HYDE

I know I will catch some slack with this one. I don't think 3" groups at 25yds. are acceptable according to my standards. You should be busting nocks at that distance. In my opinion 3" would be acceptable at 40-50 yards, even then with practice you should be robin hooding arrows. I can't shoot more than 2 arrows at the same target dot with out busting them out to 35 yards. Out past that I can shoot more arrows at the same target dot and not break as many. If I were you I would go buy some of the orange 1" target dots and practice with those. Just stick them to your target and shoot away, you will be surprised how many knocks/fletchings you ruin.

Hyde

realmfg

Ya I am sure u bust a nock everytime you shoot out to 35 yards. How many arrows you shooting 10? I break a lot of nocks but come on you dont need to break a nock everytime out to 35 to hunt. To me he sounds like he can kill deer just fine. PLus his shots will be 20 or less!

thenuge15

Just a note. When you do try with broadheads don't shoot groups! You can check if your shooting accurately w/o grouping them. 3" at 25 yds is acceptable for hunting.

ButchA

3" groups is sort of okay for now... Work on shooting more and more with field tips, and the groups will get tighter and tighter.

I'm no world class archer or anything special, but I have busted nocks and ripped fletchings at 20 yards using only 3 arrows with field tips (darn near Robin Hooded one of them!). 30 yards, I can get about 2" groups, maybe smaller if I really concentrate. 40 yards(max)?? I don't know... probably 3" groups.

kevin1

I didn't think that I'd ever admit this , but this time I agree with Double Creek . []

I'm a newbie ,admittedly , and I shoot instinctive , but a 3" group sounds pretty good to me . That would place the arrow well within the vitals area from a wide number of anglesand heights .Isn't that the ultimate goal here ?I've been taught that accuracy is the best test of a bow hunter , and that all else is secondary . Is that wrong ? I don't think so , I feel we owe it to the quarry .

mobow

Well, as you can plainly see, opinions vary. It depends on the goals you have set for yourself. If you are going to be a competitive archer, no, that is probably not acceptable. If you are trying to kill a deer, I would say yes, and this is why.
You don't have to hit a deer in the heart to kill him cleanly. A double lung shot will do it efficiently. The heart of a deer iswhat, approximately 3"? The kill zone on a deer, the lungs, aka, boiler room, are roughly 7".
As I said, unless you are a target shooter, I don't think groups matter as much. There is only one shot that counts.....the first one. That's all you are going to get at a deer anyway. Groups indicate consistency, or lack thereof. If you can put your first shot in a 3" circle, every time you go out and shoot, you will kill your deer.
There are just too many variables IMO that affect groups. Arrow quality, bow quality, release quality, just to name a few. If you shoot 3" groups, that sounds pretty consistent to me.
Some people are just harder on themselves than others, and demand more of themselves. Nothing wrong with that. Set your personal goals and achieve them.

PABowhntr

I would tend to agree especially if we are talking broadhead tipped arrows here.

G2 Shooter

These are the kind of questions that make me want to call out BS to some of the responses. I read a post on a different thread where that person said they were shooting 1" groups at 30 yards. How many arrows are we talking here? 3, 6, 10? If you took 7 standard carbon arrows and held them tightly together in your hand, that would be an inch. Not to mention that if you shot them at a target that close together you must be a rich man because you are certainly going to break a lot of arrows. I shoot at the 1" orange target dots and I can hit them at 30 yards but my groups are around 3" for 6 arrows. Sure, I hit a few arrows while practicing but I haven't seen many people that can consistantly robin hood an arrow at 35 yards.

Now back to the original question:

If you are shooting 3" groups at 25 yards, that is more than acceptable for a hunting setup. Just make sure that you know where your broadheads are hitting.

Try putting several of the 1" dots on your target and shoot 1 arrow at each. I feel this will give you a better indication of your accuracy.

CLOUD 9, MN

yes.....but remember your first shot each time you practice is the one that counts! It amazes me each fall when all kinds of people show up at the range and have a 14" group....by the end of the session its about 6" and they say there set. Whats really scary is they show up at the range a week or two later AND THEIR FIRST SHOT IS PART OF A 14" GROUP AGAIN!

Its great your practicing!

Good Luck!

buckeye

All those saying 3 inch groups consistantly at 25 yards with a huntign setupisn't good enough really haven't got a clue.

2 inch groups at 20 yards would give you a 300 60X on a 5 spot round. That my friends is aperfect score. If you could do that consistantlyyou would be a world class spot shooter.