These are statements you made when you decided to buy a recurve and hunt with it the next day, and now a couple from this thread.
Matt - you're right. Any time you go bowhunting (or even GUN hunting) - you run the risk of a bad hit. If I was afraid of losing a deer, I wouldn't hunt. At all. Everytime I step out of the car with the bow in my hand, I am 100% prepared to cope with whatever happens that day - good or bad.
I know my limits, and I'm 100% prepared for whatever transpires, good or bad.
This is about trusting your gut, enjoying yourselfand beingcomfortable withyour ability to recover what you shoot, not worrying about what other people think is outside the bounds of their own ethical constraints.
Within 15 minutes of shooting it, Iwas inside a pie plate at 12-15 yards almost every time. In 4 hunts, I've had 3 deer within 8 yards on the ground. One was a legal buck, for which I had no tag. I honestlybelieve he would have been dead if Ihad a tag.The other 2 were doe (together) and busted me drawing. I took a running shot at 25 yards and just missed my mark. I also missed a big doe at 33 yards, when she stepped out of the way of my arrow. So I have no doubt that if I put the time in, I'd get one. I might get one this Saturday, now that we're on the subject.
Ideally, I'd like to keep it under 10 yards, but I think I'd stretch it out a few more yards if given the opportunity.
I will shootsaid bow in my basement tonight for probably an hour (range < 20 feet).
You said you knew your limits and from what you said here it would be around ten yards but your shooting at running deer at 25 and a doe at 33? Maybe you should call TRed Barta because you sound alot like him.
It say's you were hitting a pie plate within 15 minutes at 12-15 yards but you originally said you were practicing at under 20 feet.
I guees you trusted your gut and ethics went right out the window eh, and your worried about kids being able to gun hunt.[:'(]