Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Maximum bow range?

That is very true, but seems when we started hunting ground blinds enclosed, that we still could not shoot far and not have them move at times. All the noise there is enclosed in the stand basically.

Plus I do recall when cams came out how noisy those bows where..

Of course my round wheel PSE Fire Flight and my Brack recurve are both very quiet.

Bow range is a personal thing. What you are capable of is only half the answer. The animals movement and behavior is the other. Then there is environmental limitations such as forest, wind, and ect. Remember Howard Hill, Fred Bear, and many others have taken game with bow at long distance. I don't think there is really a right or wrong answer.

But if you have to ask, that pretty much tells me 25 yards should be your limit.

I don't know 280Ackleyrized but from talking with him I have no doubt he can cleanly kill to 50 yards and beyond. He is a bowhunter and an Archer, he knows the ins and outs.

Yep, I agree on those points of 280, but the statement sounded just like... "I'd risk more if its a whopper buck but I wouldn't risk that on a doe.." THat part I can't condone, but ain't my call.

RE Howard and Fred... I don't think, from my reading, that those folks were as ethical as we are mostly.... I could be wrong.

I have shot a lot of eastern white tails over the years and my longest shot was 23 yards. But I much prefer 15 and under. Truth be told the thick cover I hunt it is tough to get a shot over 20 most of the time.

They didn't even shut off the 4-wheelers, true wilderness experience........

Exactly - it's ok if the elk win sometimes. While I have and will shoot over 40 yards, the situation has to be perfect. I have also passed on shots under 20 yards. Depends on he situation.

I've got to where most of my practice is done at 100 yards. Everything matters at that distance and you can work out the kinks. How far would I shoot a deer? 30 yards max unless conditions are perfect, i.e. deer is comfortably feeding, wind is calm, and a Chinook is buzzing by overhead (army helicopters train in my area).

Here is two 100 yard groups from Saturday. The impact difference was due to an inconsistent anchor point. Like I said, 100 yards works out the kinks.

Bowtech Experience set up for hunting
QAD rest
BG Ascent site with 4 pin Vengeance head
20 year old 4" stabilizer
27" draw
27.5" CE Maxima Hunter shafts
standard aluminum inserts with 50gr GT screw in weight
100 gr head
Blazers
437 total grains
268 fps

Good shooting, I've done a few Fita rounds where you shoot 36 arrows each at 90m (98yds) 70m 50m & 30m. Lots of arrows at long range. When the wind is calm it's just like shooting vegas spots at 20m, but just a very light breeze and you have to hold several colors into the wind. Fun, and it really shows how long it takes that arrow to travel 100 yards - easily a second and a half. Like others hunting shots at 40 or less is where there is no doubt whatsoever.

Always seemed smart to me to practice beyond your range, that way whats in your range is really gravy... we used to shoot 90-100 yards quite a lot in the 70-80s. Made a lot of sense.

And as noted, every day can bring other issues, especially with a rifle.

Only way I'll extend past 15 with a bow is if htere is "cover" noise that someone else mentioned and conditions are right... and that won't be on anything other than a meat type animal, not a trophy type. I actually expect I'll never ever extend it again as the last time I did, on a trash buck I needed dead before he could breed, I had cover noise and life was correct and he jumped the string and was a bad hit. Luckily I got him a month later with a 308...

Anyone want to weigh in on the effective range of a long bow?

As far as you can shoot it accurately, and as close as need be so game can't jump the string.... Again I won't shoot a deer here past 15 with one, but have shot hogs with longbows past 30 yards a few times with no issues.

A lot of lethality is also in the choice of arrow and head... heavy enough to penetrate, right kind of head type vs energy of bow to penetrate...

Practice out to 60, hunting maximum 50, prefer 40 or less.

I agree with this line of thinking. I practice out to 45 yards for no other reason as that is as far back as I have my yard fenced. I'm well within the vitals at that range but keep my max at 20 yards for game shots. I reach on vermin like squirrels,rabbits and such but won't break my rule on big game. Much like others have stated, bow hunting is about getting close and enjoying that intimate hunting experience. If you want to take game further out, hunt with a rifle.

I practice at 60 most of the time, but that is only because it makes a 15 yard shot through a 2" hole in the brush a piece of cake. I set up for short shots, because that is where the old bucks stay anyway.

As far as "Maximum bow range" is concerned, I would say that it is as far a you can reliably hit your target. It's not like arrows lose momentum like a bullet.

The problem is making sure the target is there when the arrow gets there. Even a smoking fast bow will take nearly a full second to get to 60 yards. Enough for a step and gut shot. Depends on the critter, it's attitude and the circumstance. I have shot elk at 50 and had antelope dodge at 20. Closer is always better but under 40 I feel very confident with my compounds and under 30 with my recurves. Each may be extended (or shortened) a bit under the right circumstance.

Yup. There are places where animals ALWAYS jump string and there are places where you can even use a whisker biscuit.

huh?

I don't want to get off in the weeds with KE/Momentum BS. The fact is that, unlike a bullet, an arrow retains most of it's "umph" for the duration of it's flight, unless you shoot it above 45*.

Had never seen it put that way... like that description. makes total sense.

Hunted with a guy in CO once... he used flipper rests like we did(does that give away the time frame....)
He shot AL arrows drawn across the metal flipper. Not even the teflon sleeve on it... at the time we shot AL also, on flipper, with teflon sleeve on it, covered in moleskin, and arrow shaft portion that drug across it was waxed at least 2 times with car wax...

Seems the mule deer/elk at that time didn't care about the screech of him drawing his bow....

I never shoot past 25 yards on a deer from my tree stands, but it is because i don't want to take a chance on a poor hit and losing a deer. Shooting at paper targets i can group them in the bull at 40 yards easily.