Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
10-18-2006, 07:26 PM
#21
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 4,679
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
I shot one just the other day at 43 yards. It was already hit by a friend, but I would have taken that shot either way if it was a deer I wanted to kill. It certainly hit the boiler room and put him down very very quickly. He was plenty lively too before I shot him.
I will shoot to 50 under perfect conditions. I don't practice as much as I used to last winter, but I still make enough quality practice shots every week with my rig to feel confident killing a deer under ideal shooting conditions @ 50 yards more than 28 times out of 30. I have never missed or wounded a deer on a shot past 25 yards and I have killed a few that were way past that.
With that all said, there are very very few shots I will take past 35 yards.
I will shoot to 50 under perfect conditions. I don't practice as much as I used to last winter, but I still make enough quality practice shots every week with my rig to feel confident killing a deer under ideal shooting conditions @ 50 yards more than 28 times out of 30. I have never missed or wounded a deer on a shot past 25 yards and I have killed a few that were way past that.
With that all said, there are very very few shots I will take past 35 yards.
10-18-2006, 07:37 PM
#22
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 13,082
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
But that paper plate does not twitch, flinch or jump. Lots of us have watched deer @ 15 yards duck our arrow. But just to further the debate some more, how fast does the sound of an ultra-quiet, vibration-freebow travel??
10-18-2006, 07:39 PM
#23
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
I've had the same bow for 10 years, and can pick it up and start shooting 4 inch groups at 30 yards. Two weeks of practice and I'm softball sized at 40 yards. I've got 13/20 and 20/20 vision.
In NY and New England, unless I'm setup on a field edge, I will not shoot past 30 yards. Even with good form, precision, and great vision, I still can't see pencil thin branches. And I've hit too many of those at 35-40 yards to deal with that frustration any further
In NY and New England, unless I'm setup on a field edge, I will not shoot past 30 yards. Even with good form, precision, and great vision, I still can't see pencil thin branches. And I've hit too many of those at 35-40 yards to deal with that frustration any further
10-18-2006, 07:53 PM
#26
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Flushing Michigan
Posts: 2,355
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
This topic really gets me fired up. [:@][:@]
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
10-18-2006, 07:55 PM
#27
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 25
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
ORIGINAL: gzg38b
This topic really gets me fired up. [:@][:@]
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
This topic really gets me fired up. [:@][:@]
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
10-18-2006, 07:56 PM
#28
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 25
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
ORIGINAL: gzg38b
This topic really gets me fired up. [:@][:@]
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
This topic really gets me fired up. [:@][:@]
I read way to many "HELP - Hit one but coudn't find it!" posts to believe that so many people are effective at 40 and 50 yards. IMO alot of bowhunters are toowilling to risk wounding animals.
I've only shot at 5 animals with my bow but I've killed all 5 because they were all under 15 yards. I know I'm not going to miss at 15 yards.But at 35 and 40 yards, I might hit the vitals 8 times out of 10. Sounds pretty good until you consider that that's a 20% wounding rate. That's unacceptable to me.
I think most bowhunters think it's fine to wound one 10% or 20% of the time. There are 500,000 bowhunters in my state. If our wounding rate is 20%, then that's 100,000 deer annually that are wounded and not killed.
I can shoot nice groups at 60 yards in my yard but that's not the point. I absolutely refuse to shoot a deer if I'm not 100% certain that I'm going to hit the lungs. And 9 out of 10 isn't good enough. Therefore, 25 yards or less is my limit.
10-18-2006, 08:00 PM
#29
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Western New York
Posts: 639
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
I practice out to 40-45 just cause when you decrease the distance it just seems so much easier. My shots on game are limited to 30 max i prefer 15-20. Ishot a doe out of a ground blind once at about 4 yds I'm real comfortable with that nice when every pin on your site seems to be in the boiler room
10-18-2006, 08:02 PM
#30
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Kodiak, AK
Posts: 2,877
RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
Depends on the situation and the animal. I know that I can effectively place abroadhead in the vitals of a deer target 100 shots out of 100 at 50 yards. Does that mean I'm going to answer your question and say "50 yards"? -No. I'm going to say; "It depends." Targets don't move and they are generally set up with a clear shooting lane. Would I shoot at a whitetail in the hardwoods at 50 yards? -No way! 30 yards max.! Would I shoot at a relaxed caribouin the opentundra at 50 yards? You bet! Same with a moose on a gravel bar standing there looking for a cow. In short, my answer is; "it depends on the situation".
