Tell Me About Your Bow Kills

[grizzly63]

One of the hardest game animals for me to try and get out of treestand is a Rooster Pheasant. I guess if birds of prey are trying to kill you, you have a tendency to look up constantly.

 

[dgc1963]

I mostly bow hunt
furthest shot was probably close to 40 yrds whitetail buck
closest shot 12 feet black bear yea I didnt want him that close lol
Average shot around 25 yrds

 

[PorterHouse]

Well I now can contribute to my own thread…

Shortest Shot - 21 yards (whitetail doe)
Longest Shot - 21 yards (whitetail doe)
Average Shot - 21 yards (whitetail doe)

I now understand how people can become addicted to chasing animals with a bow. What a rush…even if there were no antlers involved.

 

[COraggy]

Furthest kill shot distance 55yards bull elk
Shortest kill shot distance 5 yard bull elk
Average 20 yards likely

16 bull elk only 2 outside of 20
1 mule deer at 40
3 elk with long bow

 

[Deleted member 53219]

Farthest - 95 yards, antelope heart shot
Closest - 5 yards, elk also heart shot
On average maybe 40 yards (total guess over several dozen archery kills)
I've archery hunted annually for 39 years and lost 3 deer due to bad hits during archery that I'm fairly certain died. 2 whitetails, a buck and a doe, and one mule deer doe. Only one of those shots would be frowned upon by the ethics police.
The embarrassing statistic that I hold is rifle shot bears that I have no clue what happened - a couple at extra close range.
I've personally seen far more rodeos with bullets than arrows, but have heard a lot of bad archery losses.

I shoot extra light arrows with 100 grain fixed blade tips from a very well tuned bow (310+ fps). Have shot expandable head in past with good results, but with the right fixed and your bow set correctly, no need to worry about more moving parts. I don't mess with a dial sight, use 7 pins. For all my hunting, it seems to work best for me.

Curious what made you settle on extra light arrows at 310+fps? I know that was a fad in the early 2000’s, you just don’t see a lot of guys doing it anymore. Has worked well for you.

 

[Southern Elk]

My longest shot was 63 yards - Bull Elk
My closest shot was 20 yards - Whitetail buck.
Average shot distance for me is probably between 40-50 yards.

I have killed elk, whitetails, mule deer, and antelope with my bow. Archery hunting is my passion. I shoot my bow a lot and am very comfortable shooting out to 60 yards.

 

[WildWill]

Killed my first deer with a bow 22 years ago. High country compound with easton aluminum arrows and a zwickey 2 blade head. In that time I can't remember exactly how many deer I've killed with a bow but at least 40, probably a dozen pigs, couple turkey and coyotes and a pronghorn also missed one elk.

Longest was a 51 yard shot at a deer.
Shortest was 4 yards on a turkey (on deer 9).
I would say my average is somewhere between 25-30 yards.

 

[Nick87]

High country compound

I remember those. Always wanted one.

 

[Southern Elk]

I remember those. Always wanted one.

Me too. I was shooting a PSE back then. By the time I could afford a nice bow, Mathews was the one to have.

 

[Chad Gus]

I remember those. Always wanted one.

I owned 7 different High Countrys in my life. Loved them all

 

[Nick87]

I owned 7 different High Countrys in my life. Loved them all

Always an ad on the back page of bowhunter magazine, iirc.

 

[WildWill]

I remember those. Always wanted one.

I had two they were good bows.

Always an ad on the back page of bowhunter magazine, iirc.

I only remember the Martin adds .

 

[Nick87]

I had two they were good bows.
I only remember the Martin adds .

Yup, now I remember.

 

[The Hedgehog]

with the right fixed and your bow set correctly, no need to worry about more moving parts. I don't mess with a dial sight, use 7 pins. For all my hunting, it seems to work best for me.

Curious what made you settle on extra light arrows at 310+fps? I know that was a fad in the early 2000’s, you just don’t see a lot of guys doing it anymore. Has worked well for you.

In then 80s and 90s I shot very heavy xx75s - long 2317s with heavy fixed blades. The light arrows let me get away with the sight I described above. It’s what I’m used to.

 

[awells36]

The archery bug bit me and I bought my first bow this past year. One of my hunting goals for 2023 is to kill a whitetail with it. Went to the bow shop this weekend for a tune, built some new arrows, bought broadheads, etc. It got me thinking, I wonder what everyone's bow "stats" are on Hunt Talk...?

So, all that being said, I'm interested to hear from the collective on your successful harvests with your bows:

- Furthest kill shot distance (and animal)
- Shortest kill shot distance (and animal)
- Average kill shot distance (and typical animal/animals harvested)

Feel free to include any other details you feel are interesting or relevant (bow specs, arrow specs, broadhead used, etc.)

- Furthest kill shot distance: 42 yards on a 4.5 yr old 11 point whitetail
- Shortest kill shot distance: 4 yards on a whitetail doe
- Average kill shot distance: 20.5 yards (averaging in 20 whitetail kills; shot distances for turkey/coyote not recorded well)

Shooting a Hoyt Nitrum for 11 years set to 60 pounds for the first 8 years and 70 pounds for the last 3 years. I have used 425 grains with a 100 grain expandable broadhead on the front, 589 grains with a 150 grain fixed blade broadhead and a 100 grain insert, and most recently built some at 692 grains with 150 grain expandable broadhead and a 100 grain insert. All have done the job well, shot placement is the answer.

 

[Rogerdoger]

I am new to bow hunting so only have one, whitetail at 35 yards. Can’t wait for another!

 

[grizzly63]

I am new to bow hunting so only have one, whitetail at 35 yards. Can’t wait for another!

You'll find it very addicting.

 

[Steiny77]

I've bow hunted whitetails since 1973 and killed a bunch with recurve and compound bows.
Shortest kill shot was probably about 5 yards and I've never killed one further than 30 yards.