Whats your maximum range for hunting?

[stik]

rich is one of the good guys who has done a lot for the sport of archery and bowhunting.

 

[Coach]

Rich, ...man...I didn't mean that you were anything about peta...one of the posts I regret posting...just happened to be reading something one of those peta jerks wrote the other day and your post reminded me of the wording...nothing more...look forward to meeting you some day...

 

[Radar]

Maximum effective hunting range is when you can place a single arrow in the vitals every time and have the confidence to take the shot.
If there is any doubt about taking a shot , let down . Too many times bowhunters will think they have to release an arrow once the bow is drawn back before the deer moves away .
Take the first clear shot opportunity within your effective range , only if you feel good about the shot . When in doubt , let down and let it walk .

 

[richmanbarbeque]

I agree.

Just watched two bow hnting shows I had recorded. Both guys gut shot the deer. One was quartering to the hunter the other had foliage and limbs in the way with a very alert deer. Both shots I winced. One tried to play it off the other admitted the bad shot and was clearly regrettful. Thankfully both deer were found

 

[Headhunter]

Killed 3 from that TALL stand last year. No problem, neither ran out of sight.

 

[DWM]

Maximum effective hunting range is when you can place a single arrow in the vitals every time and have the confidence to take the shot.
If there is any doubt about taking a shot , let down . Too many times bowhunters will think they have to release an arrow once the bow is drawn back before the deer moves away .
Take the first clear shot opportunity within your effective range , only if you feel good about the shot . When in doubt , let down and let it walk .

That is good advice. The thing I hate to hear people say is "I might as well take a chance I don't have nothing to lose but an arrow. I may not get another chance and I might get lucky and hit him". I have to walk away when I hear people say stuff like that and it is surprising how many think that way. The woods is full of poor ethics.

 

[Headhunter]

Radar, I differ with your opinion in one respect. I have shot targets with a few guys who were so much better than me at shooting targets (most anyone is better than me at just shooting targets) but put them in a the real world hunting situation and they just cannot get it right.

I agree with whoever posted about the first arrow of your practice needing to be in the kill zone and I have always been good at putting the first arrow where it belongs. I always start shooting worse the more I practice in a practice session. I try to limit my practice to no more than 20 shots if that many. I could not even begin to "compete" with many target shooters, probably most on here when it comes to target shooting, but I am one the most persistent hunters you will ever meet and the majority of my practice is during the season.
There is so much to be sad for experience in the woods.

I still screw up (moving at the wrong time, not being ready when a deer appears, not seeing an obstruction of some kind and completely missing, etc.) and will continue to, but if you are not making mistakes then you are not trying.

It is amazing to how many who target shoot but do not know as much about "hunting". I like the hunting, I like being in the woods. There is only so much you can learn by reading, listening, "watching hunting shows", etc. the best time anyone can spend is in the woods. There have been many times while bowhunting from the ground, I have seen a deer and I thought to myself, that deer is going to die by my arrow and I killed it.
There have been way more that something went wrong, but the times everything works out there is almost nothing better than a bowkill from the ground, even when it is a doe.

 

[Radar]

Radar, I differ with your opinion in one respect. I have shot targets with a few guys who were so much better than me at shooting targets (most anyone is better than me at just shooting targets) but put them in a the real world hunting situation and they just cannot get it right.

I agree with whoever posted about the first arrow of your practice needing to be in the kill zone and I have always been good at putting the first arrow where it belongs. I always start shooting worse the more I practice in a practice session. I try to limit my practice to no more than 20 shots if that many. I could not even begin to "compete" with many target shooters, probably most on here when it comes to target shooting, but I am one the most persistent hunters you will ever meet and the majority of my practice is during the season.
There is so much to be sad for experience in the woods.

I still screw up (moving at the wrong time, not being ready when a deer appears, not seeing an obstruction of some kind and completely missing, etc.) and will continue to, but if you are not making mistakes then you are not trying.

It is amazing to how many who target shoot but do not know as much about "hunting". I like the hunting, I like being in the woods. There is only so much you can learn by reading, listening, "watching hunting shows", etc. the best time anyone can spend is in the woods. There have been many times while bowhunting from the ground, I have seen a deer and I thought to myself, that deer is going to die by my arrow and I killed it.
There have been way more that something went wrong, but the times everything works out there is almost nothing better than a bowkill from the ground, even when it is a doe.

I'm not sure we "differ" at all in regards to bowhunting vs. shooting at still targets? There is no substitute for bowhunting experience . I know many archers who shoot great at bulls eyes , but can't bowhunt worth a flip . I consider myself a better bowhunter than target shooter. I know what my effective range is and try to put myself into position within that effective range by using thorough scouting for proper stand placement .

 

[megalomaniac]

around 35 yards on a whitetail, but conditions have to be perfect

around 55 yards on an elk (they don't duck the string)

My cousin shot an alert doe a couple of years ago with his crossbow at 25 yards. She spun 180 degrees and the arrow hit her right through the carotid artery on the opposite side of the deer from when he pulled the trigger. She died quickly, but he learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Headhunter]

I still say in some situations, a deer that is really close to you, unalerted, will jump the string as a deer that is a long ways away will not.

 

[Radar]

I still say in some situations, a deer that is really close to you, unalerted, will jump the string as a deer that is a long ways away will not.

But a deer that does jump the string at a distance will move more than at close range , because it takes longer for the arrow to travel farther .
I'd rather not take a chance at string jumpers , so I like to shoot at a relaxed deer that is more unlikely to jump the string than a deer that is at high alert .
A quiet bow helps too .

 

[Headhunter]

I agree again to some extent Radar, but as I said earlier, every single deer I have hit a long range I have recovered, I have drilled some deer at point blank range only to never find them, never lost a deer I hit at distance. The biggest buck I ever drew back and shot was from the ground at 10-12 feet and arrow blew through him and was covered in good blood, but never found him. I was not as good as scoring as I am now, but he had a HEAVY rack and was tall and wider than his hips. It was a brute. I still say I must have screwed up, but a couple of deer I have killed at long range were fully ALERT, they never moved til after the arrow hit the ground after it went through them. I have had deer that had their head down eating oblivious as best as I could tell to everything but when I let the arrow go, I swear it looked like they were thrown out of a clay pigeon thrower. My bow is not loud by any means, quieter than a lot of guys I have shot with. I think there are definitely no absolutes. I still and always will get as close as I can and then even closer, but I still believe no matter how quiet your bow is, string jumping at close range can happen at times and will alarm a deer that is completely ignorant of a hunter being
in the woods and a deer at distance does not relate to the sound of (or maybe even hear) the shot.

Think about it, if you hear someone shoot a gun real close to you, what do you do, you jump. If you hear something in the distance, do you jump because of the sound? Not near as often as when the sound is close. I still like the point blank kills and being up close and personal is a rush.

 

[Radar]

There is an old saying in bowhunting circles . Archery is seeing how far you can hit the bullseye , bowhunting is seeing how close you can get . Sometimes I get too close .I have made high shoulder hits on shots under 15 yards .I prefer a 30 yard shot from a treestand when I'm 20 feet up because I can get a better shot angle .

Headhunter , if you would read into what I have posted on this thread , you would see that we agree on most accounts . Look what I posted previously about close shots . I get a better angle on longer shots , and prefer a 30 yard shot over a 15 yard shot .