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I have learned a lot from the Pond Boss people this year about deer hunting and have started applying this new knowledge at our farm.

Most deer hunters I know eventually move on to bow hunting, once it becomes "easy" to harvest freezer venison with a rifle. The bonus is that you might be able to bag a big buck during the early bow season.

I think I am an average to below average shot with a rifle. (So I don't attempt any difficult shots.)

Question for the expert and new bowhunters:

What is the maximum range (that you are comfortable) taking a shot with a clean view?

Also, if you are a good shot, how much would you reduce that range for an average shooter?


I am not quite ready to move to bowhunting. However, I want to start evaluating how many good "bowhunting" opportunities I observe in the next few years based on blind observations and camera pics.


P.S. Any bow recommendations for an average shooter that will only shoot 1-2 arrows per year hunting, plus training shots?

Thanks,
FishinRod

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Originally Posted by FishinRod
I have learned a lot from the Pond Boss people this year about deer hunting and have started applying this new knowledge at our farm.

Most deer hunters I know eventually move on to bow hunting, once it becomes "easy" to harvest freezer venison with a rifle. The bonus is that you might be able to bag a big buck during the early bow season.

I think I am an average to below average shot with a rifle. (So I don't attempt any difficult shots.)

Question for the expert and new bowhunters:

What is the maximum range (that you are comfortable) taking a shot with a clean view?

Also, if you are a good shot, how much would you reduce that range for an average shooter?


I am not quite ready to move to bowhunting. However, I want to start evaluating how many good "bowhunting" opportunities I observe in the next few years based on blind observations and camera pics.


P.S. Any bow recommendations for an average shooter that will only shoot 1-2 arrows per year hunting, plus training shots?

Thanks,
FishinRod

I used to be good with a vertical bow, anymore I don't have the time to shoot a couple times a week so I switched to a crossbow. Now it's been my experience that with a crossbow, due to the noise, you cannot shoot as far as you can with a vertical compound bow because the deer will hear the noise and move before the arrow gets there with the crossbow.

I know of a guy that is a great shot with a bow, and has killed deer (in the right conditions) at 100 yds with his compound. He shoots almost every day, if only at 20 yds just to stay proficient with the vertical bow. Using a crossbow will not make you a better shot than you are with a rifle, but if you can't practice at least weekly with a vertical bow, go the crossbow route if it's legal in your state. I can take it out a month before season opens, shoot it a few times to confirm that it is still working and sighted in, and then put it away until it's time to hunt.

Personally, I try to limit my shots with the crossbow to 30 yds and less, and even at 25 yds I have had a deer "jump the string" and I spined her with the crossbow when I aimed at the heart. From a solid rest, and I was seated. Arrow speed was chronographed at 325 fps......... So that deer heard the crossbow and was able to react fast enough to drop her body approximately 16"-18" in roughly 1/4 second.

My pet peeve with all crossbow mfg's is they do NOT list how loud they are. They are like shooting a .22 rifle compared to shooting a compound vertical bow.

With a rifle, from a rest (I usually hunt from tree stands and I am seated with a shooting rest or from a folding camping chair on the ground with a Primos trigger stick supporting the rifle) and making head shots on a deer that is calm in low wind situations is a piece of cake at 100 yds or less. 100-150 yds, high neck shots, and 150+ yds I aim for just under the spine behind the shoulder blade. All 5 deer this year ran maybe a combined 6".

From a rest, I tune my arrows and in a no wind situation, I can shoot the crossbow into 1" groups at 50 yards. It's accurate enough that I don't shoot at the same dot on the bag target with more than one arrow for fear of hitting the previous arrow or fletching. I have an old Barnett Revolution crossbow that I absolutely HATE the trigger on it. I will be looking for a new (to me) crossbow this summer. A buddy has a 3 yer old Ravin and loves it.

I don't know what your budget is, but I'd look at getting a great rangefinder that is easy to operate first if you don't have one, and then look at a good crossbow in the $600-$1,000 range. I LOVE shooting the lighted nocks, I won't hunt without them. Get the crossbow that has or has the option to get a crank cocking device. Look for a crossbow that you can uncock without having to shoot it into a target too. A crossbow scope like a Hawke Crossbow scope is mandatory. Crossbows have rainbow trajectories, and unless you are dropping considerable change for the new bows that shoot close to 500 fps, you will need multiple aiming points, at the very least one aiming point for every 10 yards. (that's why you need the rangefinder unless you are excellent at judging distance, which I am NOT).

Do your research on whether to use a mechanical broadhead or a fixed broadhead. You will also need a target to shoot at to practice ( I prefer a bag type target vs a foam one), and a quiver to hold the arrows.


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I have shot a lot of nice deer. While i can shoot at longer distances effectively, I have taken most at under 25 yards,
I personally use fixed broadheads but have nothing against expanding heads. I use a rangefinder and appreciate knowing the range.
i simply love being in the woods. Got my oldest buck this past season. [Linked Image from i.imgur.com] still trying to get past the 170" mark.





































im

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Our best bowhunter will go out to about 75 yards with a scoped crossbow and a laser rangefinder.

I haven't bowhunted myself for about 30 years; my longest kill was 11 yards with a compound bow. And only because my carefully aimed "heart shot" broke the buck's knee, and he went down long enough for a second shot. laugh


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When I first started deer hunting. I had target shot a compound for about 8 years before starting to hunt and took my first deer, a buck, at 45 yards. That is still the furthest shot I have ever taken on a deer with a bow, even with a crossbow. I simply am not that accurate since i stopped target practicing on a regular basis. I took all but one of my 5 deer this year within 25 yards, but took one doe at 70 yards with a 270 which is actually the first deer I took at over 25 yards since buying the gun several years ago. Not really sure why I tend to take deer at such close range, but I like to be sure what deer I am shooting. I once took what I thought was a doe up close in December and it turned out to be a shed buck, I really look close now.

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Thanks guys, that was a huge amount of excellent information dropped into the thread!

I had not realized that the deer had a chance to react to the sound before arrow impact. I think the guys taking shots at 75 yards must be far enough away that the sound does not cause an immediate reflex move from the deer. However, I definitely will not ever have enough time in my life to practice to that level of accuracy.

I try to be an ethical hunter, but I could easily see myself doing something very similar to Theo's story. That is exactly the reason I opened this thread.

We do have some very heavy cover along our creek. The deer traffic goes way up in that area as our weather gets colder later in the season.

However, I think the big bucks may use some of those "hidden" pathways early in the fall. I think I need to get some feeders and cameras in that area very early next season. I am pretty sure I could get a 10-15 yard shot - which might be doable for me. The bigger problem is the available time to sit in the blind enough hours to get that shot! If one of you knows the Powerball numbers for the next drawing, I will front the money for the ticket and we can split the jackpot 50-50! laugh

P.S. Rod, nice shooting on harvesting your oldest buck this year. He was a beaut!

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A young fellow, 22 yoa, hunts my land with a bow. He’s a natural. I’ve seen him practicing at 100 yards and he’s damn good at it. However, he won’t shoot at a deer over about 75 yards. He says too much chance for the slightest mistake to be magnified into a lost deer.

Last year I bought an XBow. This year I was going to hunt with it. But colon surgery in September stopped that. The Doc who I know pretty well told me not to pick up anything over 4 pounds for 3 months. That meant don’t draw a bow or even carry a rifle. I got to hunt a little bit in the last couple of weeks in December. I went 4 times and didn’t even see a doe.


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Wow 75 yards? Most folks limit it to 25-30 yards. I shot a crossbow at a 11 point at 30 yards and that rascal jumped the string and barely cut the skin on his back….. got him thre weeks later in gun season. Compound bows are muck quieter

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The deer around me must have slow reflexes. I have seen video of deer crouching under arrows but it has never happened to me with a compound or crossbow. I do not shoot over 35 yards though, and my arrows travel pretty fast, In reading, it appears that deer can have different behaviors in different places.

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30 years ago when I practiced several times a week and went to 3D shoots on a regular basis I could target shoot a compound out to 60 yards and hunt out to 40. Now....forget it.

Bought a crossbow recently but have zero time on it so I don't know.

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If you sight it in and know the range, they are quite accurate. Not much different than a gun at short range, but you need to keep your hands out of danger. I really like my Ravin over my TenPoint.

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They are accurate and there are some can hit targets way out there but around here they can and will jump the string at times, more so with the louder crossbows even as fast as they are. Them deer are pretty quick to react.

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The biggest problem with deer hunting is I've never found a target that got me shaking like a big buck does walking by, so it's hard to practice a real kill shot. I can comfortably shoot out to 50-60 yards without too much practice at home, but I limit myself to about half that in the woods. I'm glad I still get that excited when I see a nice deer, but I'm also envious of the guys whos bodies don't betray them. lol

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A young guy, 22 yoa, hunts my place. He practices 100 yard bow shots in the field in front of my house. I have a crossbow that I kinda suck at using.


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Originally Posted by lmoore
The biggest problem with deer hunting is I've never found a target that got me shaking like a big buck does walking by, so it's hard to practice a real kill shot. I can comfortably shoot out to 50-60 yards without too much practice at home, but I limit myself to about half that in the woods. I'm glad I still get that excited when I see a nice deer, but I'm also envious of the guys whos bodies don't betray them. lol

I used to fish and hunt in high school with a buddy that became a professional tennis player. He was the best eye/hand coordination athlete I have ever met.

He had buck fever so bad on his first bow shot that he said he could not even draw his bow!

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I practice a lot… and I still won’t shoot beyond 40 yards with the compound. Crossbow I’m confident to 75, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking about.

I have friends who routinely try to shoot deer farther than 40 yards… and honestly, they wound a lot of deer that we don’t recover. Being able to hit a target is one thing, having enough retained energy to humanly kill a deer is another thing. You have to be willing to pass shots beyond the range you can cleanly harvest.

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Originally Posted by Dan Freda
I practice a lot… and I still won’t shoot beyond 40 yards with the compound. Crossbow I’m confident to 75, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking about.

I have friends who routinely try to shoot deer farther than 40 yards… and honestly, they wound a lot of deer that we don’t recover. Being able to hit a target is one thing, having enough retained energy to humanly kill a deer is another thing. You have to be willing to pass shots beyond the range you can cleanly harvest.

Plus targets don't move at the slightest sound, deer will.


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