Why such short distances?

[Beau J]

I agree 100%... there is no downside to pushing yourself while practicing and the practice may well pay off if you ever have to make a follow up shot on a critter if you need to...BeauJ

[SKITCH]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
it probably got started because when someone can't do something they don't want to accept the fact that it can be done by others.

Said the guy that, if I remember right, hit the target at 100 yards......in the DARK!!!    

[Caughtandhobble]

Jake, I agree 100% with you that if people push there limits they are opening the door to get better. Like you, I too practice out to 50 yards on a regular basis, even further from time to time. Today after our first 3D of the year a friend and I were shooting 90 meters, not well but we were having a lot of fun shooting that far.

When hunting personally my favorite shot is within 15 yards. I have shot a couple further than 15 yards and I have had them at 10 yards and would not consider taking a shot. Hunting is very personal and one should set there own limits through personal experience and not what they read in some hunting book.

Have fun, shoot straight and FAAAAAR.  

Ben

   

[AZ_Longbow]

when I shoot at targets I will push my shots out to 50 yards+ yards. when I hunt game I do not will not risk a poor shot and a wounded unrecoverable animal. so my hunting shots are a lot closer for large game.

[TradBowyer]

Jakeemt..
I'm not being rude . I'm stating facts. Most people could become better shots at longer distances if they chose to. To each their own but if you choose to limit yourself that's fine but don't degrade others for bettering their shooting distance as too  often is the case.

[TradBowyer]

By saying you in my post above I was not calling out you personally. Just wanted to clarify

[Jmatt1957]

I have a tree on my range that is 24 yards, so I shoot infront (short) and behind(long) every time I shoot. very seldom shoot from same place twice in one shooting. As far as hunting I do most from a ground blind and limit my shot inside of 20 yards. closest is 8 and longest was 15 in last several years. I only know the yardage because I step it off after the shot. I agree with the statement that shooting long ranges help improve shorter shots as long as you don't forget to practice at the shorter ranges also.

[Bowwild]

I agree very much that long range practice makes closer shots easier, if you work at it.

In fact, last year I made up my mind to do it and then my bow shoulder had other ideas. I was very lucky to just keep up my accuracy at 20 yards.

I shoot 3 under and I string walk. My point on with fingers touching the nock is 32 yards with most of my set-ups. I reason that I should be able to be quite accurate at 30.

However, as suggested in my signature, it is difficult for me to keep my wandering mind on a short leash.

I hope to work on it again this year. Not so I can take further shots while hunting but to be super confident at 20.

My definition of effective range is 90% of my shots in the "kill". But even within effective range doesn't trump factors that can make an otherwise close enough sho,t unreasonable.

[longbow fanatic 1]

I think the premise here is to shoot what you're comfortable shooting. Some compound shooters practice at 80+ yards to make a 40+ yard shots easy. I think that is what Jacob was saying. That said, practice shooting accurately at all distances and then determine what your hunting distance is.

[tracker12]

Along with others I shoot all the 3D shoots I can and have to agree with  Bisch in that not many can shoot a 9" group at 20 yards let alone 30.  Now add in what C Wilder mentioned and make it unmarked ranges and it all goes to H$%l.  

I am a big supporter of shooting longer than what I expect my normal shots to be.

[danbow]

I am a fan of shooting the distance I like and you shoot the distance you like!

[monterey]

All the greats I read about like Pope and Young, Fred bear, Jack Howard, the great Howard Hill and the Thompson brothers were all proficient at very long distances.

Every one of those guys could outshoot me any day.  Probably from the grave!  

but, looking at how they viewed hunting and shot selection in their times makes it clear that their point f view was far different from what most of us subscribe to today.

Below are a few quotes from Saxton Pope from his "hunting With The Bow and Arrow"

  An archer's striking distance extends from ten to one hundred yards. For small animals it lies between ten and forty; for large game from forty to eighty or a hundred.

  The first deer I shot at was so far off that there was no chance to hit it, but I let drive just to get the sensation.  My arrow sailed harmlessly over its back. The next I shot at was within good range, but my arrow only grazed its rump.

  Once, when two of us shot at an old stag together as it raced far off down the trail, the two arrows dropped twenty yards ahead of it.

  There, eighty yards away, stood a three-year-old buck, grazing under an oak. His back was toward me. I crouched and sneaked nearer. My arrow was nocked on the string. The distance I measured carefully with my eye; it was now sixty-five yards. Just then the deer raised its head. I let fly an arrow at its neck. It flew between its horns. The deer gave a started toss to its head, listened a second, then dipped its crest again to feed. I nocked another shaft. As it raised its head again I shot. This arrow flew wide of the neck, but at the right elevation. The buck now was more startled and jumped so that it stood profile to me, looking and listening. I dropped upon one knee. A little rising ground and intervening brush partially concealed me. As I drew a third arrow from my quiver its barb caught in the rawhide, and I swore a soft vicious oath to steady my nerves. Then drawing my bow carefully, lowering my aim and holding like grim death, I shot a beautifully released arrow. It sped over the tops of the dried grass seeming to skim the ground like a bird, and struck the deer full and hard in the chest.


this last quote will explain much of the above:

  A shot in either the chest or abdominal cavity of a deer is invariably fatal in a few minutes

I'm not putting these quotes up to condemn them.  It's just the difference in how they looked at things compared to how we look at them.

Everyone who has posted on this topic has, IMO, valid points.  They just don't apply equally
to all of us in terms of our shooting ability or our willingness to test our ability.

[Friend]

There are multiple methods for improving for extended yardage proficiency. Consistently practicing at longer ranges continues to be an often productive standard practice.

We should never lose sight of the extreme trajectory to be encountered at longer ranges when pursuing game as compared to our wheeie counterparts.

A typical wheelie hunting setup may have an approximate straight vertical drop of 37"s at 40 yards. Where as a typical traditional setup may have an approximate 8.9 foot straight vertical drop at 40 yards.

Striving to improve remains the objective for the majority.

[Sam McMichael]

I like the idea of practicing long and hunting close. To put an exact distance to that concept is totally a matter of personal choice and individual responsibility. I practice at distances that I am not at all consistent at, but I often find it helps me do much better at my valid hunting distances. Some guys can consistently shoot ethically at 30+ yards and others can't. It is that simple. We owe it to ourselves and the game we hunt to realistically work out our effective range and to hunt within it.

[tarponnut]

Personally, I think the challenge and thrill of bowhunting, especially traditional bowhunting, is getting close to game in order to take close shots(or having them get close to us).
However, I do see the value in practicing at longer distances to make ourselves better at close shots. I've been stretching out my practice distances lately.

[PaulDeadringer29]

Jake,

Are you shooting that accurately with or without sights? Seems like I have read several posts from you on other threads stating you use sights on your trad bows. It doesn't bother me one bit if you do, just curious what method you're using if you're not using some type of actual sight other than the arrow tip.

[Friend]

It may be interesting to note that the elite 3D archers lowest scoring target marks are often encountered on the abbreviated range targets.

They often adjust their setups to better accommodate their closer effective hunting range.

[njloco]

Sorry to burst your bubble, I hit deer at 15 yards or under because I'm a good hunter, can I hit them in the vitals further away, sure I can, and do. My system is, I shoot instinctively !

[Gdpolk]

While I shoot TARGETS over 20-25 yards, I usually don't shoot animals beyond there.  For me it's harder visually to pick a spot and groups open up, any errors in form are exaggerated (hunting often means taking awkward shots from behind cover), also if the animal jumps the string there is a much higher likelihood of injury vs recovery out past 20-25yds.

[SKITCH]

Originally posted by tarponnut:
Personally, I think the challenge and thrill of bowhunting, especially traditional bowhunting, is getting close to game in order to take close shots(or having them get close to us).
However, I do see the value in practicing at longer distances to make ourselves better at close shots. I've been stretching out my practice distances lately.