susceful long shots??

[deer jamie]

i almost took the shoot 54 yards but didnt quit have the confadence wind was in the right direction but a little strong whats the longest shot you have suscefuly taken if it were a buck iam sure hed be hanging i do practice 5 yrd shots and do well but it seems different in the actual moment . Theres nothim worse then knowing you mad a shitty shot and that you should not have taken it and the time tracking it after the fact. All thes varables go thriugh my head before i pull the trigger. BUT if there ae lots or stickers protruding from his skelp well all the rules go out the window buck fever sets in and we sometimes make critical mistakes *DAM long shots*

[VixChix]

Woudn't do it. No problem with long shots in 3D, but my "real life" limit is 30. Too many things can change by the time the arrow gets to the deer.

[vixenmaster]

i am not a fan of long shots, i shot the scrub 4 pt this yr. at 40 yds, the BH was a disaster. he was 41 yds my longest ever & the BH i think skidded because of the angle, was less than 40 degrees. used the E'cet 200. i would say that 40 yds is & always will be my comfort range. past that unless it maybe a pronghorn or mulie in the open 40 yds is it fer me.

[saxman]

I did a 47 yard shot
The end result was fine but I won't be doing that again.

[dick195252]

14 Yards is my longest kill with the Crossbow. 30 yards would be my Max Shooting Range!

[agingcrossbower]

Woudn't do it. No problem with long shots in 3D, but my "real life" limit is 30. Too many things can change by the time the arrow gets to the deer.

Out in the western states with mule deer I've shot 50 yards. I'm with Vix on those whitetails. They move to much. Mule deer just stand there and take it like an idiot. And no I meant idiot not man.

[DuckHunt]

I've fired four shots in the 37 to 40 yard range, all at doe. All were hit. I recovered three of the four. Only one of them didn't move significantly before the arrow reached it. She just crouched so the hit was just a tad high. The other three moved significantly so the impact point was not close to where I was aiming.

For me, I prefer 30 yards and under. 40 is stretching it for whitetails. Over 40 is too far for me.

DuckHunt

[Coon Hunter]

40 yards is my comfort zone in the field, but if it was a monster buck or I felt brave that night i may try a 50 but with targets I have a lot of confidence at 60 yards.

[huntman]

I will shoot out to 40 yards! Thats pretty much it

[huntone]

The first buck I killed, with a compound bow, was a 40 yard shot. I thought it was perfect and got over confident on the next long shots.
Well, I lost the next two deer. I was educated to the problems
of long shots. Some things are just NOT in your control when you take
those shots, even if you think you know your limitations.

I won't normally shoot at a deer with my crossbow over 30 yards. However, there
are some deer that I would absolutely stretch that distance some.

[Dave1]

It is my experience and opinion that there are too many variables that can and do happen with a bow shot at deer at longer distances. The most common problem is the deer hears the bow shot and arrow launch, flinches and moves at the sudden unnatural noise, and the arrow strikes the deer in some part of the body where you were not aiming at because the deer had moved.

In many cases, at the bow shot, the deer hunches down and lunges forward and the arrow hits high thru the stomach (gut shot) or worse. Unfortunately, these poorly hit deer are frequently lost to die a lingering death.

Bow hunters get a false sence of confidence when they practise at home and can hit their bow target dead center at great distances, but things are much different when shooting at a live deer in the woods. Deer have excellent hearing and split second reflexes. They can move 6" - 12" or more when a bow shot is heard from longer distances. It doesn't matter how well you can shoot your bow at long distance if the deer has moved before your arrow travels the distance and hits the deer. When you take long distance shots, you are asking for trouble. Bow hunters that have learned this lesson, will afterwards take only broadside shots at conservative distances and their kill ratio is very high or perfect.

With the arrow speeds of today's modern bows, my suggestion is to be very conservative with your shot distance, 30 yards max, and then only shoot at calm broadside animals. Also, do all you can do to reduce noise and vibration of your bow and equipment. To ignore noise and vibration of a hunting bow is unwise.

There are some that will disagree with the conservative shot distance approach, but every year we read the sad stories of deer shot at the longer distances that are hit but lost. In many instances, having patience and waiting for a better/closer shot would have been a better decision. Rather than taking a long risky bow shot, I would rather wait because the animal may return later today, tomorrow, next week, etc.

Dave

[wabi]

Part of the fun of hunting deer is seeing just how close I can get to them. I've had many deer at under 5 yards over the years, and a few I could have reached out & touched.
I think my longest shot with a crossbow has been slightly over 20 yards, and the most of them has been under 15 yards.
I would try out to 30 yards if I really wanted the deer, but most times a little patience will result in a closer shot.

[Arkbow]

Even though I know I can shoot 50 yards, the longest distance is 30 yards at a live animal; most of my shots are 20 yards or less;

[sumner4991]

Part of the fun of hunting deer is seeing just how close I can get to them.

I agree. . . .I also feel the thrill of reaching out and touching one from as far away as possible. I tend leave those shots to my .270.

I have taken one deer from 40 yards with the Exomax that hit exactly where is was aimed. I've experimented with longer shots and the deer can and mostly likely will move, a lot.

There certainly is a learning curve. Especially with the longer shots. there is a tendency to lift your head to see where you hit. Focusing on the follow-through is a must. A very slight error is a major mistake at long range.

Good luck out there.

[warningshot]

30 Yards with the compound bow and 35 is the max with the excalibur ....