furthest ethical shot

[Mongo Hunter]

This may be Stirring to Pot a little, but I would be curious to see the age breakdown of the folks that are super confident with their abilities-- oh say past 50 yrds.
I'll bet  it would make a pretty good bell curve

Just turned 25 and I said 40 yards, but thats the most I would be willing to push it.

[bobcat]

40 yards is a very long shot to me, I would much prefer 30 yards or closer.
 
By the way, the topic here is how far would you shoot at a deer, not elk. (if that makes a difference- it doesn't for me)

[stw]

Is it bad to be confident in your shooting.o ya im no superstar unless shooting  a bull every year sense 05 a superstar then i gess i I'm.  My age is 36 and i  shoot all year

[BULLBLASTER]

Is it bad to be confident in your shooting.o ya im no superstar unless shooting  a bull every year sense 05 a superstar then i gess i I'm.  My age is 36 and i  shoot all year

If you shoot 2-4in groups every time at 80 yards you should be cleaning house at field archery competitions... do you compete?

[PolarBear]

Here we go again.   

[Alan K]

To be completely honest, archery hunting was never about getting as close as possible.  It was about longer and in my opinion better hunting dates. 

Don't get me wrong, getting close is amazing, but you can do that with any weapon.  Just get in the timber.  It's not my purpose for using the equipment though.

Like someone said it might be because I'm younger, at 22 years old.  My goal is to be effective at taking animals as cleanly as possible, be it with a rifle or a bow.  If I can drain an orange at 30 yards 95% of the time, and a cantaloupe at 50 yards 95% of the time, I'm going to be taking those shots on game given the opportunity.  I'm not going to risk spooking the animal off by trying to get 5 yards closer if I can still get meat in the freezer and a nice rack to boot from a little farther out.

 

[h2ofowlr]

Like others have mentioned.  Some are proficient at what they do and others probably shouldn't be in the field.  I shoot archery year around and like to challenge myself.  The better you get the longer you seem to stretch the targets.  Given target shooting isn't the same as wild game as they have a 6th sense and lots of variables exist.  In an ideal situation and given the proper timing a 60 yard shot with my bow is an easy shot. 
Then again I have all brand new gear.  Gear does make a big difference along with the ability to shoot calmly and well.  Would I take a longer shot with an older bow, probably not.  I have about 8" inches of drop from 30 to 60 yards.  I defiantly try to go for the close shots under 20 yards as it's another way to challenge myself.

[NWWABOWHNTR]

Is it bad to be confident in your shooting.o ya im no superstar unless shooting  a bull every year sense 05 a superstar then i gess i I'm.  My age is 36 and i  shoot all year

If you shoot 2-4in groups every time at 80 yards you should be cleaning house at field archery competitions... do you compete?

My thoughts exactly... now not to get this thread nuked.... an animal at 80 yards has almost a complete second to move from arrow release to impact, and that is with a fast bow shooting a hunting weight arrow.  That is quite a bit... Its all about what your ethical shot would be.  Like I stated before, I shoot competition year around, I am at the range daily shooting from 4 yards to 100... but my ethical shot is 30 yards.  Just my opinion.

[BULLBLASTER]

Personally if I feel confident in a shot I will take it. For me there is no magical cut off range of taking a shot or not. I have kills from inside 10 yards to beyond 60. Seems like the more effort I put into hunting in general (scouting and shooting practice) the less I feel the need to take longer shots... another opportunity will present itself. I do like to shoot far though at the range and with buddies. Makes the closer shots much easier. FWIW I voted 60 yards.

[stormin85]

i chose forty yds, because that is the distance i know that almost (meaning 95% of the time) i am dead on in any weather, angle, or condition every time, and even then things go wrong, would i take a fifty yard shot on a deer? possibly if everything was right and i know i am concealed movement can't be seen and there is a PERFECTLY clear shooting lane, but if anything makes me think otherwise then i'll wait.

like was stated, bowhunting is about getting as close as possible to the game your hunting, can and do other people shoot deer at long distances with a bow? yup, is it right? thats up to them, but target shooting and hunting are two different things. Sure you are still shooting a bow and target shoting makes you more consistent and more accurate but hunting still involves a live animal that can literally do anything at anytime, make any movement and change position, if you feel comfortable shooting at something that can and will do this, thats fine but i don't think i can live with knowing there is an animal that i have wounded and is suffering because i took a shot that is questionable, again not saying anyones choice is, thats still your choice, but for me i won't.

[bucklucky]

I will shoot 90 no problem all day long at my damn Target 

50 is my limit but did take a 54 yard shot on a spike bull in 09 (I thougth the wife said 51  ) . Didnt know what hit him, center punched the heart. Good thing I was aiming to center punch the lungs and the bow is flat shooting.

[jackelope]

 

[stormin85]

i think a perfect example of how conditions and buck fever or whatever you want to call it, affects a shot, is on that show on the sportsmens channel, i think its called the edge? not sure who the hunter is but early in the season he botches on easy 30yd shot, he kills the deer but not cleanly, and as we all know it can and will happen, deer jumps the string hears you move, car door shuts, dog barks, something moves that makes it jump, who knows there are a million things that can happen, however as he says he rushed the shot in excitement.

however he shoots year round at competitions and from the few episodes i have seen he is a pretty solid shooter. So later in the season he is in a stand weather is ideal and a nice buck comes in somewhat to his side and walks a little further than he anticipated, the shot ends up being 63 yards, through about a foot and half gap of trees, while the deer is on the move, guy makes a perfect heart shot and the deer barely makes it twenty yards.

sure this shows that longer distance shots can and will be made, i am not saying i would never shoot this far as i might, but even he said that is the longest shot he has and probably ever will take however it also shows with shorter shots things can still go wrong, just as much with longer distances, it all comes down to you and your personal ability and if everything for you is right, no matter how close or far the question of ethics will always come into play.

BTW i'm not sure which side of the argument this is for. more or less just food for thought, or possibly fueling this fire lol

[sneakyjake]

First of all, let's not compare ourselves to muzzle or modern, their seasons are not on the chopping block.  I would hope that we hold ourselves to a higher standard.  A lot of effort went into creating seasons for us and our style of hunting.   
  Your effective shooting range doesn't include perfect conditions.  You won't know the yardage exactly.  You won't know what the animal is going to do.  When I went through the bowhunters ed I would have bet a thousand bucks that I could hit the 4 inch circle at 40 yards everytime.  35 yards can look like 40 yards in the woods, add a little incline, maybe you don't always hit within a 1/2 in of the bulls eye.  My arrow exploded and I learned a good lesson.  I would love to take that bet with a few of the hunters and their believed effective range.  Just think about it.  We are held to a higher standard. 
Maybe I am wrong, But I feel like we are going to have to fight for our right to use archery equipment in this state forever. 

[Machias]

To be completely honest, archery hunting was never about getting as close as possible.  It was about longer and in my opinion better hunting dates. 

Don't get me wrong, getting close is amazing, but you can do that with any weapon.  Just get in the timber.  It's not my purpose for using the equipment though.

Like someone said it might be because I'm younger, at 22 years old.  My goal is to be effective at taking animals as cleanly as possible, be it with a rifle or a bow.  If I can drain an orange at 30 yards 95% of the time, and a cantaloupe at 50 yards 95% of the time, I'm going to be taking those shots on game given the opportunity.  I'm not going to risk spooking the animal off by trying to get 5 yards closer if I can still get meat in the freezer and a nice rack to boot from a little farther out.

 

22 years old,     Ah the wisdom.
 
Here's the difference, yes longer season have always been a desired goal, but archery IS a close range activity.  Your mind set is what is wrong with today's archers, IMHO.  The, I'm not going to risk spooking the animal to try and get 5 yards closer is the wrong mindset.  It should be, I'm not going to worry about spooking this animal as I try to get closer because the season is longer and I will have other chances.  I'm glad you can hit cantaloupe 95% of the time, but talk to me when those cantaloupe can suddenly and without warning take a step or two right after you release.  No big deal if you gut shoot a cataloupe, not the same with a deer.
 
I used to get ticked off at rifle hunters and muzzle loaders who were always talking about finding wounded or dead animals after archery seasons.  I believed, and to a much lesseer extent now, they were exaggerating their claims.  I spend alot of time scouting and in the woods after archery season and have only found a couple of animals in 35 years that had died as a result of bad shots from archers.  When I see the long range shooting some of you are doing and advocating, I know I've been wrong.  You guys are wounding alot of animals and your hurting the image of bowhunting.  If you thump your chest and say you routinely take 50, 60, 70, 80+ yard shots and have never wounded an animal, if your being honest, it's not because your good, it's because you've been lucky.