Anyone else see this on Facebook the other night? You may have to scroll down to get to it. Facebook In a nutshell he shoots at a giant deer in a food plot that's 60 yards away. As expected the deer ducks and rolls out of the way and he hits high in the shoulder. Zero penetration, the deer will live to see another day. He shows us in slow motion where he was holding, then demonstrates that he hit right where he was aiming but the deer moved 12+ inches before the arrow arrived. He also explains ad nauseum that it's almost impossible to know where to aim because you don't know where the arrow is going to impact. Should you aim right on in case he doesn't move? Hold at the bottom of his belly for a 4-6" drop? Hold under him for a 12" drop? Nobody knows. It's a great mystery. To me it serves as a great lesson on why NOT to shoot a whitetail deer at long distance. Regardless of how good of an archer you are, you simply cannot control or predict how much that animal is going to move before your arrow impacts. When you're shooting a distance that allows for 12 inches or more of variation in arrow impact based on the animal's reaction it's simply too much margin for error and not an ethical shot. In fact, he shows the shot in slow motion over and over and over again which just reinforces this exact point. Yet the purpose of the video isn't to deter people from making the same poor decision. To me it seemed like a video glorifying a poor decision and an excuse to talk about how awesome of an archer he is and how many big bucks he's killed. He then tells us that God didn't want him to kill that deer and that he wants to use this as a lesson to learn from. The trouble is, I'm not quite sure what that lesson is. I personally learned, or more accurately reaffirmed my belief, that 60 yard shots at whitetails are unethical no matter how good of an archer you are or how relaxed the deer appears to be when you release the arrow. However he goes on and on about all the deer he's killed at long distance, accompanied by the gratuitous shot of all the big bucks on his wall. So again, I'm not sure what the lesson is? Knowing that Chris has a large following of bowhunters, many of them young and very impressionable, I just can't help but be angry about this whole thing. How many people out there are seeing his message and thinking it's okay to wing arrows at deer when they're 60 yards away? Not only was the shot unethical, but now we can compound it with the irresponsible message that this is okay to do. My mind hurts as I try to comprehend the logic here. I get it that he's a world class archer and can shoot better than 99% of people out there. I'll give credit where it's deserved. The guy is great with a bow in his hand. However this situation has absolutely nothing to do with how good of an archer you are and everything to do with the fact that you simply cannot control or accurately predict how the animal is going to react when it hears that arrow screaming towards it. All of the supporters on the video come in with comments like "He can shoot 60 yards in his sleep!" and similar. To me it seems they're all missing the point here. He just proved that even if you are the best shot in the world, you can still make a poor shot due to the deer's ability to duck and move before your arrow gets there. He then goes on to say how he shoots deer at 60, 70, 80, 100 yards all the time and then shows us a wall full of big bucks that have been killed at long distance. I personally would like to know two things about this wall of bucks. 1. How many of those 60+ yard shots resulted in a clean double lung/heart shot? 2. How many whitetails are not on that wall because the shot didn't hit it's mark? What is the true percentage of clean kills that we can expect on 60+ yard shots at whitetails? And does this serve as another "I just need to get an arrow into him" type of mentality that has become so commonplace in today's bowhunting landscape? Maybe I'm making too much of this and I'm just being an Internet hater. It's Friday, it's cold outside and I haven't killed a buck this year so I'm crabby. I'm curious to get everyone else's thoughts.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Brackett is a D-bag with a capital D and all this does is make people think it's ok to wound an animal because you are some super star. Talent only takes you so far.....
No sir your correct he is a huge D-bag for trying that and even worse for posting the vid of it trying to excuse what he did. It's sad to see someone that is at the top of his game with a bow shooting targets and what not and has young hunters and archers that look up to him, setting a example like this for them to follow. This is my first season bowhunting and have lots still to learn but I think I will be putting a big X on this dude to follow and learn from, total lack of respect for the animal he is trying to take. Sad very sad.
Scary reading the comments how many people assumed dead deer with that little penetration! but a lot of good comments as well saying 60 is too far when it comes to taking an ethical shot, goes both ways I guess
Chris is a world class D-Bag him finding religion has not rehabilitated the perceived image of him. Saying god didn't want him to kill that buck is an insult.
In the event you have hundreds or even perhaps thousands of followers, the person has to understand and accept the responsibilities that they have to their followers. It's their responsibility to be a good role model of all their audiences. Unfortunately it goes with the territory of being a celebrity.
A great world we live in... Even saw one poster mention that Fred Bear and the other old timers were shooting game past 60 with recurve bows... ugh
Justin that is so well written and i couldnt agree with you more. Its not you being an internet hater its you being a ethical hunter which is what we all should be. I wonder how much of what these tv personalities do and say is because of the pressure to produce content? Not that it gives them the right to take horrible shot choices but i bet it plays a factor in it. I use to love watching shows on the outdoor channel but now i want shows like BHOD because they are real. there is nothing scripted or produced and BHOD is a tell all show. good or bad. Why is it so hard for people to admit the made a mistake.
I googled his bio. You guys should not question him. Look at his credentials. "Chris Brackett is a professional archer, bow expert, former host of Arrow Affliction and host of Fear no evil'.' Brackett is from Bartonville, Illinois. " Oh look. He is from Illinois. Fits in perfect there.
The only show i watched featured him trying to arrow turkeys over corn in kansas. He wounded several because his bow had not arrived on time from the plane or something or other and he was shooting someone else's bow. He "missed" (some were misses, others were clearly grazed and wounded and unrecovered) over and over again, wounded over and over again. He didnt comment on the woundings but it was clear to the naked eye. then he scolded himself for his poor judgement for shooting a borrowed bow....not for his woundings....And he repeated the same actions over and over again as those turkeys couldnt resist the corn. the next day his bow arrived and he kills two, shouting booyah over and over again. He is a flaming a-hole with the ethics of a sociopath. Good thing jesus loves him because everybody else can see he is a classless turd. He should stick to target shooting. He is a walking clusterbleep in the woods.
You took a great deal of effort to put your thoughts down in such an eloquent manner with regard to such a touchy subject, and an even more controversial "figure." He, along with many TV personalities are what is wrong with this sport. In so many ways beyond just this instance. The way they portray hunters is just a shame. To answer your question, no you are not looking too much into it. I've always been against long shots on game. It comes up all the time on hunting forums. So many hunters will argue until they're blue in the face that distance doesn't matter (within reason) and that it's all about where you're comfortable and efficient. I'm sorry, I'm not buying it. The second you start taking shots at long distances, the room for error is too great. It's a low percentage shot no matter how you look at it. Too many variables should be reason enough to avoid shots like these, but as you said, the followers see this and think it's common and acceptable. Risk aside, I don't get the allure of taking 50+yd shots at game with a bow. The whole purpose of bowhunting is the closeness factory. Closing that distance is what makes it fun. Close shots are no gimme, either, but you are certainly eliminating a lot of variables that otherwise exist at longer ranges. Just my two cents.
Chris Brackett said he has seen 60 yard (plus) shots on bowhuntordie web shows. Tell me this is not so?
At whitetails? No. At an elk? Yes. In fact one of the biggest deer that would've been on our show was killed at 70+ yards and we elected not to air the footage for the same reasons as my original post.
Have at it, man. You've got about 100 hours of footage to sift through. The furthest shot we've shown on a whitetail was 50 yards. And even then we questioned that decision. Luckily that deer ducked into the arrow and was put down in short order. Most important word being "luckily".
I'm guessing that was Tyler Rectors shot? From the footage that was a pretty decent poke but was on the money.
Yes, but it was only on the money b/c the deer dropped into it. If he stands still the arrow is probably going to drop under him. IMO when you have to start guessing how much the animal is going to move before your arrow arrives and then compensating for that movement is when you know the shot is too far. If you want to kill whitetails at 60, 80, 100 yards just wait for gun season.
