As I shot my nightly 30 arrows this evening, my three shot groups averaged around 3” at 20 yards and 5” at 30. While shooting I pondered several posts I’ve read lately.
One stated He could “always hit a pie plate at 75 yards”. Another said he could hit a quarter at 60 yards.
I must really suck!!
Still over my 30 years as a bowhunter I’ve consistently taken Elk, Mule Deer and Antelope so I guess my hunting’s not bad.
My question is just how bad of a shot am I????

Cheer Up! You are doing just fine. If you can keep those groups on a live animal, then you are doing much better than the trigger punchers out there! We all can improve. Just keep having fun.

Joe.....nobody gets to measure group sizes on a Mule Deer. As a hunter,as long as you put that first one where it counts you are as good of a shot as anyone else.

That said, I would still strive to be the best archer I could be because raw shooting talent and those tight little groups mean that you are developing a larger margin of error for yourself when the time comes to shoot at a live animal.
Keep practicing and it will pay off somewhere down the line on a shot where that extra 1" of built in accuracy could mean the difference between a good shot and a bad one.

A realistic scale of " Good" group shooting is 1" for every 10 yards of distance shot..........20yds= 2" etc. If you get there you will be even better at placing that first shot as close to your intended mark than you are now.

You stink man, I mean really stink.......LOL....JK

I took plenty of deer worse groups than that.
Then I really decided to get into the sport of Archery also. So during the off season, inbetween all the scouting I had something solid to focus on. With some detail to form and proper mechanics its not that hard to tighten them up

Joe,you need to remember that the ones that talk about those groups are probably shooting ARCHERY.Not just bowhunting,they are using state of the art equipment and shoot competively.This does not mean that when a buck steps in front of them that they can still shoot those tight groups.It is hard to judge groups on an animal,considering that you usually only get 1 shot.If the animal is dead,then what does it matter.




You most likely shoot a good hunting rig everytime you shoot.If you are hitting your animals where it counts and not wounding them,then you are doing fine.



If you WANT to do better.There is room for improvement and it may be as simple as a little adjustment here or there.It may require a draw length change or a variety of things.It also may be equipment related.


But if you are happy and you keep your shots within your comfort zone,then don' t worry about it.

For the question on how bad of a shot are you.

I WILL HAVE TO SAY AVERAGE.

Pie plate at 75 yards, probably, Quarter at 60 yards, consistantly? Highly unlikely. You got to remember one thing, hunters like to tell tails, and the ones that talk the most probably dont produce. Its like sex (can I say that?) If you talk about it all the time, you probably aint getting it, now if you will excuse me I got a hot woman waiting.

Yelp with my old bow I could put them in a fist size group at 70 yards.But to tell you the truth I' ve only made 4 shot' s out side of 20 yards when hunting, two at 25 one at 30 and one at 40 all four put meat in the freezer.

One time I could of a shot a 160 to 170 class buck at 40 late one evening but at the time I wasn' t shore of the distance tell I measured it off the next morning.[:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (][:' (]

But you know I can still see that rack just as good as if it were on my wall right now.[:-]

Just to bad I can' t put my hands on it.[X(]

Sorry about the ranting .LoL!!!!

If your successfull at hunting then your a good shot when it counts and thats all that matters!


6.5 CARCANO

I like your sig pic , that is awesome!

Dont worry about it. You are grouping good. Just keep practicing.
I know many people who can out shoot me day and night in the backyard but dont come close when it comes to shooting a live animal. []
Keep practicing and concentrate on each shot like its the only shot you' re gonna get.