My buddy, who is a top notch shooter, had an elk duck his arrow at 25 yards this last season. The elk wasn't looking at him when he shot. He's lucky he didn't wound the animal.

Keep in mind, no matter how good you can shoot, you can never predict what the animal will do. Longer shots always increase the possibility of a poor hit. I know some people don't care if they hit an animal poorly, just give them a chance to get it, and they'll take that chance. Others, like myself, want to be sure that 99% of the time a killing shot will be made. In other words, some people have a higher tolerance for a poor hit, regardless of how talented they are in their shooting abilities. I can easily keep my arrows in a 4" group at 30 yards, but would never take a shot of that distance at an animal. My longest to date has been about 22 yards and I can't imagine that I'll ever take one longer. By the way, I'm 18 out 20 on big game. The two misses never hit the deer. Both times I hit a twig when hunting with a recurve as a teenager. Both of those shots were under 15 yards. I didn't realize what a little twig could do to an arrow. That was the last time I shot when a twig could possibly divert the shot.