But what if you do not choose to use todays or the most modern technology?

I wondered where Bobco would be going with this once I saw his name on the thread...

LOL,

I could have also asked, "What if you don't believe in group shooting?"

wvu,
If everyone waited until they could consistantly shoot 1" for every 10 yards and no one hunted until they did, not very many people would go out and hunt. There are some guys, many that post here, that are obviously great bowmen and they practice very hard. For that they should be commended.
Your question specifically asks "before attempting to go hunting". IMO, take a 5" pie plate and begin shooting at that plate at 10'. Go back 2 yards at a time and see how you do. Whenever you get to the point where you dont put all 6 in that plate then the previous point is your maximim distance.
Keep practicing and hopefully that yardage will increase. When the opener comes use the yardage that you were able to hit that plate every time.
This season it may be 15 yards. Go out and set that limit. Maybe next year it will be 20, then 30 and so on...

Look, i'm fairly inexperienced at bowhunting but i'm going out there too. I don't miss the plate out to 26 yards and that is going to be my limit. Do I continue to practice to try and achieve the 1" per 10 yard rule? Yes, I practice 2-3 times a week for 3 months before opener.
You didn't say if you were shooting a compound, recurve, longbow or stick and string. But in reality that doesn't matter. Just because you shoot a longbow doesnt mean that the vitals on a deer get bigger.

With a gun, muzzle loader, or bow, the furthest distance I can I can shoot a six shot group , the size of my fist becomes my maximum range with that weapon.

Don't just trust that your ability to hit something on a flat range is as difficult asa hunting situation. Try to do some 3D walkthrough's on hilly terrain with lots of shot angles. If you're a tree stand hunter, do a lot of practice out of it. A 30 yd shot down a steep hill is not the same shot as a 30yd flat range. Try getting your heart rate up by running up a hill then taking a shot (about the closest thing to simulating buck fever that you'll get). I'm lucky enough to have access to a great walk through range at my gun club.. I only use the flat range when doing initial sighting in.

I have to agree with the others, and am happy to see them say it. Yepper about the paper plate theory. Plates are made for eating something from, not shooting holes in. It lets the juices leak out.

Considering that the average vital is about 8" I strive for, and do limit myself, to whatever range I can shoot half that. When the adrenalin starts flowing and animals can move I figure that 4" can easily double So knowing that I can shoot 4" groups out to about 45 yards would I shoot that far? Not a chance. It's till about 30 yards max for me.

With a self imposed limit of 30 yards I can use a single pin and have no guessing about what the yardage is. All I have to determine whether the animal is within 30 yards. Then when and if the shot happens is up to the animal. But when it does I have 100% confidence that I can git-r-done. Otherwise, it'swait for the next time.

Personally I want my first shot to beless than 3"at those ranges and out to my maximum effective range of 40yds. IMHO the first shotcounts the most.
When tuning I go for groups...I want repeatability from my setup.
After it's dialed in my mindthier all "First Shot's".

for me it is personal preference i am within a 2 inch spread at 20-25 and at 30 its pretty close to a 3 inch spread but i always get that 1 arrow per round that well out of the group so i set my stadard at 25 and in simply because that is where i feel comfortable.

I was about to ask the same question. The only time I group shoot is when checking tune or testing a new batch of arrows. Can't remember the last time a live deer let me shoot a group at him.