Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
Accuracy for most humane shots with a self bow
Chief RID:
First shot of the day is a key as mentioned. This is the only shot that counts, at least 1st shot of every session. Every thing after that is muscle memory form practice and confidence building All of which are important. Even if you had a 3D coarse to shoot, that 1st target is your only indicator of your shot during hunting, unless your are hunting a species that gives you multiple shots. Hunting regalia included. I am a lousy shot so my max is at 17 yds when I am shooting good.
crooketarrow:
If you can shoot to 20 with a selfbow your good. It doesn't matter how far you can shoot. It's how close you can set up on a buck or gobbler and get a killing arrow off.
In my 40 selfbow bucks the longest one has been 17 yards. 90% Been 10 to 12 yards.
I love to shoot but I suck so I have to be close Under. 20 for me I perfer under 15. It all depends on the blind site. That's usually no more than some back cover for my ghillie.
H Rhodes:
"accuracy for most humane shots"? It is a good topic and one which requires brutal honesty with yourself. I hunted a lot with some friends this past season, both of them recent converts to self bow hunting. They are both accomplished deer hunters with rifle and compound bow, but getting them to adjust their stand placements for this kind of hunting has been a process. There were enough missed opportunities for them this season to have convinced them that maybe the old guy is right! I have made a few long shots in forty plus years of this stuff, but most of the deer I have taken with a bow have been under 12 yards. Hunting in the eastern hardwoods for whitetails usually means tree stands or ground blinds to me. My favorite shot is ten yards and closer from a tree stand no higher than ten feet up. If you go too high up, you can't double lung a deer as easily. If you want to know why, try and pop two balloons nailed to the ground side by side. The difference in one lung popped and two lungs punctured can be a difference in blood tracking distance measured in hundreds of yards. I have taken many deer from 5 to 7 yards away, but believe me, you can miss at that distance if you don't pick a spot low in the kill zone and hit your mark. Twistedlimbs (Ryan Gil) posted a great practice drill a while back involving a five inch circle and a cold shot. I think he was on to something with his thinking. Learning to hunt into the wind and get your ambush spot set up for a close shot is as important as your shooting. If you can get those things working for you, if you can hit in a place as big as your hand, and if the cutting edge of your arrow point is scary sharp, you can kill deer with a wood bow. Good luck next season.
Zedd:
I have been a lurker here for a long time, in fact I think this is my first comment. I shoot a lot with a compound and have recently moved into traditional recurves. I can consistently keep shots with a compound within a 5" circle out to 50 yards, while with my recurve I can barely keep them in a 5" group at 15 yards. I feel comfortable with a recurve at 10 yards, not further due to the inconsistent fliers. I want every single shot without fail to be in the kill zone. Would I shoot a game animal at 50 yards with a compound (or a recurve, assuming my grouping becomes that good)? No. It takes way over a second for an arrow to cover 50 yards from my bow, that is a long time. A deer can break wind and move enough to put the shot off in that time. I guess my point is there are two issues at play, can I shoot well enough every time to keep the shots within the kill zone, and is it safe to do so even if I could. I don't ever see myself shooting with a traditional bow further than 20 yards. Skill with a compound with a peep and sights takes much much much less time to acquire the skill level to shoot accurately than does traditional archery. My respect for a fellow who can shoot 2-4" groups consistently from a traditional bow at 20 yards is deep and profound due to the pure dedication required to attain this.
Traxx:
Target archery is seeing how far away you can get and still hit the bull's eye. Bowhunting is seeing how close you can get and never miss your mark.
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