Maximum shot distance

[mnbwhtr]

Like trad-bowhunter 1965, If I'm zeroed in I shoot. A couple years back I watched a nice 8 pt  chasing a doe up and down a draw I was hunting, He wouldn't stop chasing and gave me no shot. The doe stepped out into the field and then the buck did, the arrow was on it's way taking him through the ribs, two small circles and he was down. The distance, I stepped off 51 yds. Never even thought about distance, just concentration on the bucks chest. Many years ago I took a mule deer in ND the same way, that one stepped off 65 yards. I prefer and set up for 17-18 yds but don't pass up longer shots unless they don't feel right.

[Roger Norris]

Like trad-bowhunter 1965, If I'm zeroed in I shoot. A couple years back I watched a nice 8 pt  chasing a doe up and down a draw I was hunting, He wouldn't stop chasing and gave me no shot. The doe stepped out into the field and then the buck did, the arrow was on it's way taking him through the ribs, two small circles and he was down. The distance, I stepped off 51 yds. Never even thought about distance, just concentration on the bucks chest. Many years ago I took a mule deer in ND the same way, that one stepped off 65 yards. I prefer and set up for 17-18 yds but don't pass up longer shots unless they don't feel right.

What does "if I'm zeroed in" mean?

[Gehrke145]

I've shot a half dozen in the 40-50 yard range (muleys/elk), whitetails shot a few in the low 30s.
I try to get as close as I can, but I sure don't get sad if 40 is as close as I get.

[Overspined]

I never think about distance. It’s either “I’m shooting” or “I’m not shooting”. I just know that I’ll likely make the shot or not...

I have zero to prove. Biggest deer I ever killed was trotting at 27 yds. I never thought about yardage, only that I passed on the shot at 18 yds and then drilled it at almost 30. A year ago I passed a big one at 16 yds. Broadside but just too unpredictable and dim light..no regrets. Stay within your ability. It’s a feel thing from experience is my opinion. I killed an airborne deer on a full run once. I didn’t plan on shooting until it was just happening. You just have to know..

[DXH]

I am really comfortable out to 20 yards. Before I went on my caribou hunt I had practiced out to 35...and luckily I listened to that little bird in my head...
My Caribou was broad side and not paying attention to me (there was no way to get any closer)...35 yard launch right through the heart.
It’s not something I would routinely try to do though or encourage.

Ive killed 17 pigs at varying distances - average 10 yards

[HerbP]

I've never regretted a shot that I didn't take!  With that said it all depends on a lot of variables, the animal's alertness, angle, time of day etc. I do pick up my shooting every year in September by going home for lunch everyday and shooting. I start out by shooting at longer distances, say 40 yards and then up shooting much closer at 3D targets from a treestand. I gotta know your equipment and limits.
herb

[Markp]

Shooting downhill increases one's effective range, a little.  (I watched a friend shoot a mulie at over a 100 yards away. Down hill shot so that sort of changes the amount of drop.  Wheelie bow.  Perfect hit.  I do not condone, btw. ) Downhill, 21 yards, my furthest, 11 yards closest, with arrows.

Norris is right.  Woods, or mesquite and cacti thickets in AZ, make long range shooting difficult, and unnecessary.  Set up and/or approach is key to getting close.

I would kill way more bucks (no does in AZ) if I could hit at 35, 40, but that is far with my primitive gear.  Closer in, I agree, shot timing is key, and that is what I need more practice of than anything.  Be capable with a second or so to act. 

[mnbwhtr]

Roger, "zeroed in" means I'm so concentrated that the only thing I see is the spot I want to hit, Everything else is a blur. It just feels right, there are times I pass up a shot because it doesn't feel right also. On a moose hunt in Ont. I had a nice bull at about 35 yds and didn't shoot because I didn't feel right about the shot. 3 days later I put an arrow through the ribs of another bull at about the same distance, I was "zeroed in", I also put a follow up shot in his chest at 70-75 yds when he looked back to see what happened.  Hope that explanation helps, been shooting instinctive 55 years.     

[Orion]

I can tell you this from teaching bowhunter education courses for a number of years.  Almost all the hunters that came through that course overestimated their effective range.  As part of a field exercise, we asked them to write down their effective range.  Then we asked them to prove it by shooting at a metal silhouette target with an opening in the shape of the vitals.

This was voluntary, of course.  About half refused to do it.  Of the half that did, about one in five was actually able to put an arrow through the vitals at their stated effective range.  This included compound and traditional folks. 

It's a lot different shooting at an animal, or a hole in a steel plate, when the pressure is on than it is shooting at targets.  Based on what I saw in the NBEP courses, I'd estimate most folks' effective range is about half of what they think it is.   

[Maddog20/20]

I can tell you this from teaching bowhunter education courses for a number of years.  Almost all the hunters that came through that course overestimated their effective range.  As part of a field exercise, we asked them to write down their effective range.  Then we asked them to prove it by shooting at a metal silhouette target with an opening in the shape of the vitals.

This was voluntary, of course.  About half refused to do it.  Of the half that did, about one in five was actually able to put an arrow through the vitals at their stated effective range.  This included compound and traditional folks. 

It's a lot different shooting at an animal, or a hole in a steel plate, when the pressure is on than it is shooting at targets.  Based on what I saw in the NBEP courses, I'd estimate most folks' effective range is about half of what they think it is.   

That’s my experience as well.


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[the rifleman]

Gary i agree with your post.  Lots of great internet shots and hunters (a few of them actually are in real life).

My comfort zone ends at 20 yds, which is 10 yards less than my compound comfort zone back when o used one.  I thank God, ive not had an empty freezer, nor have i had to pick up a gun to fill a tag.

I practice further out, but as distance increases in the woods so do the number/ frequency of things that can go wrong.

[pavan]

An aiming system comes in handy for shots that are longer than 25 yards, most of the time a passing deer that is further away than that will not be a shot, but there are times like when a deer has its head buried in an oats bale, or some other distraction that assures that they won't move, for those that can dial in a longer shot, the possibilities are there.  However, like I stated this does not happen very often and the likely hood that the deer may start moving must be considered before taking a shot.  I have found that a rather quick shot process comes in handy with closer deer, especially when a close tree robs a deer of it side vision of me.  A deer may or may not have its vision obstructed for long, being able to take that shot when the time is right is a big help to me.  I have lost count of how many times tense deer that were under twenty yards, never gave me a shooting opportunity that I wanted to risk, even at my rather fast shooting tempo compared to many.  My fast shot is one second from the beginning of the draw to release.

[John3]

12-15 yards is my sweet spot.  I want them closer of course but if all is perfect and I mean perfect 20 yards or a few steps farther.   I have let deer walk at 18 yards when it just didn't feel right...  LOL

[SteveC]

I was only a 20 yard max shooter until recently. Once I acquired a Black Hunter recurve, I am consistent and confident at 30 yards. I would consider a 35 yard shot if everything was perfect and I was "in the zone". But it would be an exception, not the rule.

This bow's grip is shaped just right for me, and it's consistent, which leads me to consistency in gripping the bow and much better accuracy overall. I've been practicing out to 45 yards for the first time in my trad archery career (26 years).

Out west here, longer shots are a normality due to the open terrain, although I've shot elk and deer at under 15 yards.

[OkKeith]

I regularly practice out to 40 yards but 25 is my comfortable hunting maximum range. I have always considered putting a simple pin site on one of my take downs just to see what it does for me at longer distances.

Seems like I read a story once where a recurve hunter was out after sheep (or maybe it was goats) and a good animal was there but it was going to be a long shot with no chance to stalk closer. The hunter backed down the mountain some and taped a match stick (could have been a paper match) to the bow riser and with a few shots had the match head dialed in as a pin. He was able to get back on the animal and made a clean kill using the improvised sight.

Out in western Oklahoma I have shot Turkeys at my limit due to open terrain. Always made good hits but some insurance might be good.

OkKeith

[bear mike]

I'm pretty confident to 25 but I try really hard to stay with in 15 I love being close to whatever I am after the feeling is beyond words when you have a deer close enough to touch

[OkKeith]

Hey Mike...

I agree, close in deer are exciting but I think there is such a thing as too close though. My experience has been that any game animal inside fifteen yards is probably gonna be pretty wired. Even in a dark and nearly totally closed in blind I have had deer at ten yards freeze and do a hard stare as I start to draw. The nearly imperceptible sound of carbon arrow shaft on the rug-rest and against the hair arrow shield seems to be as loud as an alarm bell to deer that close.

In my mind the optimum range would be a deer between fifteen and twenty yards.

OkKeith

[pavan]

Being a ground only hunter, I typically try to set up at 25 yards from a good trail.  For trail side sitting wind and cover are critical.  Three trees can cover my back drop and allow a shot at 25 yards, but at ten yards, sitting in front of three close together trees is not enough cover.  When I go out and do my woods shooting I set up my deer targets where I can start the practice at point on range, which is from 52 to 58 yards for my bows and arrows.  Later in the summer I work to expand my automatic response range.  Last season it was 34 yards.  What I call automatic response, I think I am still secondary aiming, but it is fluid without as much mechanical aiming.  With every set up there is a zone where the arrow will come just under the chest of a deer in my secondary.  It works out that way because of the shrinking visual dimensions as the distance is increased.  Arrows fly in a slight parabolic line, when the shots get real long the arrows are coming down at a greater rate, that is when distances get too critical for me to take a predictable shot.  For me, it takes many more practice shots at 45 yards to be proficient than it does at anything less than that.  It really isn't a chore, I like taking long shots when roving. 

[BWallace10327]

If I put my bottom limb tip on the vitals I can make I kill shot at 230 yards every time.

[Charlie Lamb]

OKKeith had some things to say that people should put some thought into.