CHANGE OF TIMES WITH DISTANCE??

[GlockZ]

I like to practice out to 50-60 yards, and I'm decent at that distance, but realistically, most of my shots are inside 30 yards, furthest shot so far was 46 yards, animal went down fast. Personally would prefer shots under 40 yards, where I'm most comfortable, don't care how much I practice shooting at a 3-D target isn't the same as a live animal, and past 30 yards, that's kinda far, when you're waiting on shot opportunity and getting fatigued.

 

[stealthy_bowman]

35+ years of bowhunting and well over 100 whitetails under my belt and I have only shot one at ~40 yards. Vast majority under 30. Yet I practice at 80, for fun, all the time. Too many variables to shoot beyond 35 IMO. When I hit the release, I want to be certain that deer drops within 100 yards or less, every time. Any doubt, and I just don't shoot. Don't care how big the buck may be.

 

[MO Betta]

It's not necessarily new, just more prevalent as the consistency and speed available with a lot of bows and arrows nowadays has allowed a greater number to be able to achieve longer shots. I remember reading in Chuck Adams' book when I was a teen that he would occasionally take a 60-70 yard shot on an animal because he could consistently hit a grapefruit at those ranges and it was the only opportunity he had. If I recall correctly he only did this on bedded animals.

 

[cmorsch]

For me I limit my archery shots to 50%-75% the distance I practice at depending on what I am hunting. So with that being said I limit myself to 45-50 yards and under for hunting purposes with a bow.

 

[NR_Hunter]

I practice out to 60 every time I shoot. I Won’t shoot past 40 in the field. I’ve accepted the anxiety/target panic I get when shooting deer with a bow degrades my skills. Ideally I’d like the shot to be 30, 40 yards would require near perfect conditions.

 

[NR_Hunter]

There's no shortage of confidence out there, just a lack of talent.

View attachment 125345

Man... not sure how I would have played it, but probably not that way.

I probz would have just not taken the first shot, went home empty handed, and not gotten any sick sponsor deals and social media content and remain a lowly non-resident hunter.

 

[backcountry_sassn]

I think range is all about comfort. I practice out to 80 yards but I’m not confident enough to shoot anything past 50 yards. Now my dad on the other hand practices out to 140 yards and can hit arrows at 100 yards. I’ve personally seen him boiler room an antelope at 96 yards. There’s one big time archery hunter who I’m not the biggest fan of, but he has killed multiple bulls past 100 yards. He also shoots balloons past 150 yards and spends a few hours every day shooting his bow. I don’t think there is a “fits all” ethical range. While this guy can ethically kill at 100 yards, there’s a few other people I know who can’t ethically kill at 30 yards.

know what your comfortable and don’t shoot past that. Haha in fact my advise would be to know where you’re comfortable at and take 20 yards off that and don’t hunt past that distance.

 

[Mike Tomano]

Shooting traditional archery, I never take a shot beyond 25 yards. I can hit beyond that on targets, but choose to limit myself to accommodate the variables that factor into the shot. Rifle / Slug Gun hunting, I've never shot beyond 150 yards, and that was a hog in Texas. Most of my shots at deer and other big game have been within 50 yards, so I've never had to shoot farther; albeit, the majority of my hunting is done in thick Midwestern forests and swamps.

 

[gouch]

Been bow hunting now for 54 years so I've seen a bit of change over the years. It wasn't very many years ago you wouldn't see this conversation. Nobody would defend a 100 yd. shot at any animal. Bow hunting started getting popular back in the 60s when people got bored with how easy it was to kill an animal way out to 300 yards with a rifle. They wanted to develop actual hunting skill which would allow them to get up close and personal with their prey. As technology started taking over the sport people who just wanted more chances to kill something found that they didn't have to develop hunting skill to accomplish their goal so jumped into the sport. Whit modern archery equipment ( I won't call them bows since there is very little resemblance to a traditional bow.) it is much easier to learn the skill of shooting 100 yards compared to learning the skill of getting within 25 yards of an animal. Very soon the discussion will be, "Is it ethical to take shots out to 125 yards?" The modern archery purists will be saying "absolutely not, nobody should ever shoot at an animal beyond 100 yds. ever." While us traditional snobs will still just role or eyes and sadly shake our heads.

 

[bullbugle307]

I think range is all about comfort. I practice out to 80 yards but I’m not confident enough to shoot anything past 50 yards. Now my dad on the other hand practices out to 140 yards and can hit arrows at 100 yards. I’ve personally seen him boiler room an antelope at 96 yards. There’s one big time archery hunter who I’m not the biggest fan of, but he has killed multiple bulls past 100 yards. He also shoots balloons past 150 yards and spends a few hours every day shooting his bow. I don’t think there is a “fits all” ethical range. While this guy can ethically kill at 100 yards, there’s a few other people I know who can’t ethically kill at 30 yards.

know what your comfortable and don’t shoot past that. Haha in fact my advise would be to know where you’re comfortable at and take 20 yards off that and don’t hunt past that distance.

I disagree. At long range you face a lot of challenges that have nothing to do with how good a shot you are. Penetration and animal movement namely.

 

[JMG]

Been bow hunting now for 54 years so I've seen a bit of change over the years. It wasn't very many years ago you wouldn't see this conversation. Nobody would defend a 100 yd. shot at any animal. Bow hunting started getting popular back in the 60s when people got bored with how easy it was to kill an animal way out to 300 yards with a rifle. They wanted to develop actual hunting skill which would allow them to get up close and personal with their prey. As technology started taking over the sport people who just wanted more chances to kill something found that they didn't have to develop hunting skill to accomplish their goal so jumped into the sport. Whit modern archery equipment ( I won't call them bows since there is very little resemblance to a traditional bow.) it is much easier to learn the skill of shooting 100 yards compared to learning the skill of getting within 25 yards of an animal. Very soon the discussion will be, "Is it ethical to take shots out to 125 yards?" The modern archery purists will be saying "absolutely not, nobody should ever shoot at an animal beyond 100 yds. ever." While us traditional snobs will still just role or eyes and sadly shake our heads.

Archery is a means to challenge one's knowledge and skills at hunting. Most folks archery hunt for the challenge, but some use archery hunting as a way to "self promote" themselves and build their egos. Early on hunting with a bow and arrow was a primitive experience, but with what has been mention; the bow and arrow has evolved in an effort to harvest animals at further ranges (faster, let-off, carbon vs. wooden, etc.). When there is a trend where archery hunters are shooting further based on the fact their hunting skills lack and these same folks start taking shots that ends up wounding animals; then it becomes an ethical dilemma. When I watched the video at the beginning of this tread, I was upset. IMO, this is reckless. I unsubscribed and do not watch an "Hushin" videos.
The Montana FWP has recognized that archery equipment and archery hunting is a means at controlling wild game (primarily elk in MT) populations and the subject of placing more restrictions on archery equipment and/or limiting the number of archery hunters has been thought of and discussed. Landowners and the general public also do not like to see wounded game running around or found dead unclaimed. It is bad for the image of archery hunting and hunting in general.