Just wondering what's the furthest you've taken an animal with your trad bow. I'm new to traditional, figured this be an interesting thread to start.
Most of the time I try to get as close as I can, but I did shoot a coyote at just over 30 yards once. The farthest on a deer was 22 yards. Most of the time it's closer to 15 yards though.
Where in Iowa do you hang your hat?
I love those deer shots under 12 yards.
60 paces (woodchuck).
25 yards on whitetail. I don't attempt further.
Hit a red squirrel once at 30 yards and his tail was on my back quiver for 15 years (until the cat got it). That was my best shot ever; period.
30 yards on a gopher ;) . 30 yards on a deer is easy if you can hit a gopher. Furthest deer is around 25/28 yards, I like them closer but I'm not against longer shots if things are right. You'll hear all sorts of folks telling you about their "self imposed" distance limits, if it feels right and you're confident, let 'er rip!
29 yards but I didn't know until I paced it off after the shot............
Shot and killed a nice buck at 38 yards once.
With a real bow 65 plus yards a hare,35 a walking fox.on larger games the closest is the best.
Black bear 10-12 yards.
I killed a rabbit at 36 steps with a Hill longbow. It was like magic watching the arrow as it arced and hit the rabbit in the head. I would never take a shot on a deer at that range.
Some pretty long shots on small game, but I don't think I have ever shot at a big game animal beyond 20 yards.
Just to clarify why....perfect heart/lung shot placement isn't critical on a rabbit....it is on a deer.
25 yds last year on a Whitetail. Prior to that everything has been under 20 yds.
Not far, longest was a bit under 20
What Roger said.
BUT...just out of high school, I once lobbed an arrow a LOOONNNG ways into a hayfield at a coyote.
Martin Lynx recurve, 2219 Gamegetter, three blade Thunderhead 160...
up, up, up, looking good...down, down, down, and THROUGH the hip! Killed him almost instantly!
Coyotes weren`t thick like now, and only a few people had seen one. With all the fur, I though it would weigh 50 lbs, and he wasn`t quite 30lbs.
22yds on a whitetail. About 37-38yds on a groundhog. Closest deer kill was 8ft
32 yds on a buck....Howatt Hunter and my 1st bow kill. I'd never shoot that shot again, but I didn't know any better back then.
60 yards on a dirt clod and cans. Longest kill was 45 yards on an elk a long time ago. Don't think I'd attempt that again. Killed a couple of deer at 26-27 yards. Most of the deer I kill are at 12-18 yards.
Longest Deer kill was 27 yards. I did kill a gopher one time at about 80 yards.
I just missed a bucket on the other hillside a couple weeks ago at a measured 95 yards. We were goofing and tried for 100 but the fence kept me from it. Guess I coulda moved the bucket further.
I'm not a good enough shot to try that on deer or other critters. As you can see, 20-25 is a max for most of us and I REALLY prefer 15.
As above, watching the arrow sail to your target is really a pretty neat thing.
I once made an impossible shot with an elder gent present. I call him Dad (he is a good friend's father) and I built him a bow during a bad time in his life. He took to it and loves to go stump shooting with us now.
Anyway, a South Dakota CRP meadow, mid November, windy, cold, did I say the wind was blowing ? We chose the corner post of the wire fence. I have no idea how far away it was, but it was over 100 yards for sure. He pulled back and was holding too low, so I said "higher, higher, higher" and when he released he very nearly hit it. He was whooping and smiling. (this is a normally quiet guy).
My turn, I pulled back and instead of launching, I pulled my bow up so it shot nearly vertical, way up there, held into the wind to allow for drift, all of that. When the arrow came down, it bounced off the top of the post ! Dad screamed "you got it !" and I heard about that shot for months.
No way I could duplicate that shot if I tried the rest of my life.... most certainly someone above was steering that arrow, not me. But it made Dad smile and forget about some of his concerns for a while.
Long shooting is fun and can get under your skin, but shooting at critters is typically a short game for me.
ChuckC
55 paces on a caribou. 70 yards on a gray squirrel.
20 yards on whitetail.
16 on turkey.
about 12' on spruce grouse.
made a couple of 40 yard kills.... one on a whitetail deer from the ground and a pronghorn was out at about 40 but I was shooting good.....I like 30 and inwards but like most hunters like the 20 to 25 yard shot...some days I pass on 30 yard shots if I don't feel like I am "in the zone"
most of the deer i kill are less than 18-20 yards. I have killed some farther, but i would rather keep it closer...that is why we hunt with a stick, right?
Farthest shot is a red fox at 41 steps.
BAB
QuoteOriginally posted by Bill Carlsen:
55 paces on a caribou. 70 yards on a gray squirrel.
I could not see a bushy tail at 70 yards...... :biglaugh:
I stretched a shot on a deer all the way out to 20 yards once, killed her, everything else has been 15 or less.
With my recurve 21 yards.
I only tried a longer shot in my 2nd or 3rd year bow hunting when I was 17 or 18 years old. I was very fortunate...I missed badly, as I should have. In more than 40 years since I have never tried such a shot again and won't.
I did kill a Pepsi can at about 70 yards with some co-eds walking by the range in the fall of 1973. Shaved my feathers right off the arrow-- bummer!
Point-on with my current set-up is 33 yards. I can "kill" my 3D targets better at that range than at 25. However, I am almost certain I would never attempt it on a live, unwounded animal.
My longest kill shot was 20 yards. All others have been 15 or less.
Longest was a 65 yd shot on a 6 pt back when it was acceptable to shoot long range. First kill was a doe at 55 yds. 30 yds is about as far as I will shoot anymore. Prefer about 15 to 20 yds. Denny Sturgis Sr
43 yrds on a Montana Gopher. Then my buddy Doug hit one at 53 yrds.
32 yds Complete pass thru this year. 53@28 Stalker recurve, Beman shaft with Simmons shark head. Total arrow weight 550 grains.
15yd on deer and javelina, 30yd on a chipmunk, 39yd on a groundhog, 40yd on a squirrel, 60yd on a bird, and 150yd on a ground mole.
The mole was quite by accident. I was out in the hay field shooting arrows up in the air and noticed blood on my arrow when I pulled it from the ground.
63 steps on a blue grouse. 40+ on a hog that had been wounded by a compound guy in the group I was in. 23 steps on an unwounded unaware whitetail. Most of mine are 10-18 steps. I love the 10-12 step shots, never messed one of those up.
Chris
26 or 27 yards on the bull I shot this year. See avatar for details :readit:
I've only shot at a couple deer over 20 yards. Killed them both. I had a buck and a doe come across a field to me where I sat in stand in a finger of woods. I was over 21' high in the stand cause it was almost at the base of a small ridge and I was only 5' higher than a deer 20 yards away. The doe came down low to my left and I shot her at about 12 yards while the buck was up on the high trail. I knew he was over 20 so took the closer shot on the doe. He just stood there watching while the doe ran off. When I looked back at him and saw him just standing there, I just nocked an arrow and shot him.
A liitle bit later my hunting buddy comes over and I tell him I shot 2. He says where were they standing? I tell him the doe was standing right where he was. Where was the buck? I tell him to go up the hill. As he moves up the hill, he keeps looking at me saying "here?' He starts looking at me funny as I keep motioning him away. When I finall stopped him, he looked at me like I was crazy. My average shot on deer is under 11 yards in 35+ years of bowhunting. The buck was 27 yards and I believe I made the shot cause he was almost same level with me.
Longest kill was a rabbit at 42 yards and a groundhog at 36 yards. Small game is easierm to shoot at long range cause if you hit you usually kill. I won't take that kind of shot on a big game animal.
QuoteOriginally posted by Roger Norris:
Some pretty long shots on small game, but I don't think I have ever shot at a big game animal beyond 20 yards.
Just to clarify why....perfect heart/lung shot placement isn't critical on a rabbit....it is on a deer.
AMEN! I keep my whitetail shots to 25 or less but practice out to 80 yards on stumps and 3-D.
A rabbit gives up the ghost easily - not so deer (or squirrels). But it seems at 25 yards you either hit or cleanly miss a squirrel. If you do wound one the arrow usually slows it down for a coup de mercì with the spine of a knife to the neck or a second arrow.
Being a squirrel must not be the worst way to make a living because they do seem to hang on to life tenaciously.
I killed a coyote right at 40 once. made a perfect shot as well. complete luck.
My first traditional deer was a long shot, over 35 yards. I hit her in the gut and thankfully found her. All my shots on deer have been between 15-35 otherwise. I haven't been blessed with those close shots since going to traditional gear in 2008.
Ironically, the only 2 deer I have wounded/lost have been my closest shots, one of them was straight down with a compound-my first deer, we found her several days later about 1/4 mile away, the shot was great idk what happended.
I don't think that's a question a gentleman asks a stick shooter. Now my closest has been about 10 feet straight down.
closest was 8 feet on ground...I was in myrtle cluster, doe walked beside it.
Ron W...he was near a feeder we have across the pond. Wide open back yard kind of thing. I would periodically shoot at them as my bow set up was near point on at that distance. Actually got two like that. There were many misses before there was a kill. But it was fun watching the arrows fly over the pond....sort of an enhanced Muzzy shot at White #1.
LOL, awesome shot on that mole David. I dont think I could have heard him at that distance, LOL.
QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Gerardi:
43 yrds on a Montana Gopher. Then my buddy Doug hit one at 53 yrds.
Would that be Doug Campbell? I killed one shooting along with him at 62 yards.....those gofers are too much fun. Oh yeah....that was the day my arrows made a big impression on him....he's been shooting them since
My first, and longest, bow kill was @20 yards on a 10 point buck. I have only killed a few others, and they were more like 12 to 15 yards. I would like to be consistent at 25 yards, but that is quite a distance for me, so I may not ever achieve that goal. I barely missed a coyote once at nearly 60 yards. I knew the odds against the shot were great, but I just don't like coyotes.
I had a doe a couple years ago that I was determined to take out of the gene pool. She had buggered and stomped for 3 mornings causing me much aggravation. I pin wheeled her at 40 steps from the base of my tree. She sure looked surprised. I think it was lesson for the rest of her kin as they have been fairly well mannered since that day.
63 steps on a whitetail doe in 1973. I shot a lot of field round archery back then and long shots were a lot longer than today.
Many years ago I took a point on shot at a sleepy buck that was looking away. It was standing on a badger dig that I had shot at many times across a pond. The Wasp broadhead lost one blade in the hide, one in a rib and just a piece of the remaining blade survived to go through the deers heart. The next time I tried a long shot was very similar, a round bail of oats. I shot at it everyday for a month when I rounded a corner. One day a large doe was feeding on it. I took a point on shot with my 90 pound bow, the shot looked perfect. The doe took two steps when arrow was in flight and the arrow cut a couple of hairs off of her tail. I died ten deaths when I saw that doe move. Never again, the shorter the better on deer. My longest shot was a ground shot, way over point on, at a pheasant. I am not sure how it happened, but I think I missed my mark by quite a bit and a gust of wind pushed the arrow into the pheasant.
I killed a running jackrabbit at 33 yards.
I missed him sitting at about 15 yards just a few seconds before....
Brett
My first elk was at 38 paces, so maybe 30 yards.. I was very new to archery. The elk was down hill standing broad side with his head behind a tree. The sun was behind me and it was in dark timber. A beam of sun light was lighting him up like a spot-light. 55# 21 century long bow and a two blade zwicky. Awesome 100 yard blood trail. It was a couple of miles to the truck and I was alone. it was a miserable 24 hours getting that elk out.. Who knew you could de-bone an elk?!?
I shoot instinctive so I don't give it much thought I just focus on the spot but I want to hit.
45 yards on a spike elk. I had been following bugling and the spike was a rear guard. He saw me and I could tell he was about to take off and would probably take the herd with him. I kept thinking "I can take him", and decided to try. Double lung shot and he was down in about 50 yards. Bow was a 63# Bighorn that I used for 15 years.
1972 North Dakota mule deer 65 yards, double lunged.
4600 miles (approximately) A nice sized hog in florida. (several pigs actually)
:laughing:
1972, 45 yards on a walking buck. I put the broadhead on his nose and let fly. No apologies, I was 28 years old and a big NFAA field round competitor then.
Mule deer at 76 yards with a compound. Took up the longbow right afterwards. 15 yards with a longbow on a mule deer. I get a much bigger rush from getting close to deer than making "long" shots.
Like Denny said I shot several deer at 40 plus yards back in the day when it was acceptable at least to my group. Now days 15 is about it unless it just feels perfect then maybe 25.
25 yards on a whitetail complete pass through with a 45# recurve.
killed a black bear at 30, and a deer at 28
Deer - passthrough at 28 yards. I did not realize it was that far till I paced it off.
QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Gerardi:
43 yrds on a Montana Gopher. Then my buddy Doug hit one at 53 yrds.
Would that be Doug Campbell? I killed one shooting along with him at 62 yards.....those gofers are too much fun. Oh yeah....that was the day my arrow dynamics made a big impression on him....he's been shooting them since [/b]
Yes Sir. That would be him. prob covered some of the same ground as you Terry. I think Doug has enough Arrow Dynamic shafts to last two life times. Shooting gophers got in my blood real quick that trip.
When I was a teenager, I shot a buck walking along the opposite side of a ravine I was hunting. I had been taking long shots at squirrels all day long (and missing, I might add), and when that buck walked by, I thought to myself he looked as big as a hereford bull. I really didn't think about the distance until after I had put an arrow right in the sweet spot. He made a couple of leaps and stood there looking around, confused, until he fell over and rolled down toward the creek, dead as a hammer.
When I finally calmed down, I realized just how far the shot was. I paced of 30 steps down to the creek, 4 across, and 25 back up to my arrow, which had stuck into the bank behind the buck. This was way before any range finders, but I figure the shot was around 42-45 yards.
Looking back, there is no way on this earth I'd take that shot today, even though I'm a lot better now than I was then. Aside from that, I've shot a squirrel or two over 40 steps. For deer, 23 yards.
On deer... my longest shot was 18 yards... my shortest kill was 18 yards... Did I mention I'm still looking for number two!
I did drill a bullfrog at 25 yards across the pond one day! I was pretty proud of that one!
28 yards, on the world's dumbest pronghorn.
My only kill shot was at about 12 yards this year. I have taken a shot out to 25 on a nice big doe. Missed her but did kill the sapling right in front of her.
32 yards on lying doe.The shot just felt right. Normally i look for 10-15 yards.
Pigeon- over 70yds.
Chipmunk- 30+yds
Deer- about 30yds
Pronghorn- damn near 50yds
Rabbit- around 45yds
Flying pheasant- around 20yds.
let me think of some more....
26 paces for me,shortest 3 paces.
30ish yards on a caribou, 28 yards on a whitetail. Everything else 20 yards or less.
I've killed a few deer on shots well over 30 yards but I don't attempt it anymore. The first was my first deer with a recurve. I missed him at like 12 yards. He ran out to 35 or so and I shot him. Liver hit, and he didn't go far. Looking back on that, man was I arrogant. I missed him at close range and then had the audacity to shoot a hail marry shot at a much longer range?
In Namibia I killed a kudu at 35 yards, but kudu have huge vitals. Wasn't really that hard of a shot. But I also killed a warthog at 32 yards. Warthogs have small vitals. I think that shot at the warthog was the last big game animal I have shot at over 25 yards.
Mountain quail-49.5 yards, black-tail deer and black bear-35 yards (my typical max range). Also got some tail feathers from a starling from 62 yards