LONG YARDAGE SHOTS

[catcher]

Kelly
I agree your bow can shoot groups all day long at 60 yards. And with practice you can put an arrow exactly where you want it at any yardage. But out in the woods with a big buck standing there and your heart racing and the deer being alert with his senses at full strength. Allot of things can happen. I have seen deer not alert and me shooting at 20 yards. That the deer drops 6 inches and turn. I think the best medicine for guys that think they can shoot deer greater than 40 yards is to hit one in the a** and loose it. Sure it can be done with great success but I really think the odds are against you. And if you do stick him in the a** you will not get that 20 yard shot the next time you are out. Besides it is more exciting to have a big buck up close and personal. My self personally now I have way to much respect for the animal I hunt to stick him in the guts or somewhere non lethal. But I had to learn the hard way. I lost some long yardage deer in the past and now know better.

[Apple_Orchard]

Keep your shots under 40 yards. Deer can and will jump the string on an x-bow. I perfer to stay under 30 yards.
I've learned from experience what can happen at 45-50 yards.
I was very lucky and fortunate to find both deer, but I'd never take those long shots again.

[sumner4991]

I don't believe in string jump. All the evidence I've seen points toward arrow noise. If you watch those "string jump" videos, the deer are moving away from the arrow. In most cases, if not all, these arrows were shot from very quite slow shooting bows. In comparison, most crossbows are noisey & fast. But, if you are talking 40-50-60+ yards away, then the 2 major concerns will be #1 arrow noise and #2 speed of arrow at the time the deer hears the arrow. I don't consider bow noise as major because it will be so far away from the deer that, unless it's a real loud bow, it's less likely to cause the deer to panic. Therefore, I'll focus on arrow noise for this discussion . Fletching and off-set are the primary contributors to noise. The more spin and the stiffer the material, the more noise. The more spin, the less speed you will have at longer distances. Accuracy . . .If you add tip weight to improve FOC and take away off-set for less spin, then you still have a speed trade-off. If your arrow is going fast enough at the time the deer panics, then it still doesn't matter. I just think the arrow has slowed so much by time it gets 45-50 yards out, that a deer will panic when it hears the arrow and move too much.

Maxium range is determined by your skill level, the bow you are shooting(speed), the fletching you are using, the degree of off-set, and arrow weight. Once you get past a certain yardage, it's less about skill and a lot more about arrow noise & speed. If you have enough speed left once the deer reacts to the noise, then you are OK.

Human error . . .you can't hunt and take that variable out of the equation either. No matter what your skill level is, at longer ranges a smaller error will cost you bigger.

The deer will be unpredictable, that's always a given. It's our duty as hunters to take the unpredictable variable out of the equation. If I'm close enough, then it doesn't matter what the deer does once I let the arrow fly. That is my goal.