i am very new at this, and this is my first year hunting with a bow. i have been shooting quit a bit and was curious as to what is a good distance to shoot a deer and what would be the maximum recomended distance to shoot. I am shooting 60# with 100 grain broad heads

I personally feel that no one should be telling you at what exact distance you can and can not shoot at. I will tell you that this is a VERY individual thing that varies per archer. Granted, with todays modern archery equipment it generally becomes relativly easy to shoot out to 25 yards or so. You will have to let your practice time and personal limitations guide you. I will add that I STRONGLY believe that at whatever distance you can place an arrow nomore than 3 inched from your exact point of aim is you MAX. This way, by the time you add in the nervous jitters, actual field conditions, the cold, wind, etc, you should still be able to make a perfectly placed double lung shot. I will also STRESS that you ALWAYS wait for a broadside shot at an unalarmed animal. Use good ol' common sense and you should do well. Best of luck to ya this fall.

tpst:

I agree that how far a person can shoot accurately is strictly an individual thing. However, a 25 yard shot on a flat range shooting at targets might be easy for some shooters, but shooting at a live animal at 25 yards under hunting conditions is an entirely different situation and should never be considered an easy shot.

You need to decide what will be your self-imposed limits when shooting at game in the field. To do that, you have to determine how well you shoot from different heights (low and high) and positions, and how well you can estimate distance to whatever yardage you might find is your limitation. Some shooters do ok estimating up to 20 yards, but their estimation accuracy begins to rapidly worsen beyond 20 yards.

The others are right. It's an individual thing. Know what distance you can keep your arrows in a 6" group EVERY TIME . . . and then make a firm decision to keep your shots UNDER--I said UNDER that distance. When you get in a field situation shooting at a living animal whose life you're attempting to take, you have to be sure of your limitations given the stress you will be under.

thanks for the feedback that is about what i was thinking, i had been practicing a lot from 30 yards and in and feel quite comfortable from 25 and in, thanks again

good now that you're comfortable with that shot.... break out your stand and try a few from an elevated position just like you would be when hunting from above...... and practice practice practice till its second nature

Yeah practice from a stand different known ranges and then practice some unknown ranges. Another good thing to do is practice with all of your hunting clothes, gloves, and facemasks on.

the maximum distance that i would shoot at a deer with my bow is 40 yards but if this is your first year bowhunting then i would try to stay within the 20 to 25 yard range for the first year or 2

Shoot any distanced that you are confident with, but getting close is the name of the game, and adds alot to the hunt. Just my opinion.

great replies, i have practiced at 50 yrds, which makes those 20-30 yrd shots sssssssoooooo much easier, but i'm with eotn on this, 10 yrds or less is what i like, with a bloody acc stuck in the ground, i don't think theres a better feeling than that in the world...

get close, thats the deal. one other thing an older gentlemen told me was to get higher in my stand, to which i replied i'm already getting 20 ft up. to this he asked how i knew, i didn't know for sure, so he told me to take a 20-25 ft piece of rope, tie it to the bottom of my climber, and when you pick your bow up you'll know your going high enough, well turns out i was only climbing 10-15 ft. when i started getting higher i started having more deer come right below me and hunting got to be alot more fun....

good luck