bowhunting. how to know how many yards away a deer is?

Lightsout · 10-02-2008, 06:30 PM

does anybody ever use ribbons or something to mark away how many yards it is when your bowhunting? like at 20 yards you put a marker, and at 40 yards put something?

wahoohunter · 10-02-2008, 06:31 PM

Have done that before, yes. It works very well.

RockinChair · 10-02-2008, 06:33 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: wahoohunter

Have done that before, yes. It works very well.

x2.

blakefrautschi · 10-02-2008, 06:34 PM

i range bushes, trees, trails, etc. before getting in stand so i know every distance that a deer could be. And if possible i even range a deer before i shoot.

GMMAT · 10-02-2008, 06:41 PM

You guys who range your animals befor eyou shoot them.....wow. I know there are some seasoned guys who say they do this every time.....and all I have to say is.....kudos. I've never done it.

Irange some trees "when I take my rangefinder".....but to be honest....I've gotten to where ....if I have to think about the distance....I'm probably not going to shoot. I shoot enough from 20yds to know what that looks like in the woods. The doe I shot last Monday (2nd one).....I pegged her at 23 yds....and held just a hair high on my intended POI. Elevation was great. If I'd thought she was 28yds....I wouldn't have shot.

If I thought I was going to take shots over 30 yds in the woods....I'd take my rangefinder, more. I've learned (the hard way) that I'm not great at those distances from a tree. So....I don't shoot that far.

If you don't know what 20yds looks like.....you need to range it "somehow". Ribbons will work great. If you do know what 20yds looks like.....you know it's likely a top pin shot....and I don't see the need for one in that instance.

Know your limitations.

Rob/PA Bowyer · 10-02-2008, 06:51 PM

I'm a very seasoned 3D veteran and I still range my animal every time right before the shot be it 20 yards or 42 yards.

I wear my rangefinder on my chest with a Crooked Horn Outfitter bino strap. I know what 20 yards looks like, I know what 30 yards looks like but I don't want leave anything to chance. It's just a habit, rangefinder in one hand, bow in the other, range, release on, draw, anchor, aim, release..it's mechanical.

virginiashadow · 10-02-2008, 06:56 PM

Part of the fun of bowhunting is ranging the animal yourself...IMO. Maybe it was years and years of football and having to know distance in yards, but I can range to usually within 2-3 yards all the way up to around 35 yards out. I just pick up my bow, pick a spot that I believe is within a 5 yard mark, estimate the range, and then shoot when the time is right.

GMMAT · 10-02-2008, 06:59 PM

Rob....I was thinking of you when I wrote that....and I think that's great. When I think back to some of my encounters....I just don't see how I could have done what you do. My '06 8-pointer......was on a dead run two times I came to full draw. Ranging him would have been pointless. He never stopped. When he did finally stop to work a scrape.....I shot him. I took a guess (that was wrong....but off by 6 yds). It all worked out. If I'd waited to range him.....he could have been gone. He was 2-3yds from the park entrance.

NO WAY I range the first buck I ever killed. He was looking right at me.

Last year's 8-pointer.....hell he was chasing a doe, too....and I "maaaa'd" him to a stop on my second attempt to stop him. No time to range him, either. I don't know the circumstances of the animals you've killed......but I think the fact you range them all is commendable.

minnesotadeer · 10-02-2008, 07:29 PM

Most of my shots could not be past 35 in the thick woods I often hunt. I have a rope I cut 35 yards long and also marked it with a knot at 20 yards. Well before season, during the summer, I mark off the distances with the rope from the tree stand or blind spot. Then I use the same rope to mark off my target range in the backyard. Since I shoot only one pin within 35 yards, lots of practice on the range gives me a pretty good idea of where the pin needs to be within that 35 yards. I have been thinking about getting a rangefinder too but until I do, this system has worked pretty well.

bowhuntn87 · 10-02-2008, 09:11 PM

i don't use a rangefinder. during the off season i just practice ranging off random things. i guess the distance in my mind, and then pace it out. i do this everywhere... ina large room, walking down the street... etc. after a while you start to get pretty good at it, and 99% of the time you can get within a couple yards. and it saves me from spending a few hundred bucks.