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Extended Range Bowhunting

This thread is somewhat about personal abilities as an archer, as much as it is about hunting too. I got this idea from a mix of western bow hunting and the Trophy Ridge's "Smart Pin Technology".
http://www.trophyridge.com/technology/smart-pin-technology

I'd like to extend my hunting yardages to take advantage of open shots of deer that are unaware of my presence.

This would consist of being in good physical condition to accomplish good accuracy, plenty of practice at the extended yardages intended on hunting and quality well tuned hunting equipment. I believe the technology is here in modern archery equipment to accomplish this goal.

What are your thoughts on Extended Range Bowhunting?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 

Griz

Junior Member
100
0
NH
IMO its a personal call, If your honest with yourself and know your limits. Go for it. If your wounding animals, because your just letting it fly, your past your limits. I'm not saying thats what your going to do. By posting you want to take advantage of open shots of deer that are unaware of you, says you understand what can happen if the deer thinks somethings up. Angle of the animal is inportant TOO. As the advertisment says, practice out to 60 yrds can help with confindence on the shorter shots. Speaking for myself, I do have a 60 yrd pin, that I practice with. 38 yrds is my longest kill shot. I may also add that I have missed at 13, and 18 yrds. Its amazing how different a target is than an actural animal. My ability as an archer is out to 40/45 yrds. I know there guys out there that can shoot a hole lot better than me. Good subject.
 

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
That is very interesting. I'm seriously considering getting a compound bow for my elk hunts. The main reason is I want to be able to make 60 yard shots. I'm considering the Bear Agenda 7 and this sight might be what I'm looking for.
 
There are so many considerations to making a longer range shot on a live animal. I'm not speaking of ethics, but the hundreds of other elements of the shot and/or hunt.

* The equipment: K.E. of the bow, bow poundage (for good K.E. and increased range), total arrow weight, bow speed (chronographed), type of broadhead used, etc.
* The archer's ability to shoot the bow at a given long range yardage.
This requires honesty of an individual to say, "I'm good out to 60 yards, but comfortable out to 40 yards." or "On paper I can be consistent out to 80 yards, but when it comes to hunting, I'm better off inside 30 yards."
* Other things that we can NOT control, but have to be aware of...because it can/will effect the shot is the weather and physical elements, like shot angles up/down. Not to mention the animals angle, which gets more critical at longer ranges, due to the lack of room for error.

All of the above elements require self control. If the "planets are not aligned" the shot can not be taken.

The considerations to MOA could be set at 2" at 20 yards, 3" at 30 yards, etc. If this could be obtained as the yardage increased, in theory, an 8" group could be possible at 80 yards. Could be, is the critical part of that statement. :smiley_blink:

Bowhunter57
 

Droptine

Junior Member
81
0
Medina, OH
I agree it is a personal call. If you can kill an animal at 60-75 yards there is nothing ethically wrong with that. I shoot good groups to 40 yards on paper and I also have 50-60 yard pins. I can shoot pretty good on paper with those pins but every other round of shots I have a stray that is outside of the others by 8". I wounded 2 deer this year inside of 20 yards. I am so bummed I practice a lot and shoot great on targets. For me shooting a live animal is a whole different feeling. Therefore, I will not take a shot over 30 yards. Just my opinion for my shooting
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
I think it absolutely an ethical call and unfortunately is becoming more and more a personal call with the vast majority making the wrong personal decision.


Go for it. If your wounding animals, because your just letting it fly, your past your limits.


It is this mentality that makes me friggin sick to see what bowhunting has become!


Hell yes, we can't hit em now so lets see if we can find a way to shoot even farther and wound and recover even less of those suckers, AND I'll be able to post a picture of the deer I killed at 60 yds, unfornately I can't post the pics of all of them I lost,......because....well, I lost them.

It is impossible for me to respect a hunter that shows no respect for the animal he hunts. I hear so many here and on other sites really talk down about the "orange army" and then you read this and holy crap, are you kiddin me.

My opinion, which I am sure will ruffle some of your cocky feathers, but I don't really care, just really goes against something I have been passionate about for a long time.
 
I have always used a 4inch rule which is half of avg deer size vital area..When I shot RH compound vertical bows that was a honest 40-45yrds with broadheads, which would be my max under ideal conditions....My crossbow has more then enough speed,KE,momentum etc and the bow is pretty quiet(my old 2007 Bear Compound was louder) but my max is still about 60yards on a deer size animal..I can hold 4inch or just under groups with broadheads freestanding at 60 yards and that is about my max I would shoot at a deer from under ideal conditioners ..Before I had a range finder 40yrd was my max period with any archery gear..At 60yards my 445grain arrow is still going 300fps or just over and still has over 90lb KE so power isn't a issue..
 
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COB-TY

Retired to the happy hunting grounds above.
2,555
0
Ohio
Any one who practices at 60 yards can hit a plastic target in the wide open! A live animal is a completely different scenario. Yes bows are faster and quieter but a live animal can do a lot in a 1/2 second! It is personal but bow hunting to me is getting close!
 
Any one who practices at 60 yards can hit a plastic target in the wide open! A live animal is a completely different scenario. Yes bows are faster and quieter but a live animal can do a lot in a 1/2 second! It is personal but bow hunting to me is getting close!

The actual time of flight for a modern crossbow at 60yrds is about the same time of flight as a 170fps recurve at 20yrd..So if the first is unethical then the 2nd should be as wellm based on the animal doing alot in a 1/2 second..Right?
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
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Any one who practices at 60 yards can hit a plastic target in the wide open! A live animal is a completely different scenario. Yes bows are faster and quieter but a live animal can do a lot in a 1/2 second! It is personal but bow hunting to me is getting close!

I agree with this and much of what Lundy said. It is a personal decision but for me 40 yards is about my limit. A deers alertness and wariness should be factored in when taking close shots because what can happen when attempting a shot with archery gear. We all should try our best in taking ethic shots regardless of weapon when longer distances are presented.
 

Boarhead

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
I prefer 50 yds and under with a compound but when I went to Wyoming for antelope we practiced all summer out to 70 yds and got very good at it.I shot my antelope at a water hole at 65.5 yds.I was comfortable with that because of the practice we put in but here at home I would not take that long of a shot at a whitetail.But to each their own on what they are comfortable with.
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
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Sunbury, OH
Meh, practice and be realistic. I would not be afraid to take a 60 yard shot on a calm animal in the wide open. I practice for it...
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
extended range bowhunting is an oxymoron. if you need to ask me why I would say this, you wouldn't be able to comprehend the answer. do as you will, but is seems to me that hunting with a bow and arrow is about something completely different than seeing how far away we can kill them.

"bowhunting" has degenerated into "shooting", for the masses, anyway. the intimacy of killing them up close is what makes bow and arrow hunting special and worth doing, imo.
 
COB-TY said:
A live animal is a completely different scenario. Yes bows are faster and quieter but a live animal can do a lot in a 1/2 second! It is personal but bow hunting to me is getting close!
This is what keeps me from ever attempting the longer shots, at deer. A deer, for no other reason than to scratch its' butt could turn in the split second the arrow is released and then you're looking at a wounded animal. The arrow can not be recalled, once it's released.

I can consistently hit 4" target dots at 60 yards, but feel my best hunting shot on a deer would have to stay inside 40 yards.

My longest shot has been 28 yards. I've had a wide open shot in a field, at a buck standing broadside, calm and unaware at 40 yards...but passed on the shot. I didn't care for the time lapse of the flight of the arrow and what might/could happen. To this day I wonder what would've happened, but just the same I feel that I made the best decision.

Bowhunter57
 

Kaiser878

Senior Member
2,633
97
ohio
I.have made 1 shot and killed.one.deer at a distance of 83 yards. I will tell you I will NEVER do this again. So many factors play a large roll in this.scenario its just.not.worth.it to me. My next longest.shot is 35 yards. The older I get the more I like them at 20 yards. Ha
 

Treed

Junior Member
522
0
Stark County
Wow....I shoot inside thirty. For me it's a purely ethical decision. I can shoot tight groupings out to fifty but thirty yards is as far as I'd ever want to shoot at a live animal. Twenty is even better. There's a whole lot more skill involved with bow hunting than just making the shot, particularly a long shot. Personally, I'll be content to get in close because for me, that's where the real skill is. It would stand to reason that the shorter your shots are as a bow hunter, the better bow hunter you are......For me success is getting in close and undetected and setting myself up to make the easiest shot possible. "Long range" bow hunting just seems to go against these principals. If I wanted to take long shots to see how good I am from range, I guess I have a 3d target for that.
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
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Sunbury, OH
Also, most of the time people talk themselves out of the long shots. Even if really capable. At least I do. It would have to be a perfect scenario for me to take another 60 yard shot. Even if it were fairly 'perfect scenario' I would probably talk myself out of taking it. I have only had one more opportunity at that distance in 20 years of bowhunting, didn't take it. Everything else has been 30 and under that I have taken. Not like we are out west with expansive open areas and no fences. Shots past 60 yards with completely open terrian, still/calm animal and little to no wind rarely happens.

As long as your responsible and know you and your equipments limitations I have no issue. If we weren't striving to have better capabilities we all would be shooting longbows and BP with open sights.

360 fps bows and 300 Win Mag is available for a reason...
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
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Appalachia
Meh, practice and be realistic. I would not be afraid to take a 60 yard shot on a calm animal in the wide open. I practice for it...

What he said. My longest kill was 51 yards and she never heard/saw it coming. I'd rather kill them inside 20, but I'm prepared to close the gap when needed.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Long shots for me are for practice. And coyotes if given the chance. I enjoy shooting longer range as it builds my confidence at 20-30-40yds. I enjoy 15-25yd shots on live animals. This is a rush.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
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Funny how the perception of what long range is has changed. When I started bow hunting in the early 80's, 40 yards was considered a punt that only the very best of the best would consider. Few were really capable. From my reading of earlier bow hunting adventures, Fred Bear and many of the "pioneers" of modern bowhunting rarely considered range...they launched, missing and wounding a lot of game at ranges way too far by today's standards. When I'm capable of shooting, I like to shoot targets at long range, and can do it as well as most anyone. That doesn't always translate to live animals, though. Last year I had two opportunities at really big deer at the edge of my "comfort" range. I didn't shoot. It just isn't always right, and on live animals, before we turn loose, it should be. It's not difficult to get really, really good with today's archery gear. I'm not so sure it's a good idea to take the target mindset to the field however.

Having said that, every deer I've shot at 40 yds+ have reacted a whole lot less than any I've shot at close range. The sound of a bow doesn't seem to scare them a bit at distance.