What's good enough to hunt?

[Special T]

But shooting severl 3d's likely will.

[pianoman9701]

This sounds like an odd question - good enough? It sounds a bit like, "how little can I do to get by." I like the responses that reccomend a lot of 3-d shoots. I think someone should practice out to 60 or 70 yards and be able to kill zone consistently and then they'll feel incredibly confident for a 40 or 45 yard shot. 

I know on Western Extreme that he shoots 90 yards and never misses ( , yeah right). For my own personal ethics standard, regardless of my confidence on an 80 yard range (which is pretty tight), I won't ever take more than a 45 yard shot.

[Special T]

I would likely guess that unless you put a bunch of time in practicing then 30yrds is far enough...

[reagansquad]

This sounds like an odd question - good enough? It sounds a bit like, "how little can I do to get by." I like the responses that reccomend a lot of 3-d shoots. I think someone should practice out to 60 or 70 yards and be able to kill zone consistently and then they'll feel incredibly confident for a 40 or 45 yard shot. 

I know on Western Extreme that he shoots 90 yards and never misses ( , yeah right). For my own personal ethics standard, regardless of my confidence on an 80 yard range (which is pretty tight), I won't ever take more than a 45 yard shot.

I asked because it's my first hunting season w/ a bow and I want to make sure I don't do something stupid out of ignorance. 

[PolarBear]

I don't understand guys who feel that being able to hit a paper plate at 30-40-50 yards is "good enough".  For God's sake, that is around 8-9" groups.  If you can't cut that down to a third, you need to switch to rifle.  On that note, I know guys who feel that hitting that same paper plate (8-9" groups) at 200 yds is "good enough".  Come on folks, do some freakin' practice!

  polarbear you are starting to scare me... we are agreeing on numerous things lately... 

Actually, you would be surprised on how much we do agree on, it is the stupid stuff that doesn't matter get's in the way.   

[RadSav]

Don't forget to practice stalking!  I used to tie my dog up in different areas of our property and practice stalking him.  Dogs are the hardest thing I have ever tried to stalk up to.  If you can consistently stalk to within 30 yards of your dog you won't have to worry too much about how far you can shoot.

The best bowhunter I know is Anthony "Del" DelMastro. http://www.osegsportsmens.com/html/del_delmastro.html
Del has hunted all over the world and seems to always come home with something that blows your mind it's so huge.  A few years ago he quietly confided in me that he had taken a long shot to tag a big mule deer.  "I drew back about three times and just couldn't get myself to take the shot", he said.  "It was so far out of my comfort zone I was sweating and shaking.  I finally said to myself, 'Del if you are ever going to kill this buck you had better shoot him right now!'  So scared as heck I drew and put one right through his heart.  Man!  I don't think I have ever been that nervous about a shot in my whole life."  If I remember correctly the shot was 42 yards.

Point is you don't have to be a world class shooter if you are great at getting close!  In Del's case he is both!  Which does make bowhunting a whole lot easier.

[pianoman9701]

This sounds like an odd question - good enough? It sounds a bit like, "how little can I do to get by." I like the responses that reccomend a lot of 3-d shoots. I think someone should practice out to 60 or 70 yards and be able to kill zone consistently and then they'll feel incredibly confident for a 40 or 45 yard shot. 

I know on Western Extreme that he shoots 90 yards and never misses ( , yeah right). For my own personal ethics standard, regardless of my confidence on an 80 yard range (which is pretty tight), I won't ever take more than a 45 yard shot.

I asked because it's my first hunting season w/ a bow and I want to make sure I don't do something stupid out of ignorance. 

Well, it was a great question to ask and always sparks a lively conversation. It's so cool you chose a bow. You're going to be addicted if you aren't already

[reagansquad]

Good news guys. I went to the Kenmore walkthrough range and was shooting great. Definitely going to do that as much as possible. Seemed like my biggest issue was estimating the range on my first shot. 2nd shot would be a good one just about every time. The short, 1st pin shorts were dead on. Gotta work on my range estimation.

[Special T]

Don't forget Silver arrow Up in Mt Vernon! open 7 days a week! www.silverarrowbowmen.com/ Also on face book!