I'm not really a bow hunter, but I do still have my old 65# Bear take-down recurve. I have not shot the bow in over 15 years but I can still draw it. I would take a head on shot if it was within my comfort range for that shot today. That range is 15 feet or less. (I have taken a walking buck at 20 feet broadside while I was wearing blaze orange.) I passed on a head on shot at a doe once at 20 feet. I waited for a broadside and lost the opportunity because a deer can turn around faster than I can pull the trigger.

If this hunter was a great shot, and he knew he would make it, more power to him. I have much more trouble, from an ethical stand point, with people who shoot under powered bows. I've seen too many videos of 25 yard shots where there is a slow, light, arrow arching to the deer and only penetrating six or eight inches. The ethical hunters punch through the ribs, no problem with heavier, faster arrows. These hunters usually are not hundered pound women or 90 pound children either.

I am planning on taking up the bow again but I also have a problem ethically with letting a deer go over night before recovery. The good video shots I have seen all kill the deer within a couple of minutes if not in just a few seconds. If I shoot towards evening the deer will have to be close or it will let it walk. If you do not recover the deer in time to make good meat, you failed. The only time I will wait is the time it takes to calm down and get down from the tree. Fifteen minutes or so.


Bob