practice range

[fisher2]

does anyone practice out to 80-100 yards with their bows? i've always been a believer of the practice 20 yards past what you plan on hunting at rule, yet ive noticed once your past 60 yards people look at you strange on the range, heck, i even added a staple to bottom of sight housing for 150 yards.

[sweet old bill]

NO I have a practice area setup for shooting from 10 yards to 65 yards. I have never had to take a shot over 30 yards in the woods, 90% of all shots were 15 to 25 yards. Being a hunter for just over 55 years, maybe that will change but even when I shot NFAA for about 20 years, the 80 yards were a fun shot but one that I would not try to take on game, even a slight wind and or poor form of the archer can make the shot a wound only on the game. I do not want to have this occur. When I hunt with my recurve  I do not plan and will not take a shot over 20 yards as anything over that is above my skill level. With the compound I am good to great out to 45 yards, but again after that at 73 years young it would be above my skill level.

[gfdeputy2]

I go out to 70 routinely

[MACHINIST]

I go out to 70 routinely

 

Same here,I wont take a shot over 40 on a deer though.I like to practice that far becuase if your form isnt perfect then it tells you in a hurry.

[gfdeputy2]

agree MACHINIST furthest shot & Kill I have taken was 53 yards. was last day of the season with a wide open shot

I normally wont go past 50 always I think it is a good thing to practice further then your comfort range

[stoneam2006]

In the 3D league I used to shoot woth my dad. The owner would always put 3 out past 50 and even had one that was always 70 yards over a pond...was fun but impractical for most. Lots of lost arrows

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[wooly]

I used to practice out to 50 but I stopped.

It brought too much temptation to the woods with me and I made a few bad decisions because of it.

Now I'll just plug away out to 30 for practice and for hunting I keep my shots 25 or under.

I really don't care to see my "form flaws" beyond my effective range if they're not affecting anything at my practical hunting distances.

I can reach out and touch them during gun if I get real desperate.

[G-Man]

i practice out to 70 and have never taken a shot past 55(and that was open field calm day) i agree it helps your form and release immensly... and makes thos 40 and under shots chip

[NFA-ADK]

  If you shoot distances past 60 yards you should know how a slight laps in form, wind and buck fever can cause a bad effect on your shot. 

 

Animals over 800lbs I can understand 70 yard shots but that is just because they can not dodge and arrow like those crazy whitetails can.  The longer the shot the more chances of the animal moving, form error and or wind issues.  String jump is another factor!

 

 

 

 

[PREDATE]

I've normally practiced out to 45. My longest shot(clean kill) on a deer was 45-48 yds.

When I upgrade my bow this year I will be practicing out to 60 yds

[NFA-ADK]

Some 65-71 yard shots. (My betters shots!)  First two shots are at about 65 yards(uphill) and 67 yards flat.  3rd picture with 6 arrows was yesterday at 70.  The two deer are 71 yards downhill slightly.   If you can not shoot this well when you are ready to hunt you should not be taking shots this long. 

 

As I get better shooting longer distance I find that realistically I would keep my range within 50 yards preferring a 40 or less as ideal!  Form issues have cause me to reduce this to 35 yard max when my body will not cooperate.  Most of the time this is due to overshooting my bow.  Besides being a deer addict I guess I am a bow shooting addict too...  Too much fun!  Picture of deer was at 30 yards having some fun! 

 

How well can you shoot past 65 yards?  Suffolk Archers field shoot is Sunday if anyone is interested.  Most shots for compound (Hunting bow) are less than 50 yards, accuracy being key.  This shoot is at paper circle targets only, no 3D.  It is 12 targets with 2 positions at each target 2 arrows from each spot and you do the course twice.  112 arrows plus warm up, long day.  Score is 5 for a bull, 4 for the next ring and 3 for the outer ring with a possible 560 as a perfect score.  Hope to beat my 512.

[chiefbkt]

I routinely shoot out to 60 during practice.  It makes the 30-40 yard shots seem so close and I feel more confident when shooting.  Haven't shot at a deer past 45 yards, but if conditions were absolutely perfect would shoot out to 60.  Nice shooting NFA-ADK!

[beachpeaz]

Some 65-71 yard shots. (My betters shots!)  First two shots are at about 65 yards(uphill) and 67 yards flat.  3rd picture with 6 arrows was yesterday at 70.  The two deer are 71 yards downhill slightly.   If you can not shoot this well when you are ready to hunt you should not be taking shots this long. 

 

As I get better shooting longer distance I find that realistically I would keep my range within 50 yards preferring a 40 or less as ideal!  Form issues have cause me to reduce this to 35 yard max when my body will not cooperate.  Most of the time this is due to overshooting my bow.  Besides being a deer addict I guess I am a bow shooting addict too...  Too much fun!  Picture of deer was at 30 yards having some fun! 

 

How well can you shoot past 65 yards?  Suffolk Archers field shoot is Sunday if anyone is interested.  Most shots for compound (Hunting bow) are less than 50 yards, accuracy being key.  This shoot is at paper circle targets only, no 3D.  It is 12 targets with 2 positions at each target 2 arrows from each spot and you do the course twice.  112 arrows plus warm up, long day.  Score is 5 for a bull, 4 for the next ring and 3 for the outer ring with a possible 560 as a perfect score.  Hope to beat my 512.

 

I don't think it is a good game plan to shoot deer in the eyes.  They probably wouldn't die   lol

[Doc]

First of all, I noticed that fisher2 specifically kept his remarks to the practice range shooting only. I love taking super long shots on targets. The additional challenge is what makes a practice session fun and interesting. Just watching that arrow traveling down range over 80 yards or so and hopefully sticking it in the target is a pretty great rush.

 

As noted by most here, trying to take that target range success and applying it to hunting conditions would definitely be another story. I have often thought about deer jumping the string and how that problem would be accentuated by distance. But that is rather dramatic. How about a deer just suddenly deciding to walk? According to "The Deer of North America" by Leonard Lee Rue, a deer walks 3-1/2 to 4 MPH. So using that speed, if a guy was shooting some super fast bow, 400 fps for example, at 100 yards and the deer decided to start walking as the bowhunter shot, over 100 yards, the deer could move 46.2". Even at 50 yards he could move 23.1". That's not running, or bolting, or evading, that's just deciding to take a step or two. Never mind all the other points that have been made about buck fever, wind, a little form hick-up, and maybe some unforeseen twig over those long distances. Just consider a simple decision of the deer to start walking (which eventually he's definitely going to do at some point). The longer the distance shot, the worse the wound or if you're lucky a complete miss.

 

I'm not sure why people refuse to acknowledge that a bow and arrow is a close range hunting implement. That used to be accepted as the reason for taking on the challenge of bowhunting. It doesn't matter what you can do on the range at measured distances and at a stationery target. That is all great for impressing your friends and perhaps collecting a tournament win or two. But it probably is not all that great an idea to try applying all that to hunting situations.

[fisher2]

Thank you doc for noticing that, im totally not saying shoot 100 at live animals

[stoneam2006]

I'll be honest one of my favorite things on a slow day bowhunting is trying to bag a few squirrels with the bow...does a number on arrows but I always bring some of the crap ones out with me for this purpose....nothing like getting to truck for lunch with the guys and having a few squirrels lol

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[ATbuckhunter]

I usually only practice to 30 yards. 

[ny hunter]

My self I practice out to 40 yards but I well only shoot at a deer 30 or closer...

[Hock3y24]

I practice to 60, makes 30 yards a chip shot

[MACHINIST]

First of all, I noticed that fisher2 specifically kept his remarks to the practice range shooting only. I love taking super long shots on targets. The additional challenge is what makes a practice session fun and interesting. Just watching that arrow traveling down range over 80 yards or so and hopefully sticking it in the target is a pretty great rush.

 

As noted by most here, trying to take that target range success and applying it to hunting conditions would definitely be another story. I have often thought about deer jumping the string and how that problem would be accentuated by distance. But that is rather dramatic. How about a deer just suddenly deciding to walk? According to "The Deer of North America" by Leonard Lee Rue, a deer walks 3-1/2 to 4 MPH. So using that speed, if a guy was shooting some super fast bow, 400 fps for example, at 100 yards and the deer decided to start walking as the bowhunter shot, over 100 yards, the deer could move 46.2". Even at 50 yards he could move 23.1". That's not running, or bolting, or evading, that's just deciding to take a step or two. Never mind all the other points that have been made about buck fever, wind, a little form hick-up, and maybe some unforeseen twig over those long distances. Just consider a simple decision of the deer to start walking (which eventually he's definitely going to do at some point). The longer the distance shot, the worse the wound or if you're lucky a complete miss.

 

I'm not sure why people refuse to acknowledge that a bow and arrow is a close range hunting implement. That used to be accepted as the reason for taking on the challenge of bowhunting. It doesn't matter what you can do on the range at measured distances and at a stationery target. That is all great for impressing your friends and perhaps collecting a tournament win or two. But it probably is not all that great an idea to try applying all that to hunting situations.

 

great way to put the numbers down to make people understand.To many things can happen in the woods between you and the deer,next throw in a long distance and who knows.

[wooly]

I get mentally tired/bored walking back and forth retrieving arrows at 30yds after a few rounds.

I don't know how you guys stay focused between sets walking 150-200yds round trip between pulls.

Don't get me wrong.., I like shooting my bow, but I can think of 100 other more exciting ways I'd rather be spending my time during the summer months besides wearing down a path in the grass to the target.

 

[Meat Manager]

I get mentally tired/bored walking back and forth retrieving arrows at 30yds after a few rounds.

I don't know how you guys stay focused between sets walking 150-200yds round trip between pulls.

Don't get me wrong.., I like shooting my bow, but I can think of 100 other more exciting ways I'd rather be spending my time during the summer months besides wearing down a path in the grass to the target.

I agree...in spring 2013 I broke in my Bowmadness xs by shooting it about 3000x in 3 months.

Now I shoot 3 or 4 times a week 1 arrow per round, no more than 6 rounds all from varying ranges and angles, almost always at a 3d deer and never past 45.

In the field I'll shoot out to 35 in good conditions tho last year I harvested 5 with the bow all inside 25, the buck inside 10.

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Edited June 18, 2014 by Meat Manager

[genesee_mohican]

 I have a target set up in my yard and I can shoot anytime I wish so I tend to put a lot of time in. I practice out to 60 yards for a few reasons. It hones my skills and makes me become even more accurate at closer ranges.  It's a blast to see the arrow flight and you can get a good feel for how well the bow is tuned. When it comes to hunting, My set ups are for shots under 30 and try to keep it there, but am ready for longer shots if the situation presents itself.

 

 

[fisher2]

After an afternoon at 100 i can go back to 60 and put 5 arrows into a clay pigion, but i cant do that cold, so that tells me i need to go back to 120! Haha

[dbHunterNY]

Haven't wounded a deer yet with a bow not sure why not. I guess I'm due. Lucky misses hitting twigs though that could've gone bad. Recurve shots are limited to 15 yards. Practice out to 20 yards mostly and sometimes 30+ with the recurve. With compound I shoot competition too and practice out to 80 or more depending on where I am. Shots are limited to much less though. With a heavy arrow with good front of center I still won't shoot at anything that far. Not even a bigger vital like an elk. Just too much can happen before the arrow gets there. Between animal reacting to load it's front legs and whirling around you should not be aiming where vitals are anyway. Aim where you think they'll go. 20 yards you can aim just below centerline. 30 you should be aiming bottom 1/3 and 40 you're aiming at bottom edge of its body. 50 well you're probably better off aiming just below and hope you miss but it'll drop it heart right into path of arrow. Whether or not it'll whirl away depends on a lot of stuff which changes your left to right. If you hold right behind to shoulder and it whirls you'll be into shoulder blade. Each deer and case is different. Takes a lot of dead deer to start figuring it out too. More than I've shot. You discuss and combine experience with other good shooters that call their shots.