Maximum shot distance

[76Aggie]

I don't take long shots and would consider 25 yards to be the outside of my effective range.  The longest shot with my recurve was 22 yards and my last shot was 12 yards.  I prefer under 20 yard shots.

[Anointed Archer]

I don't give yardage much thought, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 30. However it really does depend on the situation and if I am confident I can make the shot.

[blacktailbob]

For me it's less than 25 and as it gets later in dim light I'm dropping yards every minute.
For those folks who say they regularly kill  at 30, 40 or more yards...how often do you miss? NEVER!?
I've read plenty of articles by competent bow hunters that will admit to clean misses well inside their so-called effective range.
Yes it's possible to kill a deer way out there but why risk wounding one of GOD's beautiful creations?
I always feel better about NOT shooting and trying to get closer...even if that fails.

About 45 years ago I was hunting with a buddy and slipped up on 4 deer. Two bucks and does. I waved him over and said "Stay here while I slip around a thicket to within 20 yards" Just as I'm about to turn the corner I hear
THWANG". Deer gone! He almost got to walk home. He never practice much and certainly not over 20 yds. I asked him WHY.  He said he felt good about the shot. 
As some here have also said.
SO...how often do you miss? I know I have...and inside my so called effective range.

[blacktailbob]

Sorry, just brought back an old unhappy memory of a loooong shot.

[GCook]

Most don't boast about misses and wounding loss. 

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[Trenton G.]

I hit a bison target once at 120 yards at a 3D shoot, so I guess that's about my maximum.

[1Arrow1Kill]

Trenton,

As a fellow Michigan Man, 120 yards sounds like a Buffalo 'chip' shot to me.  Congrats! 

At 65 years old, I don't know if I could even see a buffalo at 120 yards.  Age tends to serve large portions of humble pie.

Keep flingin' em!   

[Wudstix]

Like 1arrowkill said as I get "more mature" my shot options have changed.  Personally, I have not had to take a shot over 40 yards.  Took one once in IN back in the dark ages, boomer buck I had hunted for several years(6), gave me a broadside shot in an open lane at what my eye told me was 35 yards.  Shot felt good as it passed right under his chest, right behind his front leg, cut hair.  He didn't stop running until he topped a hill @1/2 mile away.  Stepped it off at 37-38 yards.  Saw him one more time before he disappeared.  Personal limit is @20 yards, more or less.

[Aaron Proffitt 2]

I don't give yardage much thought, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 30. However it really does depend on the situation and if I am confident I can make the shot.

Exactly.

I'd never look at someone sideways for sticking to much closer than I do or can stretch a shot more than I can . Heard one professional trick shot who can bust baby aspirins but says  anything over 30 yards as "lucky". Lol...whatever

But it's a very subjective topic to be sure.

[jonsimoneau]

A 20 yard shot on a big bodied Midwestern buck isn’t a big deal. Especially during the rut. A 20 yard shot on a jumpy doe with fawns seems too far. Lots of factors. I rarely shoot 20 yards at a whitetail. However I killed a kudu at 30 some yards because kudu are big, have huge vitals and they don’t jump the string much! Warthogs are extremely good a jumping the string. One of the best shots I ever made was a heart shot at a measured 33 yards on a nice warthog but this was under ideal circumstances. For one he was drinking out of a water hole and for two it was windy out so he couldn’t hear by bow go off.

[TooManyHobbies]

I hunt mostly from a tree, and apparently under 10 yards is too close and over 18 is too far.