HOW FAR IS TO FAR??
Show_Me_Your_Rack
7/4/07 5:03pm
I HAVE MY BOW SET UP WITH PINS THAT GO 20,50,60,70,80,90,100 I HAVE KILLED DEER OUT TO 73 WITH NO PROBLEM ARROW DID A COMPLETE PASS THREW AND THATS AFTER GOING THREW BOTH SHOULDERS!!!! I WAS WONDERING HOW FAR YOU GUYS WOULD SHOOT A DEER WITH A BOW AND BE CONFIDENT THAT YOU WOULD RETRIEVE IT? I WILL TO 100 BUT I THINK ANY FARTHER IS PUSHING IT!!! LETS HERE WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE TO SAY?????????
15,851
my limit 50 yrds, and under no conditions would i ever believe that some one is 100% of making shot farther than that 100% of the time------ just my bull headed opinion i guess???????????????????
As ‘bee mentioned with Randy Ulmer, I believe there is probably a fair number of us shooters here that are able to or do shoot at longer yardages (70-100 yds), however shooting at a target butt or a Styrofoam 3-D animal target is a whole different story than shooting at an animal in the field that we are intending to harvest ethically. As mentioned, there is a lot of time lapse between release and arrow placement contact. There are simply too many variables that can come into play even for the most seasoned shooter such as: wind, angle, terrain, yardage, wind-at a longer yardage the wind may very well be blowing slightly where the animal is and not where you are, and yes-good ol’ buck fever, etc… Even the newer 300+ fps bows cannot over come all of those variables. Unless you are one of the few that may have some type of NOS pack implanted into your arrow and you can kick it in as it gets closer to your target. If so, please let me know where I could buy some. :)
It almost makes my skin crawl to listen to someone brag about the “big” buck that they “hit” but never found, I see know pride in non-retrieval. To each his own opinion, but I would much rather see a nice big buck and not get him then throw a “hell-mary” and stick him bad just wounding him or leaving him to rot for the birds and coyotes to fight over. I either want him on my wall or running in the hills--not limping in the hills.
A lot of deer get wounded every year due to hunters throwing “hell-mary’s” and praying they hit the deer.
I am definitely not saying that these shots can’t be made, but in order to make them ethically or smartly conditions need to be very pristine or borderline perfect. There will always be somebody out there with the “big-fish story” of an amazing arrow performance at some miraculous range. Hopefully we are smart enough to consider logical hunting commonsense rather than the bragging rights of a “rock throwing contest”.
After all this is just my ($$)
Remember to aim straight and……..stay calm and pick a spot!
I think that you kinda of hit the nail on the head. I think that to decide what is to far depends upon the situation. At times you may be able to shoot out to 40 or 50 yards with no problems. At other times 20 yards may be to far depending on thickness of brush or weather conditions. This is why it makes me reluctant to say what is to far because it changes for every shot.
I too will practice at longer distances but that is a lot different than what I would do on a game animal. These are my self imposed limits not my limitations.
Thats what i use for normal conditions. I reduce it of course in high winds or extreme angles.
exactly!! i think if someone told me they killed a 400 " bull or a 200" buck and then said they shot it at 90+ yrds i would not even for a bit think they did anything special. i can't count how many times i've been 70+ yrds to animals that would be my biggest still to date and never crossed my mind to shoot. thats not what it's all about.
How far would I shoot? A lot less than 100 yards.
Get close.
You need to experience an elk screaming in your face at 50 FEET.
You need to experience a deer so close you can smell him.
You need to experience an antelope so close to you that you can see his eyelashes.
That's what bowhunting is to me.
Yes, todays bows shoot faster, flatter and more accurately at longer yardages, but I doubt you will ever see the vast majority of bow hunters shooting much past 50 or 60 yards. Too much can go wrong.
If you're comfy with shooting at a possible moving target from 100+ yards, have at it. It's your choice. But if I couldn't consistently get closer to an animal than the yardages you're talking about, I would just shoot a gun.
One more thing...
If I look at the trajectory of an arrow shot 390 feet away from a target, the arrows won't be sticking straight in to the target. They are not going to shoot flat at 130 yards. An arrow trajectory isn't flat from 130 yards.
I will say that looooonnnnngggggg shots with an arrow are very irresponsible. You can't deny that.
And with that said, I don't care how far "hunters" shoot with their bow. It's not my problem. But I might suggest that people don't post it on a public forum and then get all wadded up when they get called on it.
For me, if you are shooting deer at 80+ yards, your groupings at 30 yards had better be 3 arrows touching each other! As I said, bowhunting the midwest is not the same game, and I understand that. I practice to 50 yards all the time. But that being said, I have arrowed close to 20 whitetails and never had to take a shot past 25 yards. I pride myself on getting close so that there is ZERO DOUBT when I draw that the animal is going to die quickly and ethically. I don't think archery tackle is the right gear for such extreme ranges, but that's my $.02 worth.
Archery hunting out west isn't any different than hunting any other area. Really the only difference is the terrain. Some people use the excuse that you just can't get close out here. That's simply not true. I've never had to take a shot over 50 yards. And to some, 50 yards is a long shot.
There's no excuse to take a shot at 100+ yards. If you can't get closer than 60 yards, buy a gun...
I am starting to get the feeling this post was meant to turn into a "spittin' contest" to say "look what I can do" or a glorified "show and tell". That is cool that a man can shoot far, as a few of us have mentioned we do "practicing". However, when we step in the realm of hunting situations even the best shooter is never sworn to an ethical or clean shot at a long range.
I have grown up in the west all of my life and been envolved in my share of mulies being harvested. IMO if you can't break that 50-60 yard barrier-try harder, get closer or don't shoot.
As mentioned previously, if the yellow jacket target would have been a deer-there is a good chance it would have been a far back liver or possibly a "green arrow" hit. Both have low retrieval rates.
Yes hunting out west is a lot dif than here in MO. And Yes I do use equipment that limits my shot range. But for my $0.02 20 yards is a long shot. My avg shot is about 12 yards. The Mule deer and Elk I have takin out west were at about 15 yards.
Long yardage scares me, that animal can react a lot in the time the arrow takes to get there. Perfect shot turns into a bad shot with one step of the animal.
This is one of those arguments that will some day come back to bite us in the b---.
All I ask is that before you drop that string be 100% sure you can make a clean kill, no matter what the yardage is. Everyone needs to know their limitations. Mine is 20 yards I love 10 yards. And yes I don't kill as many animals as others but...
P.S. The only mule deer I have ever hit and not recovered was at 22 yards.
That is a very accurate statement, but you also have to figure in that any mistake or error in your shot that is minor and maybe even meaningless at 20 yards is monumental at 80. A lung/liver hit turns into a paunch hit. A paunch hit turns into hind quarters. Distance, especially extreme distance, compounds mistakes. It's bad enough on targets, but throw in the adrenaline rush of a hunt, and it makes a tough shot even tougher.