This is my 60 yard shot from Saturday. I'm still getting the sight perfect but if say its pretty close.
Not a chance. So bigger gamed animals don't move now? Lol! Target shooting is one thing, hunting is another.
Whitetail, I'll only take a shot that long if I am consistently hitting ~4 inch groupings at 60. I currently have not been able to test my 60 yard groupings so I would not be taking a shot that far. I am however comfortable out to 40. Elk, I would be taking that shot easy. 20-30 may be average yardage for a Whitetail but 50-60 seems average for Elk. If I was elk hunting, I would have been practicing out to 80+.
I smoke ground hogs at 60+ yds... Your doing good if you get elk within 50yds you better be prepared to make those kind of shots.
I hate these debates. On elk yes, on deer yes, on pronghorn yes, on turkey yes, on bear yes, on turkey yes, etc. However that all depends on the animals behavior, etc. I practice out to 100 yards just for fun. You can lose game at 62 yards but lots of guys lose game at 30 yards too. Shoot what your comfortable with and confident in. Don't judge those that shoot farther than your comfortable with shooting. Different strokes for different folks. A shot I'm not comfortable with for me is a moving shot. Others can do it I haven't got there yet. Do I look down upon people that can no way
The huge difference between a 60+ yard shot on an elk vs. deer is the reaction time and movement of the Animal. Many times deer are more jumpy and nimble do to their size, while elk are obviously quite larger their reaction movement is usually far less than that of a deer. So when shooting at an elk there is less concern of "ducking" the arrow or moving causing a bad shot.
The most critical thing to me is if you practice at those distances and beyond. Out West is a different beast than sitting in the hardwoods waiting for a critter to venture by.
A 62 yard shot in the west is FAR from out of the question. That's pretty much a standard distance for western hunts, especially on elk. Ive taken 4 whitetails between 70-74 yds in Nebraska and muleys in the 60`s. My two elk were 34 and 56. I didn't read all the replies so im sure this has already been said, but an elk has like a 20" vital area and rarely react at a bow shot. IF someone cant hit a 20" vital area at 62yds ,they have not taken enough time to prepare for the hunt. As for the guy not knowing where he hit, that's yet another reason CO and MT should allow lighted arrow nocks. I have heard that CO may be overturning this rule since P&Y allows them now.
You being serious here? Maybe one should learn a little more about the game their hunting so they can get closer? I know how hard elk hunting is believe me. I'm 0 for 6 in the 6 years I've went elk hunting. Never yet have I released an arrow but I've had opportunities on some small bulls and cows I've let go by as close as 15 yards being a nicer bull was in the area so I chose to pass on them shots. I hunt with a recurve but it wouldn't matter much if I hunted with a compound. I'd still never in a million years take these 40+ yard shots. That's not my style of bow hunting. I've let some nice bulls go by as close as 30 yards. Just out of my range. I was ok with that too. That's bow hunting to me. I've got the utmost respect for bow hunters who still have the "up and close hunting" thing still going. Unfortunately its getting to be a thing of the past in today's bow hunters because of this speed thing in compounds. To each their own though.
I just got back from an elk hunt. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I could even see 62 yards lol. As far as me shooting that far, no.
I am deeply offended that you would question my ethics. Can't we just be friends? It was a huge unicorn and it was the only shot I was going to get. I should have explained myself better.
Sorry, good sir. I misread the situation and jumped to conclusions. I would've done the same thing. Sssssccwhack!!
