Hey, if some of you guys can't make a 60 yard shot that's fine, but where do you get off telling me it's unethical? What's unethical is taking a shot you shouldn't, and that includes if you get "buck fever". How many post are in here every fall about wounding one? Sure an elk can move at 60 yards, it can move at twenty as well, so whats your point? I would rather be 20 inches high than 6 inches high. Some of you need to get off your ethically horses, just because you don't feel comfortable with a given shot, doesn't mean I don't. BTW, I got a picture here of Fred Bear with a nice hog, shot a 100 yards with recurve and wood arrows.

Here is another little test you can do. Get a person to stand behind a solid arrow proof structure and attach a rope to a target. Instruct him to snatch the target the instant he hears the bow fire. Do it at 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards. Come back and post your findings.


BTW, I am not calling, nor have I called, anyone here unethical. I am also not saying that it can't be done. Just that the vast majority of hunters shouldn't even think about attempting it.

Simply making a point about hunting live animals instead of shooting stationary targets.


BTW, Fred Bear was in a very elite class of bow hunters that very few will ever achieve. Byron Furgeson is another.

this is just my opinion dont want to affend anyone but i think anyone taking a shot over 40 yds has no respect for the animal they are hunting, even the best bows on the market dont shoot fast enough theres alot of chance of the animal moving and making a bad shot ending in wounded game that doesnt get recovered....shooting 60 yds at a target range is alot differentthe targetsdont move...

Let me clear the air here. Obviously, by the nature of my question I have never attempted a 60 yard shot on an animal. I did shoot a whitetail a few years ago in Wisconsin that was walking 45 yards in the woods (double lung). That is my longest shot to date, primarily because I havn't had the need to shoot longer. This year I purchased new equipment after shooting the same bow for 13 years. I can hardly shoot at 30 yards because I am tearing my arrows up by hitting them with other arrows. Right now I am set up at 15, 30, 45, and 60 yards on my pins. I don't really shoot at 15 yards anymore because frankly it's too close. I shoot 50-100 at 30 yards, 50-100 at 45 and the same at 60. The rest are random distances by me sneaking around the yardlike an idiot and stalking my 3d target. As I said earlier, right now I wouldn't take the shot, however, by season start I am confidant that I will be comfortable with a 60 yard shot. My feeling is that some folks invision me slinging arrows wildly through the mountains and any critter within a 100 yards. I don't get buck fever, and I don'tshoot shots when I'm not comfortable with them whether its 10 yards or 60. My concern was with penetration at 60 yards, if I just flung arrows recklessly I wouldn't be on here asking about penetration would I?

Thats nothing, I visited this small sport shop with archery range in Minnesota here. Never been there before and just seeing what he had to offer. After talking with the owner because I was the only one in the place, he stated what his setup was and he shoots long distance. His set up sounded really weird, I can't remember what it was but I do know he said his shots are about 60 yards everytime on average. His goal this year was to take a deer at 100 yards.

In disbelief I asked why and doesn't that take thejoy of archery hunting away? He said no and that was what he wants to do to see if he could do it.
Ok well I gotta go, out the door I went. As a represenative of this sport and he is preaching this S&*T to people visiting his shop. I couldn't believe it. 60 yards is possible for some but 100?

IMHO,When you start shooting at whitetails over 40 yards all the confidence and shooting ability in the world isn't going to keep a deer from ducking or spinning on a shot. A deer on high alert can duck an arrow from a high speed bow atless than 20 yards. But at these shorter distances you can compensate by aiming low with the anticipation the deer may drop into the shot. At longer distances this margin of error increases beyond the point of anticipation. Even a calm deer at 50 yards can react to a shot and totally spin or duck that could result in a poor hit. Im not saying you can't make a good hit at these distances it's just the margin of error is beyond any hunters effective killing ability due to the deers unpredictable nature.
Out west it is a little different...The size of the animals are in most cases much larger which decreases the margin of error making longer shots more effective. This is just my opinion.

Don't be jealous!!! That was real world hunting conditions and they both have 2 nice cows to show for it. Get over it!!!!

All I'm saying is if you feel that you can do it, go for it! Remember one thing, you can't kill anything without shooting at it.

Muley69,

400 arrows a night? How long does it take you to shoot that? I mean at 5 arrows / roundthat's 80 rounds. I figure if you're taking any time at all to aim, it probably takes you 1 minute / arrow to shoot (give or take). Then say you're shooting 20 yards, you have to walk and pull your arrows then walk back. On average I'll take a guess at 5 minutes a round to shoot, pull and return. 5 minutes * 80 rounds = 400 minutes / 60 (min /hour) = 6.67 hours of shooting a night. Must be nice to have that kind of time on your hands...

personally, even though ive read that ya shouldnt do it, when practicingi shoot a LOT faster than one arrow a minute. although i hear it isnt normal, a lot of times our indoor 300 round nfaa league here in my hometown, which is of course 60 arrows, takes the whole group between 45 minutes and an hour. we shoot pretty quick.

back to the original topic...
i dont see why in the hell somebody would get all worked up about distance. read statements like, anybody who shoots over (pick the yardage) has no respect for the animal, ect.
i dont buy that. by this season i will take a 60 yard shot at an elk. i can make that shot consistantly. yes, a lot can happen at that distance, but WAY more animals jump the string at closer ranges, i guess because they dont perceive something that far away as an immediate danger. between myself, family, and friends we have taken MANY animals over 40 yards. with ample practice those 40 and 50 yard shots are simply not that tough.

in the end, to each his own, and stick to your own limitations, but dont start in on someone because they do something a bit different than you do...

HuntnMuleys,

Even at 45 mintes for 60 arrows he'd be taking 5 hours... If he can really afford that much time, I'm jealous as he!!. I can barely eek out 1 hour a couple times a week (mostly its 15-30 minutes) and I don't even have kids yet...