THE EFFECTIVE RANGE OF A BOW
One of the main reasons hunters like to hunt with a bow is because they like the adrenaline rush that comes with being up close and personal with big game animals. Fifty years ago, most bowhunters were using recurves and longbows and the effective range of a traditional bow was about 20 yards for most bowhunters.
When the compound became popular, bowhunters started to extend their range. Many bowhunters started killing whitetails at 30 or 40 yards. Keep in mind that a 40-yard shot on a whitetail is a long shot for most bowhunters but there are many bowhunters who think nothing of a 40- yard shot.
Today many bowhunters are killing big game animals at 50 yards and beyond. The question all bowhunters should ask themselves is how far of a shot they can ethically take? Sure, a professional bowhunter can kill a whitetail buck at 50 or 60 yards most of the time. That doesn’t mean most bowhunters should take that shot.
Many professional archers say that your worst shot in the backyard at a target is the best shot you can hope for in the field because buck fever, weather and shooting at a live animal are factors that contribute to a good shot going bad. With that in mind, most bowhunters should error on the side of caution when bowhunting. John Engelken, a well-known blood tracker, says many bowhunters are pushing the envelope when it comes to shot distance. “Because of modern day bows and mechanical broadheads, many bowhunters believe they are shooting a gun when they are actually bowhunting. Most bowhunters should try to set up their bow stands and blinds in a way that they can get as close of a shot as possible to limit the possibility of a bad shot as much as possible. A bow is still a short range weapon and a broadhead is still a primitive tool not meant for long distance shooting,” Engelken explained.
When practicing in the backyard, one rule that I try to live by is practicing at double the distance I think I can shoot in the field. I regularly practice at 60 or 70 yards and when practicing, my goal is to keep my arrows inside a pie plate. In the field, when whitetail hunting my goal is to shoot deer at less than 35 yards. When hunting larger animals like an elk or a moose, the distance is a little greater. I would have no problem shooting a bull elk at 50 or 60 yards. The same goes for a moose. When I am practicing before going on an elk hunt I regularly shoot my bow at 80 yards or more.
When shooting form and equipment is dialed in, making a shot in the backyard at 60 or 80 yards isn’t extremely difficult and regularly making 80-yard shots in the yards makes a 30-yard shot in the field much easier.
Every bowhunter needs to be honest with themselves: in the heat of the moment when a deer is standing in front of them, at what distance are the odds near 100 percent that they will kill the animal? Practice at a distance in the backyard that will build confidence in the field. Many bowhunters base shot distance in the field on the size of the buck they are shooting at. If it is a big buck, they will take a longer shot. Try and resist making this mistake. Instead bowhunters should take ethical shots that they know they can make.
This can go wrong: animals move, an arrow can hit a twig. There are lots of things that can go wrong in the field. There is no such thing as a sure thing in bowhunting but bowhunters owe it to themselves and the animal they are shooting at to take ethical shots at distances they are comfortable shooting at.
