What is Your Effective Hunting Range?

[Dawnpatrol]

I'm usually covered in ticks and blood when I take shots 10-18 yards. 18-25 is a mixed bag. For some reason (PANIC) I've lost several large boars that I've hit at under 5 yards. Go figure.

[Shakes.602]

15 to 17 is pretty sure for me. Anything farther is just a Potshot or a Hail Mary.

[jbat73]

I echo get as close as you can and burn a hole and don't think about anything else, but my dead nutz zone is probably between 10-25 yds. I've taken shots further, but only when not thinking about the shot cause everything was right. Only pacing it out after did I realize how far it was. Still the longest shot I can remember taking was at a squirrel in my youth, paced out to 38-39yds. As a rule, I never think about yardage before I release, only after, I like to keep track for my personal knowledge. J

[Archie]

I practice almost exclusively from 17 to about 45 yards.  My sweet spot in my back yard is about 20-25 yards.  The very bad thing is that I shoot better groups at 20 yards than at 10.  Must be a focus/sight window thing, I guess. So I've decided to practice more the 5-20 yard shots.

I would be very comfortable shooting out to about 25 yards in a hunting situation.  In a situation where any hit would be a kill (birds, rabbits, gophers) I would take much longer shots.  I killed a gopher at 28 yards once!

[Friend]

Properly assessing and acknowledging the situation including the animals behavior and my own immediate confidence commonly varies that effective range significantly.

[Ground Hunter]

Range is but one variable in taking a shot.

[wooddamon1]

I like 20 and under, but I took a whitetail doe once at 37 or so that seemed a lot closer.

[Easykeeper]

Under twenty, preferably under fifteen.  Perfect conditions though I would probably take a shot at twenty five.  No further for me unless it's a follow us shot on an already hit deer.

[Sixby]

With a fast stick bow I do not think range is a real factor if you are shooting good. 30 yards and under if you shoot good should be very doable. The rest is in the shooters self limitations due to confidence. I have killed some animals stupid close. One cow elk probably 4 ft. others at 30 yards but most between 20 and 30 yards. Right now I would drop my outside limit to under 20 because I have not had time to practice. But when I'm on I honestly do not think about distance unless the shot is over 30 yards.

God bless you all, Steve

[Steve95]

What guys say and what they do? I say 20 and under but I have taken shots at 80 yards in a field. Hit a deer running a couple times, once in the hart at 45 yards. Luck or just being too confident and have missed lots. Sometimes under 10, I had already tasted the backstraps. We just learn to live with what we do.....

[limbolt]

I'll do 20 yards,but prefer 20 feet if possible.

[amar911]

If I have been accurately shooting lots of arrows nearly every day and other factors are suitable, then 30 yards is generally not a problem (and maybe farther), but 20 yards and under is always better. When I have slacked off on practicing and my consistency and accuracy have suffered, then even 20 yards may be a challenge. If you practice enough, you will know your own limitations very well.

Allan

[eflanders]

I only shoot a maximum of 50 lb draw weight.  This also limits my effective kill range in addition to how well I can hit a target at any range.

I won't shoot at an animal beyond 30 yards although I practice beyond this at times.  I prefer to shoot at under 20 but as many others have said, the conditions, the animals wariness, etc. all need to be right before I will shoot.

[OS]

I feel very confident out to 35 yards.  In getting ready for my Wyoming Muledeer hunt I've been practicing alot out at 60+ yards and feeling better about it all the time.  Saying that by average shot so far is about 12 yards.

[Mint]

I'm good to 30 yards right now but I set up my stands for shots for under 20 yards.

[Bowwild]

When I was 17 years old (1971) I tried a shot and missed over the shoulder at 60 yards. I learned a lesson that day. I haven't taken a shot at game with any type of archery equipment past 33 yards since then.

The worst thing I ever heard come out of a bowhunters mouth was in those first couple of years I bowhunted. A veteran bowhunter came into camp with an empty quiver. He launched and missed with all his arrows at deer across a gulley, closer to 90 yards than 50. When I asked him why, he replied, "If no arrows are flying nothing is dying."  Even at 17 years old I knew that was wrong.  

I even remember the fellow's nick name (PC), even though I saw him only that one time.  I imagine he's long buried since.

[michigan bill]

the following was in one of the bow hunting magazines some time back.

shooting a hunting arrow at 165 feet per second:
1.  at 10 yards with  a deer looking at you when you shoot, the deer can "duck" 3 inches.  if that same deer is not looking at you when you shoot, it can still "duck" 2 inches.
2.  at 15 yards the comparable "ducking" numbers are 8 inches and 6 inches.

i believe i read that a deer's reaction time is at least 3 times faster than a human's reaction time.

bill

[ironmike]

35 yards

[eminart]

Originally posted by michigan bill:
the following was in one of the bow hunting magazines some time back.

shooting a hunting arrow at 165 feet per second:
1.  at 10 yards with  a deer looking at you when you shoot, the deer can "duck" 3 inches.  if that same deer is not looking at you when you shoot, it can still "duck" 2 inches.
2.  at 15 yards the comparable "ducking" numbers are 8 inches and 6 inches.

i believe i read that a deer's reaction time is at least 3 times faster than a human's reaction time.

bill

Yes, they can "jump the string" even on the fastest compound bows. That's where the quietness of traditional gear has an advantage, I would imagine. I've actually noticed more of a tendency for deer to do this at CLOSE range because the sudden sound of the bow close to them is more startling than a sound a little farther off. But, from my compound days, I've seen that the quieter the bow, the less likely they are to jump the string, and speed of the bow didn't help or hurt any noticeable amount.

In my experience quiet wins every time. Back in the two years of my target shooting with wheels and heavy a compound hunting bow, I learned how fast deer can be.  I had a nice buck on the tail of a hot doe. It was standing by my 45 yard marker, very helpful for those that used sights, a simple shot that I had practiced many times.  He was looking at the doe when I released.  
I got a glimpse of the arrow level with the deer's back.  
With that bow and with the rather heavy arrow I was shooting my target experience would drop that arrow right on the mark and the arrow had less than half its distance to go. that is also when the buck turned and looked and jumped the string.
What got me was not so much that he beat the arrow, but how he beat it. He did not duck, he did an about face and bolted which left the arrow passing under his tail with the arrow still at the perfect elevation and this with an 85 pound compound that shot way over 200 fps.  
After he left, I looked at my color matched stake to my bow sight pin wondering if I could have been seeing things. I took another broadhead out took a casual aim at that orange stake and split it right where I painted it orange. That was the last day I shot a compound.  I killed my buck that year with a Bear takedown with 55 pound limbs that Fred Bear autographed.