gunnysack

I have been hunting with my parker challenger for a while now. But I always shoot under 30 yards at 50 lbs. Could I shoot much further or what would the effective range be of it?
Thanks, Gunnysack

Bullcamp82834

The formula works like this:

For every pound of draw weight on the bow you can shoot 2 yards. This was arrived at by shooting an arrow from a 5 pound bow. The arrow went 10 yards. The American Archery Institute endorses this formula.

Therefore you should be good to 100 yards with a 50 pound bow.

Night Crawler

As stated above.

Further than you can accuratly shoot

Murby

I think the question was "how far can I shoot a deer".. Not how far will the arrow go.

Just because the arrow will travel 100 yards, doesn't mean its going to have the punch to kill the animal.

Wilcam47

Ive heard you can...but I think if you are good you can get/let the animal come in under 30yds...

id say 60yds would be the effective range...for me that's a long ways for a bow shot.

Bullcamp82834

True, and my absurd formula was offered as just that. A response what I perceived as a silly question.
As we know, the effective range of a bow depends on the skill of the person holding the bow, not on the draw weight of the bow.

Remember what Fred Bear did with a recurve. How many people out there today could do that with a modern compound?

The sensible answer to the OP's question is to practice a lot with that 50 pound compound and you will know your own effective range. No one will have to tell you.

MZS

Seems that for a pass-through shot, you would not want to go much over 25 yds with a 50 pound bow. And there are accuracy issues too. Both arrow energy and accuracy play into a good killing shot.

Murby

Correct me if I am mistaken, but, your use of the term "effective range" seems to refer only to his ability to be accurate.

I can hit a 4 inch target at a range that is further than my equipments ability to penetrate adequately. Which, of course, means that my effective range is the lesser of my equipment range vs. my ability to shoot accurately.

Bullcamp82834

OK.
I'll clarify.
Effective range in this case shall mean the maximum range at which the archer can consistently deliver a fatal shot to the vital area of a game animal using the weapon he has in hand.

"effective" was the big clue.

BIG TUNA

After about 50 yards, it is starting to be un-ethical to shoot the deer with a bow. By about that distance, the deer are able to see arrow, hear the bow and have time to react. Maybe they will move, maybe they won't. The risk is high that you will end up with a gut shot.

If you are really interested in seeing what your bow will do to a deer at 60, 70, 80, etc., yards, buy some large pumpkins and figure out when penetration stops.