coyote170

What fisherman said hits it on the head,try to keep mine under 30 yards
like 20 better!

deerslayer223

i'll shoot out to 40 on a calm deer feeding in a field. In the woods my max is 30.

alsaqr

Missed a huge buck last Tuesday with the Barnett Quad 400 when he hunched and the bolt just went over his back. That crossbow is horribly noisy. Was shooting from a stand and the distance wasabout 40yards. Got his butt last evening with the muzzleloader-Ft. Sill deer gun season. Nicest rack gotten on Ft. Sill, OK this year. Pic later today.

RWK

Buck or doe 30yds max, to much can go wrong. Rich

gEtiTrighT

A man has got to know his limitations. My limits with the Xbow are currently 30 or less. The lesser the better.

beebecl

First, to me it doesn't matter if it's a big buck or a small doe, we have a responsibility to make the shot count and not lose deer, so the target is irrelevant. Second, I think you all are a bit crazy with some of these yardages. I have always been concerned about deer jumping the string, since crossbows are so loud (relatively) when they go off. I try to limit myself to 20 yards, although the longest shot I've taken ended up being about 28 yards. It was a quick set-up and 'looked good.' Not an excuse.

Two years ago I had a buck come in towards my stand, look up at me, then turn and walk away. As he circled to my left and came into a hole which I knew to be 20 yards, I took the shot. By the time the arrow got there, his flank was where the sweet spot had been, and I had to watch him hobble off with my fletching sticking out of his leg. I recovered him, but it wasn't a pretty picture. My theory is that he was 'cocked' from having examined my (although I was motionless), and sprung when he heard the string. Not a chance I will take again.

Stick to 25 yards or less. Just my opinion, but any more than 30 is bordering on irresponsible.

awshucks

Beebcl: I'm curious what set-up you're using? I have some string jump possiblities data, but it's based on fps. Bill T. [co-owner of Excal] had a great article on this very subject in a past issue of HBM, was wondering if you read it? I agree w/ you 100%, the closer, the better!!

lemoyne

the limitation imposed by the deer jumping the string is never ignored by a real sportsman. Lee

mooseman44

I've been thinking about this very subject for the last few weeks. I was hunting Ohio's archery season. This was my first hunt with my new Excal. I became confident that I could take a deer out to 40 yards max. While in camp I was disgusted by stories of guys shooting 70, 80 up to 125 yards at deer. One fella shot and missed at about 115yds (if I remember the story correctly) the deer ran towards him and he then shot and killed it at 82yds. Guys were talking about shooting through brush, and other horror stories. I had a nice buck 45 yards from me facing away with a basketball sized hole to shoot through. I didn't shoot and was later told "arrows are cheap, let em fly". It is this very attitude that makes me believe it will be a hard battle to make xbows legal in archery seasons. I love my crossbow, I'd love to hunt with it in October here in Pa, but until guys realize that there is not much difference as far as arrow flight characteristics between xbows and other bows , this will not happen for me.

beebecl

awshucks, I've got a Horton 150# bow. I didn't see the article you refer to, nor have I ever seen any data the fps or anything like that.

I guess that for me, it really comes down to the probability of killing shot. I've lost more deer than I like to remember, and that's sticking to 20 yards. Haven't lost one recently, and like to think I've learned my lesson on some of the shots I've taken, but the ones I have lost were just too gut-wrenching for me to take longer shots.