when is a yard really a yard?

[Deno]

Good post Marc. Very interesting system.  Unfortunately for me there's a right way, a wrong way, and the Army way pounded in my brain.  I taught Land Nav for 10 years in the Army.

Up to the individual to use whatever method there comfortable with.

Deno

[Gray Buffalo]

Yardage and pacing are just numbers. I practice by walking the range never shooting more then one arrow at any one place. This allows my eye and brain to learn the distance and I never think about the distance when hunting. If you feel you need to know the distance use your pace to train your self and not the yard stick. But when asked how far was the shot tell them 18 of my paces.

[Brock]

I dont get wrapped up if my long stride is exactly a yard (3 feet) or not...I go by normal paces when doing stuff...or try and break it down in what looks like 5 yard increments from football field.  If I say I shot 15 paces...I expect any reasonable person to associate that with around 15 yards.  I try to keep everything 12-15 yds with a couple 18+ yd shots if everything feels perfect.  I am more worried about how I feel about the shot...my sight picture...and my focus than distance but even then...dont care if I am a foot or two off as I am not shooting far enough for it to be catastrophic.  I can do that with a bad release all by myself. LOL

[SELFBOW19953]

If I'm working on a project, I use a tape to determine the needed materials.  If I'm shooting I let my eye/brain determine the distance.  When I relay the story, I go with my gut feeling-"it was a 10 yard shot", it may have been 8 or 12-does it really matter??.  If I make the shot, I get pats on the back.  If I miss, everyone says "how could miss a shot at that distance?"  If I catch myself trying to estimate range before the shot, I won't shoot-I invariably miss.

What about meters?  Shouldn't they get some of the good stuff?   There should be a couple inches shy of a yard measurement with its own name,  my normal stride,

[TradBowyer]

back in scouts, they taught us to pick a foot (left or right) and everytime that foot hit the ground, that was a pace. They then took us out where there was a known distance and we walked it off to see what distance one pace was. For me, it was 6' and to this day, it is really close for me. 10 paces is really close to 20 yrds for me. actually, with a rangefinder its about 9.5 paces.

[Yellow Dog]

I have pretty long legs. I just stretch out a little bit and I'm pretty accurate. I can pace off 50 yards and verify it with a range finder and if I'm not right on I'm no more than plus or minus 1/2 yard.

[Steve H.]

After reading this yesterday I picked a spot down a long hallway and called it at 14 yards.  I then paced it off as 13 "yards", then measured it at 13.5 yards. When I pace something off I do my best for every step to average about a yard (I'm not 5' 7" so I can) and it comes out GFE (Good Freaking Enough).

[longbowman]

I gave up on this many years ago.  Nobody seems to know distances without a range finder.  I have friends who shoot their deer with rifles every year at 400+ yds. and they hunt in a patch of trees that is 150 x 150 yds. square!  My father-in-law never shot a deer with his bow under 40 yds. away and each time he showed me the shot it never was more than 25 yds. max.  I guess it really doesn't matter as long as the guy who is talking is happy!

[Learner]

Originally posted by longbowman:
I gave up on this many years ago.  Nobody seems to know distances without a range finder.  I have friends who shoot their deer with rifles every year at 400+ yds. and they hunt in a patch of trees that is 150 x 150 yds. square!  My father-in-law never shot a deer with his bow under 40 yds. away and each time he showed me the shot it never was more than 25 yds. max.  I guess it really doesn't matter as long as the guy who is talking is happy!

[Captain*Kirk]

Honestly, it doesn't matter once you get past the beginner stage of trad.
The only distance you need to know is "too far for an accurate or ethical shot". I try not to practice from any given distance very much; instead, I establish my MAXIMUM, then move it forward a few yards to make up for terrain, "buck fever" (nerves, adrenaline) and the like and practice moving around and shooting at various positions and locations within that max. The shot you envision usually never comes, or if it does, it's completely different. Know your limitations and work within them.

[dagwood64]

Originally posted by Graps:
This thread is reminding of a few years ago , my wife and I were looking at some modular homes .
There was this two story model that had the full upstairs open .
I  went to one corner and started pacing to the opposite corner .
I wasn't half way across and my wife said " NO ! "
I said " no , what ? "
How did she know I was thinking of an indoor archery range ?     :rolleyes:  

I was thinking that as I was reading it also.  

[ChuckC]

So just call them paces and go on with life.

[Archie]

I shot a gopher once at 38 yards with my recurve.  I know that's accurate because my 10-year-old daughter paced it off for me.

[slowbowjoe]

I've measured off my paces, and averaged them out, so I think I am pretty close in my estimates. And a pace taken with a full step, for me, is pretty dang close to a yard.

The longest shot that take on a deer is the distance that can comfortably throw a rubber ball.  So, about a ball throw distance from here is how far I shot my last two deer.   I think that distance is getting less every year.

[Roy from Pa]

Little early for a cabin fever thread. LOL

[Sam McMichael]

Actually, many of the more instinctive shooters I know tend to think of distance as close, medium, and far at the time the shot is made. Yardage is then usually estimated when describing the event.

[ChuckC]

I think you are more right than not Sam.  I don't think in terms of yards when I shoot.  I just look at the target and shoot.  The actual yardage does not ever enter my mind.  I might call it "so many" yards afterward, but I sure didn't think that before I shot.

[Learner]

Originally posted by pavan:
The longest shot that take on a deer is the distance that can comfortably throw a rubber ball.  So, about a ball throw distance from here is how far I shot my last two deer.   I think that distance is getting less every year.