range for bow kills

I have a friend that killed an elk at 70 yards. If I was sure of the range I think I could be effective at 60 yards, and I had a 60 yard pin for elk hunting.

I have probably been within 75 to 100 yards on a dozen 6X6 or better herd bulls over the years and it never occurred to me to try a shot.

At least they are not likely to jump the shot, so you are limited to your shooting ability and whether whatever you are using still has enough energy.

Point is that even though an elk is bigger you can make a longer shot because they are not so agile as a deer.
 
for deer my avarge is pry 20ish from a stand, longest was 53 on a buck from the ground. On elk, my far one was 73, this year my elk was 12 yards and last year my elk was 53, The 73 and 53 yard shots were slam dunks, This year i didnt shoot my bow near as much and made 50 my absoult max for elk, Had several great 330+ ish bulls in the 65-70 range that i had to let walk do to the range..... ended up with a cow, upclose and personal but was not happy with that, I had to take her or maybe go with out this year. I will be shooting alot getting ready for 2010, those big bulls better watch out next year...... O and by the way anything past 40 or if im not sure I hit with the range finder so theirs no judgment errors.
 
100 yards you don't say, so your aiming 10 feet over the deer's back, at least?
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Ummm, probably not. He has a 100yd pin. A buddy of mine in AK keeps 2 different sights for his bow. One with normal distances and one with the first pin starting at 60yds. So no, you wouldn't be aiming over it's back, you would be aiming behind the shoulder...where your 100yd pin should be.
 
long range bow kills arent an unherd of thing where im from, i killed my buck this year at 65 yards and have killed elk past 75..and friends that CLEANLY kill animals with a bow out to 100yds and past, my bow shoots at 352 fps so that helps too:D
 
flight time

I am still enjoying this thread, and clearly, there are lots of folks who are far better shots than I am, and who hunt locations where longer shots are possible.

Consider this in our comments on long bow shots. With a rig that is shooting 300 fps, on a 100 yd shot, the "flight time" for the arrow is going to exceed 3 seconds. .....say again.....3 seconds+. A game animal can do a lot of things in 3 seconds, non of them conducive to good arrow placement.

For a 5o yd shot, the hang time will still exceed 1.5 seconds. Since lots of rigs don't do 300 fps (my "fast" bow does 250) and the arrow can only lose velocity from the moment it leaves the bow string, you are talking some serious "hang time" till the arrow arrives (hopefully) on target. This alone is reason enough for me to limit my shots to 30 yds.

All that said, I had a blast over Thanksgiving weekend, lobbing arrows 40- 50 yds at 9" foam disks at my mother in laws, W/ my single pin bow.(couldn't hunt, out of state) Once I got the hold over figured, I surprised myself. But the disks don't move.
 
Does your bow actually shoot 352 ft/sec or is that what it is rated at?

I.B.O
I.B.O speeds are determined by shooting a bare bow with nothing on the string set at 70 pounds using a 350 grain arrow with a 30 inch draw. Most bow makers will test their bows with lighter arrows as well but most usually do not drop below a 330 grain arrow for testing purposes.
A.M.O
A.M.O speeds are determined by shooting a bare bow with nothing on the string set at 60 pounds using a 540 grain arrow with a 30 inch draw.
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http://www.ikesoutdoors.com/1/post/2009/01/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit.html
 
bowtekhunter said:
my bow shoots at 352 fps so that helps too
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I assume it's not a Bowtech then? Their fastest IBO speed is the 2010 Destroyer, @ 350fps.

There's almost no bow in the world that will shoot IBO with a hunting setup.

For instance, subtract 10 fps for every inch reduction in draw length below 30, roughly 3 fps for EVERY item attached to the string. Roughly 3fps for every 10 grains of arrow weight above 5gr per pound of draw weight....

My 2008 Hoyt Katera XL, rated at 305 fps, shoots 264 with a VERY typical hunting setup. I can get 285 with 5gr/lb arrows.
 
my target bow a bowtech destroyer 350 shoots 352 fps, with an extened grip at 30in draw and 330 grain arrows and set at 80lbs, my hunting bow a 2008 tribute shoots at 325 fps, i put shorter limbs on it to make the brace height shorter to get more speed and 350 grain arrows, this is the bow i make the long shots with and it seems to do just fine....speed isint every thing
 
My longest bow kill was at 65 yards on a NE Calif muley, holding on the top of his back with my 60 yard pin, I double lunged him. That was 30 years ago, and the distance between my 20 yard pin and my 60 yard pin would make today's shooters double over with laughter. I tended to miss anything under 40 yards. Over the back, and over the back again, and I'll never forget it because of one particularly nice buck I DID NOT GET, and by all rights should HAVE NEVER MISSED. :( I walked to the spot he had been standing and looked back at where I was standing and couldn't understand how I had chosen a 40 yard pin for a 30 yard deer. Perhaps I just spent too much time shooting at 60.

I had to give up bow hunting because an upper back injury prevented me from practicing. I still have that old bow, but someday I'm going to ask you guys to help me put together a lighter weight rig, particularly because now I can hunt whitetails from a tree stand, rather than suffer with the longer ranges of those mule deer.

One of my old Cali friends can consistently drill a pie plate at 100 yards. I hate him for that. ;)
 
my 20 yard pin and my 60 yard pin would make today's shooters double over with laughter
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The bow I originally started with was screaming along at 224 FPS with 140 grain broadheads and XX75's. Worked.
 
interesting stuff. i jus got a new martin rated at 305 fps. it has a 3 pin sight and i am kicking around what distance to set them. my old browning bow has a 4 pin sight set at 10-20-30-40 yards and i have seperation between the pins. with the new faster martin i'm thinking 10-20-30 yards but i'm afraid the pins might be pretty much just stacked on each other. maybe set at 10-30-50 or 15-30-45 yards would give me more pin seperation. i'm not really a 50 yard shooter but i understand the faster bows are more forgiving (shoot flater) so it would be easier to compensate on a 20 or 40 yard shot than with my old bow. any suggestions?
 
Can't say. Farthest shot I've taken was just over 20 yards, and the closest was less than five feet from the base of the tree I was in (I was 20 feet up). I'd guess my average would be around 15 yards as well.
 
bowtekhunter said:
my target bow a bowtech destroyer 350 shoots 352 fps, with an extened grip at 30in draw and 330 grain arrows and set at 80lbs, my hunting bow a 2008 tribute shoots at 325 fps, i put shorter limbs on it to make the brace height shorter to get more speed and 350 grain arrows, this is the bow i make the long shots with and it seems to do just fine....speed isint every thing
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I agree that speed isn't everything. In fact, it's not even a close third on my list.

I have to ask though, genuine curiosity, if speed isn't everything then why on Gods green earth would you shoot an 80lb bow? I mean, assuming that you're not hunting water buffalo.
 
i dont really know, i have just always shot the most i could pull back
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Gotta love an honest answer.:)

Fair enough.

I couldn't pull 80 on a good day, say nothing of the typical conditions in NY during bow season. Sitting in a stand for 4 hours, freezing to death and stiff from not moving. I like 59 lbs. Gives me 58ish ft/lbs of energy, which is almost double what my old bow would do at the same draw weight and less let-off.


Dang dude! 330gr arrows at 80lbs! Holy smokes! I just figured that out! That's 4.13 gr/lb. Damn!! It's a good thing that Bowtech is guaranteed forever.;):D

So, 330gr at 352fps.... that's 91 ft/lbs. I'd be shooting the biggest, narliest, nastiest open-on-impact that I could find if I had that much energy.
 
finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As an addition to this thread:

23Dec at 4:50 PM I FINALLY got another shot and connected w/ a 145 lb 5pt.
Distance was 24 paces, likely 22-23 yds, from a treestand.
Buck went 30-40 yds, stopped and tilted over, in sight, 50 yd or so from tree.
It has been a LONG dry season and I am really tickled!!!!!!!!

That'll boost my average yardage a bit.
 
I don't have the luxery to hunt out of treestands. I'm forced to stalk and try to get as close as possible. Most of my shots have been around 20-40yds. I would say my average is 30yds.
 
My longest bow kill was at 65 yards on a NE Calif muley
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Interesting, what zone you in bud? You on private land?

rather than suffer with the longer ranges of those mule deer.
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Tell me about it. I live in California and understand this intimately. My town is 404ft. I hunt at 9000ft. My five mile walk from 9000ft ends up at 6500ft. Not the easiest hunting.
 
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