Long Range Shooting

[TLRanger]

I have noticed that several people on here have their sights set at 50, 60, 70, and some of them at 80 yards. I realize that long distance target shooting is beneficial but do you actually shoot at a deer at those ranges? I never shoot at a deer that is over 30 yards away and never will unless I see that it is already wounded or injured in some other way. Just wondering.

 

[RUGER]

I promise you, if you shoot at a deer much over 20 yards and post about it here you will get roasted.

99.9% of the reason I post very very little about my hunting adventures anymore.

Whatever "I" feel is the correct way, is the ONLY way. :D

hee hee

 

[Mossy Oak]

I practice out to 60 but only so those 30 yard shots seem like chip shots.

 

[TheLBLman]

I never shoot at a deer that is over 30 yards away and never will unless I see that it is already wounded or injured in some other way.

My thought are similar, although on a feeding, relaxed deer that's not looking towards me, I might stretch it as far as 40 yards.

Most places I set up, would be hard to get a shot beyond 25 yards.

The biggest problem with longer distance archery on live game is that animals too often move before the arrow gets there.

 

[TNDeerGuy]

My tape runs out to 120yds and I have run it out further before�the problem is finding places with that kind of range that is safe. It's fun shooting out that far, but I would never, ever even think about shooting anywhere near that far with a piece of archery equipment at a live creature. My longest shot is 34yds and almost every one, except for a few, have been under 20yds�archery is about how close you can get...not how far.

 

[RUGER]

I will add only this.

When you practice ALOT at 80 yards a 30 yard shot is more like a 15.

 

[TheLBLman]

When you practice ALOT at 80 yards a 30 yard shot is more like a 15.

I will add only this:

Only on non-living targets.

Shooting is a part of hunting, but the way I look at it, hunting is not a part of shooting. Just me, but I view shooting sports and hunting sports as two different things.

 

[UTGrad]

Shots up to 60 yards and sometimes beyond are common out West. Its here in the East that a "stigma" is put on shooting long distance.

With that said my max comfort range would be 50 yards. My longest shot was 32 yards. I typically don't set up where a long shot is a possibility anyways.

 

[TheLBLman]

Shots up to 60 yards and sometimes beyond are common out West.

Am neither condoning nor condemning what they do "out West", but do believe there's a couple logical reasons why longer shots are more common there.

1) The habitat tends to be different and more open, making it more common to see deer at greater distances, and maybe harder to have shots at closer distances.

2) The "deer" are more commonly mule deer and elk, which offer a little larger target on average than our TN whitetails. Having a slightly larger kill zone should enable a hunter to add a few yards to his high-probability range?

I typically don't set up where a long shot is a possibility anyways.

Most of the areas I choose to hunt (in TN/KY), if I set up to increase the odds of a longer shot, I usually lose more opportunity than gained, since there tends to be more daytime movement of older deer in those "set-ups" where visibility is more limited.

 

[UTGrad]

Shots up to 60 yards and sometimes beyond are common out West.

Am neither condoning nor condemning what they do "out West", but do believe there's a couple logical reasons why longer shots are more common there.

1) The habitat tends to be different and more open, making it more common to see deer at greater distances, and maybe harder to have shots at closer distances.

2) The "deer" are more commonly mule deer and elk, which offer a little larger target on average than our TN whitetails. Having a slightly larger kill zone should enable a hunter to add a few yards to his high-probability range?

I agree but also most bow hunters here in the East don't set up for long shots. During bow season I set up on trails leading to and from food sources. The woods I hunt shots are ~20 yards.

If I set up over a crop field like I do during firearm seasons longer shots would be possible.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

I put up 35 yard flags around my stands.

My bow shoots one inch low at 31 and 5 inches at 35. So basically I am good zero to 35 without any sort of range estimation or holdover with my single pin.

This is what I consider my LONG range.

 

[ghosthunter]

I practice out to 70 and if conditions were right I would have no problem shooting at 50 yards. Again if conditions were right. My farthest shot on a deer was 36 yards.

 

[Crow Terminator]

I've been on these forums a long time. I can tell you that from what I have observed over the years, bow season BY FAR, brings on the most threads posted about "shot one this evening...tracked it for a while and lost blood...". Most always, this is blamed on an equipment failure of some sort; most often, the broadhead. When in reality...the problem was more than likely the person behind the bow making a bad shot or a bad judgement on taking a shot.

I also don't put stock into the "practicing at longer yardage will make the short yardage easy" thing. If that were the case, all the tournament archers would be shooting at 100+ yards to make the 50 yard shots "easy". In reality, the closer ones are usually the ones you mess up the worse on. We just finished up the 2014 3D archery season and I kept duplicate score cards of all the shoots that I shot, and made notes on the yardages for each target. Do you know what my data shows? I spent the majority of my time practicing at my upper limit yardages for my class. And seldom shot at the closer yardages. Why? I was thinking the same thing...if I can hit 12 rings at 40, then the 20-25 ones will be a cake walk. And my data shows right the opposite. This was also observed when shooting with other people in groups this year. I recall two specific targets at the Tuscaloosa, ASA shoot that are a great example of this. One was a deer target at 18.5 yards. Out of 5 shooters in my group, 4 of us shot an 8 on it. I was a 10 and still missed the 12 ring. This should have been easy to hit an inch and a half circle at 18.5 yards. The VERY next target was a 40 yard coyote target...one of our smallest targets. All 5 of us shot and hit the 12 ring on this target. This spawned a discussion between our group regarding what yardages we mostly practiced at. All of us were shooting at the upper limits to our class.

So knowing this...I say shoot at the yardages you plan on shooting at. Practice those.

 

[RUGER]

Guess I should have said "from my experience".

Never said anything about 50 being easy either.


Honestly I wish I had time to shoot as much, and as good, as I used to.
I miss it.

 

[knightrider]

I've been on these forums a long time. I can tell you that from what I have observed over the years, bow season BY FAR, brings on the most threads posted about "shot one this evening...tracked it for a while and lost blood...". Most always, this is blamed on an equipment failure of some sort; most often, the broadhead. When in reality...the problem was more than likely the person behind the bow making a bad shot or a bad judgement on taking a shot.

I also don't put stock into the "practicing at longer yardage will make the short yardage easy" thing. If that were the case, all the tournament archers would be shooting at 100+ yards to make the 50 yard shots "easy". In reality, the closer ones are usually the ones you mess up the worse on. We just finished up the 2014 3D archery season and I kept duplicate score cards of all the shoots that I shot, and made notes on the yardages for each target. Do you know what my data shows? I spent the majority of my time practicing at my upper limit yardages for my class. And seldom shot at the closer yardages. Why? I was thinking the same thing...if I can hit 12 rings at 40, then the 20-25 ones will be a cake walk. And my data shows right the opposite. This was also observed when shooting with other people in groups this year. I recall two specific targets at the Tuscaloosa, ASA shoot that are a great example of this. One was a deer target at 18.5 yards. Out of 5 shooters in my group, 4 of us shot an 8 on it. I was a 10 and still missed the 12 ring. This should have been easy to hit an inch and a half circle at 18.5 yards. The VERY next target was a 40 yard coyote target...one of our smallest targets. All 5 of us shot and hit the 12 ring on this target. This spawned a discussion between our group regarding what yardages we mostly practiced at. All of us were shooting at the upper limits to our class.

So knowing this...I say shoot at the yardages you plan on shooting at. Practice those.

Amen brother 60 yard practice only makes 60 easy never under stood the it makes short shots easier lol :grin:

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Yes I have been practising at nothing but 30 to 40 yards which is right on the edge of my comfort zone. At the end of the day I step up to 20 yards and it seems like its nothing to shoot those targets.

 

[280longshot]

I would have to agree with Crow Terminator.
I once was younger and shot 3D tournaments all the time.
I practice some but not much anymore.

The biggest issue I experience is shooting at targets at known distances in the yard is far different than hunting deer walking and turning in the woods.
Sometimes you don't have time to range so its all about your ability to judge yardage quickly.

 

[TLRanger]

Just what I thought....Almost all long range shooting is just target practice, mostly for tournaments. I do most of my practice from 30 yards and less. Sometimes I may take a 40 yarder just to prove to myself that it is out of range. I only use a one pin sight. Keep shooting!

 

[Urban_Hunter]

I shoot a slider and have 60yrd marks, but when I'm in the stand I shoot 0-35 with one pin locked in.

 

[infoman jr.]

I practice out to 60 but only so those 30 yard shots seem like chip shots.

Same, but 50 for me.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Shots up to 60 yards and sometimes beyond are common out West.

Am neither condoning nor condemning what they do "out West", but do believe there's a couple logical reasons why longer shots are more common there.

1) The habitat tends to be different and more open, making it more common to see deer at greater distances, and maybe harder to have shots at closer distances.

2) The "deer" are more commonly mule deer and elk, which offer a little larger target on average than our TN whitetails. Having a slightly larger kill zone should enable a hunter to add a few yards to his high-probability range?

3) Antelope and sometimes mule deer are typically hunted in more open terrain where a marginally hit animal can be watched from a distance until it dies. There's not much hands and knees blood tracking.

 

[Rackseeker]

I practice out to 80 yards. I shoot deer out to 120yds.LOL....

 

[102]

OK, I'll bite,
I probably haven't killed as many deer with my bow as many of you, but IMO, here is why I discourage the longer shots.

(and when I say "longer" I mean in excess of 30 yards)
I agree with Wes that deer can and will move before the arrow gets there. Afterall, slow motion video clearly shows deer reacting to the sound of a bow string twang or even a hickory nut hitting the ground. And the fastest arrows still do not, and probably never will surpass the speed of sound.

But for me, I REALLY want to KNOW where I hit that deer. And at the longer distances, finding the arrow can be problematic. Even if one uses lighted nocks. And seeing the arrow impact at the longer distances, especially in low the light typically associated with mature deer movement, is often almost impossible.

So, if I do not see or hear the deer fall, and did not see the impact and am not sure where I hit it, how long do I wait before getting down in my noisy climbing stand???
ESPECIALLY when that "marginally" hit deer may be bedded only a few yards away from where I shot it.

Gut shot deer can travel a LONG distance after being spooked, and usually leave very little blood trail.

102

 

[Poleaxe]

Killed a doe at 68yrds opening day last year (shot her in the spine). I shot really good last year as thus I practiced all year. Lot of luck in a shot like that too. This year I don't think I would try it. Haven't shot all year because I think I've torn my rotator cuff.

 

[W.Seay]

I practice out to 70 yards and would not hesitate to kill a deer at that distance, in fact I have killed multiple deer at 50 to 65 yards. Everyone has different gear and different skill levels, bow hunting is NOT "a one size fits all". I'm not a great paper shooter but put a calm deer in front of me at 60 yards and watch what happens :)

 

[DixieCrafter]

I have killed a lot of game over the years at a lot of different ranges with longbows, recurves, and compounds. If I'm sitting on the edge of a field and the deer are feeding, relaxed, and at 60 yds then I have no qualms about shooting that deer! I like my shots about 30 yds but I can take them shorter or longer!

 

[doubledownranch]

2) The "deer" are more commonly mule deer and elk, which offer a little larger target on average than our TN whitetails. Having a slightly larger kill zone should enable a hunter to add a few yards to his high-probability range?

I've killed several mule deer in West Texas... they are far less jumpy than a whitetail. They don't drop like the whitetail when the arrow is released so longer shots are a bit easier, along with a larger body.

 

[TLRanger]

The speed of sound is 1,125 FPS/375 YPS. Most hunting bows shoot around 280 to 300 FPS. How many times have you heard someone say "The deer was 20 yards away and jumped the string so I missed". At longer range, he could be well out of the way before the arrow got there.

Here this every year: "I stuck one, and cannot find it. He was about 60 yards out and I know I hit him in the heart, both lungs, liver, and kidneys but could not find my arrow and only two drops of blood. What do I do now?"

 

[Ironsmith-Jared]

My furthest shot on a deer with a bow is 38 yards. I will go to 40 but will not go past that at a whitetail.

I used to shoot at 80 yards consistently but since I haven't recently I will probably reconsider my range this year. Might drop it down to 30.

 

[W.Seay]

I've shot slap thru Every deer several at 60 yards.