Determining shot range

[Douglas Martin]

I'm curious how some of you guys determine your shot range. What determines too far for you?

[SEMO_HUNTER]

My personal limit is 25 steps with trad gear. You have to get an "eye" for when your arrow starts to drop. Effective range for trad gear is normally around 20-30 steps/yards. Any further than that is just guesstimation.

[LB_hntr]

I practice almost every day thru the season and if my shooting is spot on and I feel confident then I'm good out to 30 yards if my practicing is spot on at 30. If my shooting is shady at 25 yars I stay under 20 where I'mconfident and spot on.
I rarely actually shoot at animals farther than 20 tthough as 10-18 is my always preferred zone.

[Rustic]

Originally posted by Douglas Martin:
I'm curious how some of you guys determine your shot range. What determines too far for you?

Practice, Practice, Practice... I shoot at different ranges everyday and sometimes I'm spot on and other times I'm not.

[Gen273]

I have taken deer out to 30 yards, but I like them under 20 the best.

[Bob B.]

I shoot all different ranges like most.  My hunting distance (with few exceptions) is out to 25 yards.  I practice from 10 to 45 /50 yards.  With my Sunset hill, I can routinely hit the vitals of my deer target at 50 yards, and it still hits with authority.  However, even if my shot is accurate, I am not comfortable taking that shot as I do not know if the target ( deer) will move while the arrow is on its way.  In this way, I could shoot true but still have a "poor" shot.  Therefore, I do my best to limit my hunting shots to 25 yards.

Bob.

[Hoyt]

My usual distance I do most of my shooting from during almost daily practice is around 25 to 30yds.

However, I noticed something yesterday while in the woods looking a spot over for a good tree to climb. I always want a tree that's located about 10 to 15yds from where I expect the shot and the weird thing is, in the real setups anything farther than that seems like it would be a long shot. But when practicing, a 20yd shot looks like a chip shot to me. I don't quite understand why that is, but it came clear to me yesterday for some reason.

[VictoryHunter]

20 yards is my max. I've gotten pretty good eyeballing it and being able to determine if the shot is in range or not. That's one the great benefits of shooting instinctively, doesn't matter how far it is as long as it's in your comfort zone.

[koops4]

I prefer 20 paces or less but would possibly shoot out to 30 if it felt right.  It all depends on if the shoot feels right for me.  Last year I passed on a doe at about 12 paces because it did not feel right.

[Onehair]

I don't like them inside of 15 yards but to answer your question, If I know I can make the shot, it's on the way. Any doubt I pass. In fact I passed a nice buck last year at about 15 yards. I needed to slide the arrow through an hole of about 6". 99% of the time no problem but I had been spraying arrows all week. I took a doe 2 years ago at 40.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

I figure the range out after I make the shot or pass on it.

[ThePushArchery]

I am the same way as Trumpkin. If the green light is on, the green light is on...

If not, then I pass on the shot. It is instinctual with little concious thought about whether to take the shot or not.

I've had 20 yard shots at game that felt like chip shots and loosed the arrow, and the next time in a different stand location, the same exact shot in a different environment felt too long to shoot.

effective range is 30 to 32 on my target range. But 30 yards in the woods is a lot longer than 30 yards in your back yard if you know what I mean.

[Mint]

It depends on how i'm shooting. With my palmer I am good on the pratice range to 30 - 35 yards so I will hunt up to 25 yards. I just started shooting my predator recurve and i'm only good to 25 yards so i will hunt at 20 yards. I'd say 90% of my stands are set up for under 20 yard shooting anyway.

[dirtguy]

I'm glad to hear that some of you that practice a lot can still spray them on some days.  I have been working at it for a few years and feel that I have gotten reasonable good - very comfortable out to 20-22 yards.  For several weeks this summer, I could stack them right in there (4-5 arrows, fletches touching or nearly touching each other) then one day I'm only putting 3 out of 5 in a pie plate.  Two days later, I'm back to where I was.  I can't really account for it.

[kat]

I used to use a range finder when I practiced to get a feel for what yarddage 'feels right'. When you get that mental picture for yardage, you can determine how far is right, and where you should pass.

[Dave Lay]

same deal as others.. its just a muscle memory type deal, to me a shot is either close, average or far..LOL i have always sucked at range estimation and never really think about it. Just try to shoot basicly the same set up alot and it will be like throwing a baseball in that you dont guess range you just chunk it and it magically hits where you want it to...

[TraditionalGuy]

Where I hunt in the national forests of California, it is far too thick to usually get off a shot further than 20-25 yards, so range is usually a moot point for me anyway.

[Matthew Bolton]

I kinda just play it by eye. I normally won't shoot over 20 but I feel confident further out to about 30.

[Cmane07]

The way you shoot scooter, better keep it to 5 yards and under    

[longbowman]

While watching a deer they cross some line in my head that says "NOW"!  I very seldom practice at normal hunting ranges with a couple of shots at most.  95% of my practicing is done at 30 yards and further however my deer kills show that over nearly 50 years of hunting my average shot is 18 yds.  I guess you just develop that instinct over years of hunting and shooting.