Ethical ? (long shot)

[billythekidrock]

This pansy will just keep his mouth shut, this is one of my pet peeves.  

+1

[NoBark]

The "ethical" part comes in the attempt to kill your animal swiftly with a well placed first shot.  If you remember your hunter ed, it's called your responsibility to the animal.

It's your call.   Here is the best way I have found to get the point across.

If you shoot an animal at ANY distance, give it a mortal wound and you can't find it, eat the tag and put the bow away till next year.   

What we are trying to avoid are guys shooting 3, 4,  or even 5 animals until they finally find one.

[Ray]

What we are trying to avoid are guys shooting 3, 4,  or even 5 animals until they finally find one.

I pretty much agree with that.

[Crunchy]

Right now I would say my max limit would be 50 yards.  Last year I when I either was shooting more, or better, I would push that out 10 more yards.  I think it my be that I switched broadheads, and its too late to switch back.  I am gonna stick with 40-50 being my max yardage.

I only archery hunt elk, and the kill zone on an elk, broadside, would be about a 10 inch plate.  Now my groups at 50 yards "with broadheads" are about 5-6 inch at worst.

[Machias]

Now my groups at 50 yards "with broadheads" are about 5-6 inch at worst.

That's good...on a stationary target, but not a live animal, under field conditions.  At 50 to 60 yards, even with today's smokin fast bows, a completely un aware animal, perfectly broadside, takes a single step, just as you put pressure on the trigger.  You hit the spot, absolutely perfect, the one you were aiming for, except it is now centered on his stomach. If your hunting paper targets I'd say your effective and ethical hunting range is 50 to 60 yards.  If your hunting live animals, under field conditions I'd say a wounded, magnificent animal is in your future nightmares.   

[PA BEN]

Practice, practice, practice. I practice out side, wind, no wind, shoot along side the house, no wind, arrow hits the wind at the end of the house. Up hill, down hill. From the roof of the house, you name it, practice, practice, practice. I only shoot out to the max yards that I group well at. I've killed two elk at 60 yd's and a whitetail at 50 yd's. When I practice, I can hit a 5" bull at 70 yd's every shot. Know your bow and know your limitations. Remember Howard Hill killed an elk at 125 yd's. It took two arrows, he saw where the first hit and killed it with the second. He used a 100 lb longbow.

[crazymofo]

''Do you mean "pansy's" like chuck adams and the guys that regularly kill huge animals at ethical ranges?''


Hey now. Lets leave Chuck out of this.   We all know he is the man. I've never met the guy, but i would bet that he has taken more than a few shots at long distance. I would also bet that he also practices what wastickslinger refers to and doesn't bring it to the attention of the general public. Some of you guys have some good points that i haven't thought of. I guess magazines are geared more towards beginners. I guess thats how i know i have moved up a level or two.

PA BEN has it figured out. 

[300rum]

It seems that the direction that bowhunting is going is "how far".  With all the new technologies and faster bows etc. we have the ability to push our yardages.  I don't have a problem with the Tech, just that we are getting away from the point of bowhunting. 

The point with Bowhunting is "how close". 

It takes a special hunter to get an animal every year with their bow, I tip my hat to you.  It doesn't take a special hunter to sling sticks at long ranges during a season where you are more apt to be able to get within 60-100 of good animals.

I could have whacked animals in the 80s to triple digits many times but even if I felt good at that range and practiced it all the time, who cares?  I shot a deer one time at 310 yards with a rifle and talk about the least rewarding hunt I ever had......Boy, it takes a special person to get within 310 yards of an animal.

You folks out there who have killed game measured at feet are the ones who can brag. I am proud of you, you have done something that most people will never be able to do.  I haven't been able to....yet! 

Some of you guys who have whacked an animal at whisper range should start posting your stories, I don't have one, my hats off to you.   

[WAcoyotehunter]

It seems that the direction that bowhunting is going is "how far".  With all the new technologies and faster bows etc. we have the ability to push our yardages.  I don't have a problem with the Tech, just that we are getting away from the point of bowhunting. 

The point with Bowhunting is "how close". 

It takes a special hunter to get an animal every year with their bow, I tip my hat to you.  It doesn't take a special hunter to sling sticks at long ranges during a season where you are more apt to be able to get within 60-100 of good animals.
 

  You're exactly right.

[crazymofo]

WA coyote hunter  -  ''Most "real" hunters are not just interested in killing the animal by whatever means possible (ie. rediculous, low percentage shots) that's what poachers are interested in.  "Real" hunters are interested in killing an animal w/ a good shot to the vital that is as close to a 'sure thing' as they can get...inside 40 yds and broadside.''


hmmm... Interesting comment. To me that sounds like you are saying anyone who shoots past 40 yards or at animals that are not broadside must be poachers. That is a very bold comment my friend. I imagine that comment would piss off a lot of people. I can think of at least one. I guess all the hunters in all the videos and magazines that successfully take animals with longer shots or quartering shots are poachers then.? Somebody call the warden..! 

Just so everyone knows my record. Every animal i've shot at i killed. Every animal i've killed, I've found. Some of you may call that luck. I think its because i use my common sense. I know my bow. I know my skills. I practice, a LOT. I understand animal behavior. I don't rely on the "spray and pray" approach that some people use. I dont take risky shots and have let a lot of animals walk because of these personal standards. 

300rum - I agree with your "how close" opinion. That does take a lot of skill. I once stalked to 25 yds of three bedded muley bucks and then got busted mid draw. I missed a chance at the biggest deer of my life (at the time) but that is still one of my earliest and fondest bowhunting memories. But when i had a 5 x6 blacktail standing at 70 yards i didnt hesitate one bit. I shot that buck because i knew my skills and had made that shot a thousand times before. Some think thats unethical, but not me. That was as clean a kill as possible. (not bragging just pushing my point) I disagree with your assumption that it takes little or no skill to shoot at long ranges. It takes takes equal dedication and substantially more practice to be effective at that range.

[Machias]

crazymofo, I guess your missing our point.  I have absolutely no doubt that you can hit a softball every time you want to out to 100 yards, or 99+% of the time.  The problem is no matter how fast a bow your using, it is still wickedly slow compared to a muzzleloader/rifle.  And once you release, and your arrow flies, true to it's mark, right exactly where you were aiming, dead on, you have NO control on what the animal does and he doesn't have to do much before you have a wounded animal.  And no matter how fast a bow you shoot, at those ranges it takes a while for your arrow to arrive.  If you haven't had a wounded animal yet, I'm happy for you, but you can be rest assured if you continue to sling arrows out at those ranges you will in fact wound animals.  This isn't about your shooting skills, it's realizing that your hunting with a weapon with limited capabilities and hunting within those limitations.  Personally, and I realize this is just me, I will not hunt with someone who takes those ridiculous shots at live animals under field conditions and if I was "King" for a day I'd yank your bowhunting lic on the spot....   But I'm not "King" and can only advocate guys and gals give the animals a little more respect and try and close the distance.

[Ray]

Animals can and do move, gusts of wind can come along... I used to think that I would shoot out to 40 yards until this year. Now I know all my shots will most likely be within 25 yards after losing a bear to a mishap.

[sisu]

My self imposed limit is 25 yards and believe me I can judge that real close. I've passed up deer so close I could touch them with my bow but didn't because of stuff in the way.

[archery288]

Well I don't really want to jump in on this thread and make any remarks but I feel that I need to after I probably provoked some of the comments that were said on here as to taking long shots...

Well let me start out by saying I am in no way trying to set an example for anyone to copy or that its the right thing to do, and furthermore I am not trying to get on anyone's bad side!  As for my shooting routine I stated that I practice out to 130 yards consistantly with both field points and broadheads...  I do this to critique my form and to make sure that I am doing everything and I mean everything perfectly each and every shot that is released.  This being the case and after that much practice time when you draw on a big buck or bull out in the woods its a piece of cake because you are familiar with your equipment and what it is capable of.  If you can consistantly shoot at 130 yards and hit a 12" cicrle I think your doing pretty damn good if I say so myself! 

Now on the other hand, I do not recommend in any way shooting at game this far away...  A lot can go wrong in the time that the arrow gets there at even 70 or 80 yards.  You figure on average at around 80 yards it will take damn near a second for the arrow to get there after loosing energy and speed.  Well an animal can jump the string in mere mili-seconds so a full second is a long time for something to go wrong.   Now in some of the Eastman's magazines and other publications out there Cameron Hanes states comments just as I have described above on long range shooting, and we talked about this stuff a lot on the caribou hunt and how people are taking to long of shots sometimes... We even talked about it on film as some tech tips for the archer planning on hunting any type of big game east or west.  Each of us unknowingly stated that the longer shooting was for practice only and that it made the 40 yard shot a slam dunk in crunch time.  Now if you have stuck an animal and need to get another arrow in him thats another story - fling away in my book until it hits the ground!  But make the first shot counts and no worries on the rest then. 

I know there are guys out there taking some long shots at animals and I wish them the best of luck and I hope they make a clean kill!  As for myself, I wont shoot over 50 yards at an animal unless I have stuck it once and need to get another arrow in it.  Moral of the story, practice, practice, practice and know your equipment inside and out and be familiar and comfortable with it before that once in a lifetime shot! 

[MountainWalk]

[quote author=crazymofo link=topic=11061.msg126220#msg126220 date=122106931

Just so everyone knows my record. Every animal i've shot at i killed. Every animal i've killed, I've found. Some of you may call that luck.





If you archery hunt for very long, you will lose animal.