Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting so, how is your archery at 45 yards an farther?

LostArra,
I shoot 'flight' on all my bows with 5.5" helical parabolic 3 fletch arrows that are 730-745 grains just to see...:)
Same arrows and bows I hunt with.

Flight shooting is a bit of an art..:) and so my draw anchor and loose are all done with the 48 degree angle and a loose in than less than 4 seconds...Not quite like hunting or target archer's hold..:0

The flight of the arrow and the distance tells me some things about the bow..and my form and loose.

I have a chronograph I use also..

The heavy arrows ( 730-745 grains) out of 75-80#@30" bows all travel over 320 yards.

But I am a dinosaur as it concerns archery..:) Jim

jim you sound like a super nice guy and it's great to have someone like you on this page happy hunting.

We've all found shooting 100 yds has made shooting closer a lot easier. We've all spent money on better equipment from arrows to sights and releases and most of us have learned to tune bows. I'm still not putting my fifty yard pin on a deer. I might put my 100 on a woodchuck or two over the Summer but that's about it. Flipping them with the Montech judo points is spectacular.

I'm presently shooting a Rem 40X Rangemaster that's got to weigh fourteen pounds off hand at 100. I picked up my M1A that's three pounds lighter and found I could hold it a lot steadier. When the competition comes in August, I will do better than last year, and I'm sure the practice will help with the gun season here too. In 20 years of deer hunting, I've never fired a round off hand. If I can't get a good rest, I pass on the shot. Maybe I could do a little better!

Jim since you pointed out that you are a dinosaur, here is a little computer tip...:) If you leave a space between the periods and the eyes/smile you will get one of those cute little faces instead... You may already know that..;)

Rob P,
I'm with you on using some sort of rest when shooting firearms if it can be had..In addition to a good rest, I have true shooting slings on all my hunting rifles and have learned to use them well.Use of the shooting sling helps position shooting and changes alot of the 'offhand' vagaries into 'in hand' accuracy.

Back to flight or distance shooting of arrows tho..:)

It is interesting for me to see how close I can get five arrows to land to each other at max distance of over 300 yards.
One has to bring the bow up on the same vertical line for each shot, hold at the same angle, and excute the loose with the same back tension.

The only 'aiming' which can be done is what I call 'undhanded' aiming..The bow is just about vertically held( not canted) and one can use a point on his lower limb as reference.

Make one appreciate the skill and many hours spent by the Kings best artillery archers back in the 10th & 11th centuries..Jim

Jim: how about the ultra-short practice?

Sounds silly until you're in the thick stuff and that deer "appears" at less than 10 yards.

For us selfbow shooters it's nice to know how those arrows are flying just after they leave the bow.

I have a couple of targets set up with shooting windows surrounded by limbs and leaves that can range from 6 yards to 25. The brush helps with concentration.

(I've never owned a compound so I don't know how this would affect the modern equipment.)

Lost Arra,
When we stump shoot, we often shoot at a mark less than 20 feet distant that requires the archer to 'thread the needle' thru holes in the foliage, between saplings where there is 4-6" 'alleyway' to the mark..and the mark is small..the size of a tennis ball.
Often the shot requires the archer to kneel or evn sit to see the mark thru the eye of the needle..

One soon finds out about his 'form' loose, strength, concentration and the proper matchup of arrows to bow..brace height etc on such shots..and it's less far to retrieve the arrows too.
It's ALL good practice..:) Jim

Stick and stringers can land arrows in the target nearly horizontal, too, while distance shooting.

Decrease the weight of your tips, moving the center of gravity back near the center of the shaft. Then decrease the amouont of drag; swithc to vanes and glue them on with very minimal twist (decrease the parachute effect).

It's a tuning nightmare and a smooth release is infinitely more important ... but it can be done.

Question from a non-archer; (I realize the numbers will vary according to gear.)

What is the highest point in an arrow's flight between the bow and the target at 40 or 50 yards?

I was shooting last year at 80yds for practice, but after going to the archery shop and them tuning down my bow and the new arrows flying funny I am back to 45 max, but am working on new bow that I picked up from the pawn shop Mathews LX left hand which is my normal shooting side. Hopefully by september I will be able to shoot 80yds at a target but will still hold 45 as my max.

headspace,
The only way to KNOW the top arc of one's arrow from his bow is to shoot and watch and learn.
Faster flatter shooting bows have a lower arc..but still there IS an arc to the arrow's flight beyond 15 yards.

Not like the ballistic tables firearms shooters know and tweak for their rifle and load..:) Jim

I do some 100 yd scoped rimfire shooting. From the bench, thru the scope of course, I can often see the bullet falling down into the target.
Do you see a similar thing with the arrow? Does it leave your vision on the way up as you concentrate on the target, to be seen again as it drops down into it?

headspace,
My own stickbows are pretty quick..even with 730 grain arrows fletched for hunting with helical.

Flight time for, say 50 yards, is around one second..so I can follow the arrow in flight to some degree.
When one is familiar with his bow and arrows he knows how much top room to accomodate the arrow's arch he'll need to make the shot without getting tangled up in overhead brush, tree limbs etc..

When one gets GOOD, he can shoot thru a coffee can sized 'hole' in the foliage in the arrow's flight path and hit the mark.
It's a great sport..but not alot of ballistic tables to help to perfectly define beforehand the arrow's flight.
The shooter of the bow is ONE of many critical pieces of the equation..Jim

been shooting daily for the past 6 weeks getting ready for my archery elk opener in another 6 weeks...

I practice regularly at 35, 45, 55 yards, so that when I get that 25 yard chip shot, it's just that- a chip shot.

That being said, I did kill my elk last year quartering away at 50 yards. I didn't even think twice about taking the shot due to all the practice.

Last night I backed up to 62 yards and let 4 fly. Here's what I ended up with:


Woe be to any elk that gives me a quartering away or broadside shot at 50 yards and in!!!

megalomaniac,
I believe you and the pic..
Shucks, half the rifle hunters at the range sighting in won't shoot that well..:) Jim