at game with a recurve since 1974 within an hour of opening in the morning unless I'm called Home before then.