RE: 40 yard shot
Range is always a controversial subject when it comes to shooting in a hunting situation. It doesn’t matter whether it is a gun or a bow. It can be a tough call because we are talking about spilling blood and that should never be taken lightly.
Perhaps what it boils down to is attitude more than range. There are people that are satisfied with just killing something and there are those that are truly enamored with every detail of the hunt. I find with a person that just wants to kill something range is not the culprit in the equation. Sure he may fling an occasional “Hail Mary” but his real transgression is that he has not practiced enough with his weapon to master it and he has failed to learn the intricate habits of his quarry. He is just as likely to maim and wound at practical ranges as he is at 40 yards and beyond. Worse than taking long shots is the fact that he is oblivious to the body language of his prey and the consequences of shooting at poor angles and yet he makes no effort to improve.
On the other hand how can anyone make an iron clad rule declaring 40 yards is to far for ANYONE to shoot when we all possess different levels of skills with the weapons we carry a field? Would you tell Jeff Gordon he can’t drive over 55 MPH because it is unsafe? Would you tell Roger Clemens he can’t throw his fastball to Barry Bonds because you can’t hit it?
I remember on more than one occasion seeing Chuck Adams say that he would rather shoot an animal at 30 yards than twenty because of their reaction to the sound of the shot. (That was when bows were not as quiet as they are now so what would a modern bow sound like at 30 yards.)
Yes there are risks with longer shots. Yes animals can and do move. Yes outside elements can influence the shot. But all of those things can happen at twenty yards as well. In bow hunting there is no “sure thing” at any distance! I do agree that we should get as close as we can. That is part of our quest, part of our skills that should be honed. But there are times when one runs out of real estate and you have a decision to make. Are the conditions right and are your skills sufficient enough to make an ethical shot? Hopefully everyone is honest in their assessment of their personal skills and makes the appropriate decisions.
Checking my journal shows I have shot deer at the following ranges: 3 at 40 yards, 1 at 43 yards, 1 at 44 yards, and 2 at fifty yards. One of the three at forty yards was a doe that was just nicked; hit (low) just enough to find a couple of drops of blood on the ground but nothing on the arrow. She routinely came by with two fawns and I saw her with them the following day so she wasn’t severely injured. The other half dozen were all easily recovered (I wish I could say the same on some of my twenty yard shots) some never went out of view. I used a laser rangefinder with each of these deer and the conditions were right to attempt a shot. Obviously more often than not I will have to pass on animals at these ranges because conditions are not right to make the attempt. In many cases I have had to exercise the same discipline at twenty yards and less. Ethics aren't always measured in yards.