Macdaddy

I am new here but I have noticed that many of the archers here seem to think that shooting at distance is " Bad" . Quotes like " I would never try to shoot an animal at that distance, too risky" or " I never practice farther than I would hunt, 30 yards" .

Here is a word problem for you all.

If my bow shoots an 450gr arrow at 275 fps the KE of the arrow at 100 yards is 58ft-lbs. (compare to 400gr @ 245 = 53ft-lbs out of the hole) I think that we can agree that KE is adiquate at any range for this example. Next let' s say that I use expandible broadheads and that they fly like field points (for the sake of accuracy not to start a debate on effectiveness of expandibles). I can proficiantlly hit a 5" circle at 60 yards with 6 shots. The arrow is traveling 253 fps when it gets to 60 yards so the time it took to cover the distance should be no more than .68 of a sec. (the 400gr @ 245 takes .51 sec to get to 40 yards and has 47ft-lbs of KE) Are they guys that are writing in and telling other archers not to shoot long distances set up like my bow 450gr @ 275 or are they set up like the 400gr @ 245? Maybe everyone could chime in with their reason for not shooting over a certain distance. As you can see above the two setups lend themselves to very different Max Effective Distance.

Myself I practice to 80 yards with both field tips and broadheads, shoot an 450gr @ 275fps, AND I would shoot to 80 yards IF the conditions were right for the shot.

Macdaddy
Mathews LX,,, and love' n it

BobCo19-65

macdaddy, it does not have to do with your shooting ability, setup or hunting ability. Shooting at a living animal is never the same as shooting at a target. Things can happen that you can not control between the time of no return on the release and the time the arrow gets to the animal. Even at 35 yards on a feeding animal, one step can turn a double lung into a gut shot. And it can and does happen. The max I will shoot on a whitetail is 28 yards, but I can easily shoot two inch groups at 35.

DaveH

Mac--I understand your reasoning and I practice at very long ranges as well. However, the reason I don' t want to take a shot over 45 yards (and that only under perfect conditions) is that a deer can take a step forward just as the arrow starts forward and result in a gut shot instead of the perfect shot we hope to get. My practice at longer ranges is to make the shots at 45 and under seem easy.

Macdaddy

Guys, I agree, I am just looking at the physics. If my arrow and your arrow are in the air for the exact same time yet mine travels 20 yards farther that should mean that " Ethically" we are both agreeing on the shot, mine is just 20 yards longer. Both of you have your hart in the right place. I never want to wound an animal. I am just saying that one of you says 28 yards, one says 45. WHY the difference? you both gave the same answer yet one would take an extra 17 yards. I don' t see how you can both be right without some kind of justification. Maybe one shoots 50lbs and the other 70lbs. But not many guys give the facts they just say " I wont shoot over XX yards" or " It' s unethical to shoot over XX yards"

How about " It' s unethicall to shoot at a deer when the arrow has to be in the air for over .XX sec" ?

6ptsika

IMO Macdaddy, if I was shooting 5" at 60 yards, I' d put my effective range at something like 45, for deer sized game. Any distance I take a shot at a deer, I sure as heck will group better than 5" at that range. No offence, I certainly see your point, and I don' t even know what you' re hunting. Just aan example.
I' m not sure you can quantify something like this, in a dense woodlot, what about the small twigs you can' t see way out there? out in the open, what' s the wind doing 60 yards in front of you, where the ridge isn' t blocking you?
It' ll always be a personal decision, I' ve passed up animals, then realized I' ve shot an animal out of the same stand, on the same trail, in a previous season.
I certainly don' t think speed and KE are the deciding factors, accuracy is much more important.

BobCo19-65

Well, I guess that I did make a shot on a buck that was 35 yards away. Like I said before the deer was feeding and took a step between the point of no return on the release and the time the arrow got there. I was using carbons with a 75 grain muzzy, I was shooting at 70 pounds and a 33" draw with the particular release that I was using. Arrow spped was around 280-290 fps. It still turned my shot from a double lung into a gut, liver. Luckily as the deer stepped, it also quartered away slightly or it may have been a pure gut shot. This was at a deer that I lableled calm and eating, conditions were perfect, had no idea at all I was there. I found the deer and everything, but it humbled me some and I learned from it. I don' t need that rack or meat so much that I am willing to take chances. There is no need to for me.

jetblast

I don' t have a problem with folks shooting longer shots. I' m not gonna preach my ethics upon someone else. But with shooting long distances, you better know the yardage. A 5" group at 60 yds is acceptable, but now throw in the +/- yds misjudged and you have a wound.

Rack-attack

Ke has nothing to do with it.

5" circle at 60 yds, that’s good shooting but I would never hunt at a yardage that I could only keep a 5" circle when practicing. What are your groups at 80 yds.? How about 76yds?? Do you have a 76 yd pin? Put a 3d target at 76 yds and use your 80 yd pin and estimate low on the hold and see how tight those groups stay.

At 40 yds (my self imposed max) I can ruin a dozen arrows in an hour by slamming them together. When I am on a roll I can' t shoot at the same spot. And I know this is still my max range, because practice ain’t hunting.

I have been at this game for 20 yrs and I have never considered a shot that long. It is a receipe for disaster, a very, very tough low percentage shot.

I don' t know how experienced you are, but some of these guy are telling you from years of experience. After you have had a few perfect 20 yd and 30 yd shots go bad you will see that there is no ideal condition for a 80 yder.

corey006

Mac ,

I shoot a 400 gr arrow at 270 fps. I also shoot a cut on contact fixed blade that will out perform any mechanical on the market.


I probably have enough KE to kill a deer out to 100 yards and could probably hit the kill zone of a deer 9 times out of 10 at 60 yards. But I would probably limit myself to a 40 yard shot on a deer simply because shooting at targets that DON' T MOVE is alot different. Any animal is unpredictable they may react to your bow, they may hear your arrow, or as others stated they may just step 6 inchs forward. Not to mention the sight of antlers usually gets the heart thumping and most hunters get a little excited. You may punch the trigger a little or peek at the shot as it goes off (just a little). You may also have just spent 3 or 4 hours up in a tree stand on a COLD October morning and be as stiff as a board. Any of these factors may only account for a few inchs at 20-40 yards but at 60 yards it could be 8-10 inchs and AT 80 YARDS......hopefully a completely missed animal.

Ask yourself one question.....How would you like to be a deer with a broadhead stuck in it' s leg???

If you want to shoot at animals to 80 yards get a Muzzleloader or Rifle!!

hunter9022

You know, i hear the debate over how far to shoot or how much energy or what speed or broadhead, it all means the same to me like it does everyone else...jack squat. If you wanna take a 50 yard shot and you can, by all means do it. I personally wont. I bowhunt because i want to get close, i like being in the woods, and its fun. I mean, 35 yards is close and i know that i can hit an animal that far, but, what if that animal will come to 30? Or 25? Or my favorite, 20? Now, im not preachin my ethics like alot of you have said, i personally would just rather have the animal close for personal preference, not for ability. What would you rather have bragging rights over? " I shot a deer at 45 yards" or " i had my deer within 15 yards before i shot" Do you want to be a hunter or a shooter?