Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Quick question; what isthe maximum range (yards)you feel comfortable shooting an animal at? Furthermore, would thatfarthermost range change ifit were a buck vs. a doe,etc.?? I mean, we've all heard the stories of Howard Hill and Fred Bear and Chuck Adams and what not, but how far is too far for you. Be honest..."macho men" need not reply.;)

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

My personal maximum effective range is 30yrds, I won't shoot past this!;)

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

50 yards, if conditions were right.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

My maximum range with my bow is 45
yards.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Me too. In my yard Ican shoot 3 inch groups at 60 yards but for hunting situations I limit myself to 30 yards. I really prefer 20 yards. I've killed 3 deer and a turkey in 3 years of bowhunting and all were less than 20 yards. I've also never wounded anything so far. The doe I shot two weeks ago was 10 yards.

With bowhunting, it ain't about how far you can shoot em, its how close you can shoot em!

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

0-50 depending on a lot of things. What sex doesn't figure into the occasion. I prefer and wait for 20 or less and have passed on shots well within my range expecting a better shot..... and had it all go to he!! before I got the shot. That's hunting.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

My max is 30 yards, I practice further but do not feel comfortable yet. I try and keep it within 25...

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

max at 45 but my shots are usually at 15 to 25

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

To all you guys that shoot 40 and 50 yard shots I have a question. I'm not judging you, I just really want an honest answer:

Is your probability of wounding an animal higher at 50 yards than it is at 25 yards?

I mean, I know you CAN hit the vitals at 50 yards. But can you do it 9 out of 10 times at 50 yards? Or is it more like7out of 10 times?

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I hold 5" groups at 60 yards.....I am 100% confident that I can hit the lungs of a deer 9 times out of 10 at 50 yards. It just takes lots of discipline and practice. Lots, and lots of practice.

I've flat missed deer at 20 yards, so I'm not perfect even at close range.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I like to shhot 30or less but i still havr a 40yrd shoot and practice at the distance

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

My max would be 25 - 30 yards. But all of my spots really only go out to aboiut 20 - 25.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

mowbowhunter -

Your shooting must have improved dramatically over the last 2 years because I just read on another thread (first shot at a deer thread) that you missed 4 deer within 20 minutes just 3 years ago! Now you can hit vitals 9 out of 10 times at 60 yards? I find that amazing. To what do you attribute this sudden improvement?

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

gzg, it's called PRACTICE, and LOTS of it. Since those 2 years ago, I shoot every other day usually, and on the typical week I shot 3-400 arrows. I don't shoot that many in a week now, but I did for a long time. Do you doubt that in 2 years with diligent practice a feller could improve that much? Oh, and a dramatic upgrade in equipment. It all makes a difference.

You're still not judging, right? ;)

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I used to shoot NFAA tournaments for years. We shoot those out to 80 yards. I've come to the opinion that a deer at beyond 30 yards is far less likely to drop, jump the string or whatever you want to call it. I've shot some at 40 and missed a couple at beyond 50. Both I had quickly said 45. Both were a quick decision in a hole that I hadn't ranged for and didn't have time to. Both were a bit further and the arrows fell low. One arrow had brisket fat and hair on one blade. I watched the deer bolt, stop, look around, walk some more and stop and stare back trying to figure out what the noise was. I finally watched him wander over the hill feeding. Imagine my surprise when I found tallow on one blade. Where he stood the first time there was a small glob of blood but no more. I had watched the arrow fall under him right behind the front leg. I mean it must have just shaved him. Your chances of a miss are probably better than a wound. I don't know about the rest of you but my left right is usually great, it's range estimation that screws us.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

No I don't doubt it at all if you've really practiced that much in the last two years. I just thought it seemed a little strange. 5 minutes ago I read how you missed 4 deer in 20 minutes and then the next thing I read the same guy is 100% confident he can hit vitals 9 out of 10 times at 50 yards. I had to look twice to see if it was the same guy.

Congrats on improving your shooting so quickly!

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

LOL....yeah, that would be cause to have a second look. It can be done, though, but it takes determination. It wasn't quickly, either. I also agree with david's post. That ole boy knows a thing or two now!

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Well, I CAN shoot out to 30, but I would much prefer less than 20. I haven't practiced enough at 30 to be completely comfortable taking a shot at a deer unless it was wide open and perfectly broadside, even then, I doubt I would take it. I'm with some of the others, I don't really have to worry about it with my stand location, everything I can shoot is within 20 yards. I am not the best judge of distance either, and I haven't marked off my yardages from my stand. My husband stepped it off for me in every direction when we hung the stand.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

well so far i have shot 3 deer and 1 was about 10 yds away and the other 2 were just over 25 yds.

I would maxs my self at about 35. 40 if everything was perfect.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

It's very interesting to read all of the differing opinons on this topic. I kinda knew the subject would cause such a responce. See, like many of you out there, I too can put 9 out of 10 Montec-tipped Easton Axis 400 arrows on a paper plate at 60 yards. 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?? Answer: the same speed as a noisy bow: 1,200-something feet per second. And our ultra-hot, brand-spankin'-new bows shoot how fast???? Ahhhh. (I too can't shoot a living animal past 30)

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.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

While that's certainly true, as quiet as today's bows are I would also bet you that a deer doesn't even HEAR it at 50 to jump the string anyway. As you know all they are really doing is reacting to a sudden noise, and if they don't hear it, they can't react to it.

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 ;)

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

About 35 yards.

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.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Hey mobowhuntr, I think you might have a point there. Reguardless if it's a TWANG or a THUMP.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Amen, brother, Amen.

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

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".

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

gzg, I agree with you mostly. I don't think you, or most of us, give ourselves enough credit for what we are capable of though. But, one must know one's limits and not exceed them, and I applaud you for doing just that.

Nor will I. That's why everything would have to be good for me to do it. I'm not going to shoot at one that far in the woods. Too many things to jump up and hit my arrow. But if I'm hunting a field edge, there is not a terrible wind blowing and I am locked in.....I'm letting it fly. And I'm also certain I'm killing that deer.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I will shoot out to 50 on whitetails - if I feel all is good.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

my max distance is 50 yards. Only would take that if the deer was wounded and no chance of getting it without a second arrow. I keep my shots 30 yards or less if all possible. My farthest one shot so far has been 18 yards.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

i shoot out to 30 yards..anything i think past that is unethical unless you have practiced the shot and u are sure of it and comfortable enough killing a deer at that distance..personally most of my shots are only 10 to 20 yards so i havent really had to shoot past 20..but in case i have to someday 30 will be the most for me..

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I'm real confident about shooting forty yards forty fiveand beyond is a lttie iffiey , when I practiceshooting with broad heads I'm always shaving the fletchings off my shafts at forty yards and I had done some robin hoods as well with field tips.
I'm not braging , I'm just sayingthe more you practice the better you get and I'mreal confident that I can hit the boiler room / double lungpass thru nine out ten times

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

If I can see a target, I'll shoot at it. 60, 80, 100 yards, nosweat. Might lose an arrow but targets don't bleed.And that's not the point anyway.

I am confident I can shoot more than well enough with a compound to put an arrow through a deer's ribcage at 50 yards every time, BUT....That's not my idea of whatbowhunting is about.If I wanted totake hunting shotsat distances further than 30 yards, I'd be using the muzzleloaderinstead of the bow.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

It depends on the amount of clothing I am wearing, weather conditions, lighting etc.

When someone tells me they kill deer at 50 yds, I say they are a good shooter.
When someone tells me they kill deer at 10 yds, I say they are a good HUNTER.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

I would say about 30, but I can't even see that far from most of my stands, let alone shoot a 30 yard shot.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

Most all of hunting shots seem to be 20 yards or less. I seem to find myself in fields the last couple of years and do not get the 20 yarders. I shoot lots of 3D and indoor leagues. I will shoot up to maybe 45 yrds. I took this years deer at 40 yrds (first one over 20 yrds), and felt good about it after ranging it. Had I not ranged it, I would not have shot it. I like the security of knowing the longer distances.

RE: Maximum Confident Shooting Range???
 

30yards max and never lost a deer.