"Ethical" range of a bow

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UntouchableNess
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby UntouchableNess » Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:14 pm

G3s wrote:I am with you on that as well...I practice a lot at 100 yards and in...makes those 30 and under shots seem almost like cheating..hopefully when I get the shot I have been working for I have done my homework right and the shot will be 30 or less

Last few years, I've practiced out to 50 yards. As you state, it makes the 20 yard shots seem like slam dunks.

I just bought a newer bow that is a little faster than the one I have been using. I'm hoping to practice at longer distances, but it will have to be an ideal opportunity for me to take the shot in the field.


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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby Brad » Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:22 am

I have shot a buck at 48 yards and smoked him, I also practice out to 50 regularly. However, had I known the buck was that far I would not have shot, so i kinda got lucky because I shot him for 35 and held a little high. I intentionally set up for 25 yard shots almost all of the time. I like them between 20 and 25 in a perfect world, any closer and the angle can be tough, any further and the animal controls more of the outcome. I do not care how fast a bow is or how much you shoot once you get past 30 or so the animal can do a lot and you can miss or worse wound them very easy, because they are faster than the bow if they choose to be.

The reason I practice to 50 is simply because if I ever need a second shot on one I hit, I can try it, and on an already hit deer the gloves are off at any range because theres nothing to lose. I will say at 30 yards I shoot just like at 0-25, I am 100% confident, but at 35 I shake a little more and my pin covers more of the target, so my groups open up to 3 or 4 inches which is the most I want.

When I bowhunt for turkeys my max is 15 yards, due to the size of the vitals being so small.

On an elk (if I ever get to go) I will shoot further because the vitals are a lot bigger, so in all honestly there is more margin for error, a 60 yard shot on an elk might me like a 30 yard shot on a whitetail etc.

When I shoot my recurve I am only good to 15, out past that I have zero confidence.
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby Liberty-Hunt » Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:22 am

For me the ethical bow range is the one you are confident in...
No one are the same. Same knowledge, eyes, body, equipment and training.
I'm not good as a lot of you, so my personal max. range when I'm hunting is 40 yards. :oops:
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby whitetail007 » Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:26 am

40 yard max, most of my shots are at 25 or less. to much can happen reaching out past 40 unless the deer is asleep standing broadside. i would rather pass the shot than risk a poor hit.
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby Bowhunting Brian » Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:42 am

buck_junkie wrote:What do you guys think is the 'Ethical' range is on a bow? I know the average shot during a hunt is around 22 yards. What about taking a 70 yard shot on a once of a lifetime buck in the middle of the rut. He comes in trailing a hot doe and you know the chances of him making another appearance at a closer range is very unlikely. He pauses in a completely wide open shooting lane to catch his breath for just a minute or two, and this is your only oppurtunity before he continues on his quest of earnining the right to breed his doe. The reason I pose this question is because a good friend of mine and myself were practicing today on our long range shots, 50-70 yards, and were dead on even up to 70 yards. We both felt very confident on taking a shot of this caliber. I also know that Lee Lakowski harvested a magnificent buck last season at 72 yards. Myself, if the above scenerio came about I'm taking the shot. What do you think? Would you take the shot? Do you practice at these distances?


my average shot at deer is about 12 to 15 yards, but a bow can easily shoot an animal at 70 yards and be effective. it depends on a lot of variables though.
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby lynchpin » Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:16 pm

dan wrote:
What do you guys think is the 'Ethical' range is on a bow? I know the average shot during a hunt is around 22 yards. What about taking a 70 yard shot on a once of a lifetime buck in the middle of the rut. He comes in trailing a hot doe and you know the chances of him making another appearance at a closer range is very unlikely. He pauses in a completely wide open shooting lane to catch his breath for just a minute or two, and this is your only oppurtunity before he continues on his quest of earnining the right to breed his doe. The reason I pose this question is because a good friend of mine and myself were practicing today on our long range shots, 50-70 yards, and were dead on even up to 70 yards. We both felt very confident on taking a shot of this caliber. I also know that Lee Lakowski harvested a magnificent buck last season at 72 yards. Myself, if the above scenerio came about I'm taking the shot. What do you think? Would you take the shot? Do you practice at these distances?


Two years ago I was hunting on Andraes farm in Iowa and a nice shooter cull buck came in. I decided to take a 45 yard shot at the buck knowing I was pretty efficiant at that range.
The buck was walking and did not stop when I whistled and was about to get into some thick brush.
I took the shot.
It seemed like the buck moved before the arrow got there and maybe I flinched a little and pulled right. The arrow hit the buck in the crease of the hind leg. The buck bolted out to about 60 yards and stopped to look back. I took a hail mary trying to finish him off and stuck him thru the middle of the neck. I searched for the buck for 3 days. Never found him.
Andrae watched the footage and gave me a little lecture on long shots and told me he personally won't shoot more than 20 yards and seldom shoots farther than 15... I found that pretty surprising.


Dan... I am late to this thread.... but, I too found it interesting that Andre only shoots 15/20 yards. I also found it interesting that he now (2011 article) has a peak draw weight of 50 pounds...he mentioned the lighter bow allows him to be more accurate and more forgiving...especially in cold weather. I stumbled across this article a few weeks ago.

Have you or other experienced hunters on the BEAST made changes like this over the years? warm weather vs cold weather?
The article is below... question 8 pertains to my post.

http://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/deer-hunting/ArticleContent/6/2009/1618/Going-All-Out-On-Public-Land
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby dan » Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:04 pm

Dan... I am late to this thread.... but, I too found it interesting that Andre only shoots 15/20 yards. I also found it interesting that he now (2011 article) has a peak draw weight of 50 pounds...he mentioned the lighter bow allows him to be more accurate and more forgiving...especially in cold weather. I stumbled across this article a few weeks ago.

Have you or other experienced hunters on the BEAST made changes like this over the years? warm weather vs cold weather?
The article is below... question 8 pertains to my post.

I don't have time to read the article right now, Im at work, will try later. But, I can say that Andrae preaches low poundage. So does Steve Pagal, the owner of Forge bows. I am shooting about 50 to 55 pounds right now...
I am not sure if you have heard this before, but I built the cam's in our machine shop for Andraes "LoBo" and in a meeting with the people designing and machineing the cams I was showing how the bow worked and had Andraes actual bow. The string slipped out of my hand and the bow dry fired exploding the cams... It was hunting season, and that was Andraes only bow... I went down to his Illinois cabin hunting the next weekend and he was on to one of his biggest typicals. He used his daughters LoBo that was set at either 35 or 40 pounds ( whatever the Illinois min. is ) and he shot that buck on film using her bow... Thats the buck I featured in the Hill country DVD "The bump and Dump buck"
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby G3s » Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:34 am

lynchpin wrote:
dan wrote:
What do you guys think is the 'Ethical' range is on a bow? I know the average shot during a hunt is around 22 yards. What about taking a 70 yard shot on a once of a lifetime buck in the middle of the rut. He comes in trailing a hot doe and you know the chances of him making another appearance at a closer range is very unlikely. He pauses in a completely wide open shooting lane to catch his breath for just a minute or two, and this is your only oppurtunity before he continues on his quest of earnining the right to breed his doe. The reason I pose this question is because a good friend of mine and myself were practicing today on our long range shots, 50-70 yards, and were dead on even up to 70 yards. We both felt very confident on taking a shot of this caliber. I also know that Lee Lakowski harvested a magnificent buck last season at 72 yards. Myself, if the above scenerio came about I'm taking the shot. What do you think? Would you take the shot? Do you practice at these distances?



Dan... I am late to this thread.... but, I too found it interesting that Andre only shoots 15/20 yards. I also found it interesting that he now (2011 article) has a peak draw weight of 50 pounds...he mentioned the lighter bow allows him to be more accurate and more forgiving...especially in cold weather. I stumbled across this article a few weeks ago.

Have you or other experienced hunters on the BEAST made changes like this over the years? warm weather vs cold weather?
The article is below... question 8 pertains to my post.

http://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/deer-hunting/ArticleContent/6/2009/1618/Going-All-Out-On-Public-Land


I did the weight drop as well, I used to shoot 74# year round. I bought a bow that maxes at 63# and use that year round now. After long cold sits, it is much easier to draw, hold, anchor, and release accurately.
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:52 am

I think ethical range with a bow is purely personal and should vary in every scenario. For me...under ideal conditions for whitetails, around 50. In poor conditions, heavy wind & rain etc...as little as 20.

I will say that the absolute best way to improve your maximum range is practice up to twice that distance. You want to kill everything at 40? Practice at 80.
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby dan » Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:20 am

The amount of time it takes an arrow to get 40+ yards ( even on the fastest bows ) gives the deer plenty of time to move and have your arrow hit somewhere other than precisely where you were aiming. Sound travels much faster than arrows too.. The greater the distance, the longer the gap from when the buck hears the bow to when the arrow strikes...
Not implying anything about anybodies ethics, just stating some facts...
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby Bucky » Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:38 am

I shoot lighter draw weight... 60lbs

The furthest 1st shot I have ever taken at a deer is under 35 yards. The furthest 2nd shot was just over 80 yards and I center punched a gut hit buck.

As stated earlier practicing at 40-60 yards makes 20 yards super easy
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:09 am

I think people need to factor in a deer's behavior when deciding to take a longer shot - whatever longer is to them. When deer are feeding in the open they are all keyed up. Just because they have their head down feeding does not mean they are relaxed - I think they naturally know that predators of all kinds try to ambush them near food sources. I have found deer jump the string less when shot closer to their bedding in general (and when they are not on alert).
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Re: "Ethical" range of a bow

Unread postby lynchpin » Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:03 pm

dan wrote:
Dan... I am late to this thread.... but, I too found it interesting that Andre only shoots 15/20 yards. I also found it interesting that he now (2011 article) has a peak draw weight of 50 pounds...he mentioned the lighter bow allows him to be more accurate and more forgiving...especially in cold weather. I stumbled across this article a few weeks ago.

Have you or other experienced hunters on the BEAST made changes like this over the years? warm weather vs cold weather?
The article is below... question 8 pertains to my post.

I don't have time to read the article right now, Im at work, will try later. But, I can say that Andrae preaches low poundage. So does Steve Pagal, the owner of Forge bows. I am shooting about 50 to 55 pounds right now...
I am not sure if you have heard this before, but I built the cam's in our machine shop for Andraes "LoBo" and in a meeting with the people designing and machineing the cams I was showing how the bow worked and had Andraes actual bow. The string slipped out of my hand and the bow dry fired exploding the cams... It was hunting season, and that was Andraes only bow... I went down to his Illinois cabin hunting the next weekend and he was on to one of his biggest typicals. He used his daughters LoBo that was set at either 35 or 40 pounds ( whatever the Illinois min. is ) and he shot that buck on film using her bow... Thats the buck I featured in the Hill country DVD "The bump and Dump buck"


Dan...Thanks for the story on the "LoBo" as I was not aware that Andre shot the buck with his daughters bow... that is pretty cool. I will have to review that DVD again and focus on the bow this time and not that HUGE buck... if we can even see the bow. I am going to look up Steve Pagal to see his comments on low draw weight and try it out for myself to see if my accuracy increases.
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