The best - close shot or long?

[Zbearclaw]

Yep, a groundhog generally only gives you a upper torso shot, where it is all vitals.

Also in some areas the ground squirrels are plague carrying vermin and any opportunity to thin them is something to be taken advantage of, though a bow isn't the best method if that is the case...

Killing quickly and humanely is our intent always, but many I know aren't up at 0300 hiking straight up for two hours to get to a spot to glass so they can pass a shot within their range to try and "be a better hunter"...

[longarrow]

Would you rather have $10.00 or $100.00? For over 20 years bowhuntin' with a compound I don't remember shootin' an animial over 25 yards...most were at 20 or less...so I figure I can shoot trad gear at that range! Past 5 years of trad gear and I've never shoot over 20 yards. I kill 2-3 deer a year.  I love the close shot! It let me know that I'm doin' all the things right to get the deer within that range!!! I just want to get a MOOSE (that I have tag for) or an ELK within that 20 yard range!!

[Terry Green]

Good post Tom. That's what I was saying.  I certianly am not advocating 'hale Mary's'

If you can't get close you aren't a good hunter....... If you can't shoot you aren't a good hunter. It takes both and I for one certianly enjoy the shot when everything is 'a go' both long and short. And, I really don't see a reason to only enjoy one or the other if both apply under the right circumstance.

Again, I know a LOT more than just a handful of good AND great hunters.
         

   

[highpoint forge]

In the two years of bowhunting under my belt, the one and only shot I have ever taken at game was under 10 yards at a gnarly old 9  point Whitetail buck in south TX. I was sitting in a bush with a small hole cut into it to allow my arrow to pass through, freezing my butt off for three days. I could count that old buck's eyelashes I was so close!

My wheelie-bow hunting buddy makes fun of me for having a slew of trad bows that I've never killed anything with. He also considers himself a "naturally excellent shot" (with a sighted compound using a mechanical release?) which I find particularly hilarious. Numerous times I have explained "stickbow close" to him and that is why I hunt with traditional equipment.

It must be a yin and yang thing that keeps us friends........I remember being 30 years old and thinking I knew it all too. At least he's funny.

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

Ok i'am going to say shots on strictly whitetails cuz thats all i hunted with my bow here in Wis. I prefer the short shots, they provide the most adrenaline rush for me, and having everything fall in place and making the shot at mere paces from my tree made me feel like the ultimate predator.Shooting a ground hog at 45yards with trad gear AWESOME. shooting anything with TRAD gear at any yardage is awesome.

[fishnbum]

There is just something about being well within a critters comfort zone!!!

[jonsimoneau]

I think the longest shot I have taken on deer was 26 yards, and killed them with no problem.  In africa, I took a few longer shots with success, simply because as Terry already put it, their vitals were bigger, and they were high percentage shots for me.  But to be honest?  I do wish I could accurately shoot whitetails at 30 yards, but I know I really can't, so I don't even try it.  If I could...I would. I wan't to be able to do it, but not bad enough to make me want to shoot a compound. Let me put it this way.  I am just as confident at 20 yards as I am at 10 yards.  If I were just as confident at 30 yards, as I am at 20 yards, I would take the shot.  But again...being truthful with myself, I know I simply am not confident shooting whitetails at 30 yards, so I refrain from those shots.  I've passed up shots at a number of big whitetails in the 30 yard range, that I know many people would probably have flung an arrow at.  So I guess I just kind of convinced myself once again that getting close is part of the fun!

[James on laptop]

I am impressed with good shot placement,not how far or close the animal was.Bowhunting is about cutting an animal in the best place to kill and make recovery fast.Do that at any distance you want to.Double lungs and heart shots impress me.Arrows hanging out of an animal and talk of single bevels and high foc allowing kills under less than best situation don't do a thing for me shot from under the feet of 100yds away.    jmho

[nightowl1]

I respect the ability to shoot accurately at long distance.... but being about to take game at less than 10 yards on the ground is a sign of a hunter!

Let me restate that... providing food is a sign of a hunter. Being able to get that close is a sign of a predator    :D

[Ken Taylor]

Coincidentally, the day before yesterday I took my closest shot ever on a big black bear from a natural ground blind...5 feet.

I don't want to hijack this thread so that's all for now.

[reddogge]

I think a ground hog killed at 45 yards is more fun that a ground hog at 4 yards....AND, can prove you are a better hunter by your shooting skills.
 

For me personally a groundhog at 45 yards would be a luck shot.  However I would be very impressed with a 4 yard shot after a 41 yard stalk though.

[Ken Taylor]

reddogge, I totally agree with you.

 I know bowhunters who are great shots on targets but do not have good hunting or bush skills. They are not very effective on most big game.

[Terry Green]

I agree...that would be impressive....but I don't know any good/great bowhunters that can't do both.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I suppose that in order to answer the question I'd have to know what constitutes close or long. I know a guy who considers 20 yards a long shot. To me, it's a lay-up.

[RC]

I`ve killed quite a few hogs and I`m no Mr Womack as far as keeping notes and such but I would guess my average shot on pork is under 10 yards.I love the stalk . When I get under 40 yards on pigs My heart starts to pound and it gets better as I get closer.I run off a lot of hogs that I probably should have shot at 20.As far as deer go, I know I won`t get super close if I`m on foot so I will shoot when it feels right and thats usually 30 or less.I try to set my stands for 15 yard shots when I`m in a tree .RC

[RC]

I will say if I were Elk hunting I would not hesitate to shoot at 40 yards.It would`nt be a shoot and hope shot either.RC

[RC]

One more time. I`m kinda "in to" this topic because of a conversation I had with a fellow today. Some stickbow "hunters" I know will use their equipment as a reason why they did`nt kill something. I`ve never done that. I feel my choice in weapon is very capable of getting it done and I will never blame a miss or lack of shooting on my choice of bow.All of the true Stickbow "killers" I know have confidence in their ability and in short...they can shoot long or short.I know one fella thats around 65 years old. He is a very good friend of mine and to my knowledge he has never won a 3d shoot but he has killed 100`s of deer and pigs. A total of probably 500 no joke.He`s confident on critters and ain`t afraid to shoot. He has more confidence in shooting than stalking and he`ll shoot usually once inside 30 yards.He looses very,very few animals. Folks like that ,They live stickbows and don`t do this to be cool but do it cause they live it.I`m done now.RC

[Ben Maher]

well said RC !

[Chris Shelton]

I like this thread!  This has always been something of general interest to me.  

When I was younger(younger than young, lol), I always thought that 50 yards was close.  And 20 yards, I can spit further.  SO it is interesting to me how much my "depth perception" has changed.  Now 20 yards is my "staple", and 30-35 is doable, 40 is marginal, one of those everything needs to be perfect situations, and even if everything is perfect I really can't see myself loosing an arrow on the whitetails I hunt(wirey).  

Alright all that said, I have a question for you guys . . . All you fellers that "enjoy the stalk" you hunt flat terrain right?  

The only reason I ask is because here in Washington county, Md the terrain is flat.  Stalking is a joy, and getting 40 yards closer is not a problem.  In fact I would say that on average 80% of the time I get a shot on a whitetail at an average distance of 25 yards.  That is out of probably 200 days a field.  The only reason I didn't kill any of those deer is because we didn't need any meat . . . Dad and I are the only ones who eat deer meat, and we only take what we use.  So I let a lot of does and little bucks pass.  The rule was it had to be a once in a lifetime buck, and we would squeeze it in the freezer.  

A hundred miles west, it is a different story.  I probably only spent 50 days in those woods this year.  Out of those 50 days I can count the number of shots I was presented with on two hands.  It is amazing to me how different distance is there.  When I am in the deep woods 40 yards doesn't seem so far anymore.  I actually shoot better as well.  I take a little Rinehart ball with me to camp, and I shoot just like I normally would, probably a half hour a day.  The ball is only 8 inches, and I was able to put my entire quiver on it(5 arrows) at 40 yards!!!

Anyway, all rambling aside, maybe this drastic difference in everyones opinion is due to the difference in terrain?  Just speaking aloud . . .

[Rackman]

Close and personal has got my vote.