Where does long distance begin?

It's all based on the archer and their skill set, we can all agree on that. I shoot thousands of arrows and I am still concerned with shooting 40 yards and beyond at whitetails because a lot can happen after you let that arrow fly. The deer could drop or one deer I shot at 40 yards spun 180 degrees to go back the way she came before the arrow got there. The arrow ended up entering by the opposite side shoulder I was shooting at she spun so fast. So I think the hunters skill set and comfortable shooting range and the deer's behavior and environmental factors. Every situation is different.

 

It's all relative to the hunter and his practice/hunting set up. For me I consider anything past 30 to be a long distance hunting shot for where I hunt. I can shoot 50 at the range, but past that I would consider very long distance even for a practice shot. Others, not so much...

 

We have all seen the footage of whitetail dropping 6-8 inches anything over 40 I just watch them walk away

 

It's all relative. When I shot trad before my back surgeries I shot a mule deer at 35 yards in SD and that seems like a mile LOL. With my compound though I still think of anything over 40 as a long shot, especially in the tight eastern woods I hunt in. I practice out to 55 regularly, that's the farthest I can shoot at home.

 

For me - 40+ is Long Range! Most of my setups I feel comfortably shooting out to 40 without much pause. Anything beyond that gets tricky for me.

Neal

 

For me long distance has evolved with practice and equipment. When I started, a long time ago, with a recurve & wooden/aluminum arrows, it was over 20yds. Now somewhere around 50-60 with a compound and carbon, is what I work toward by the season opener.

Hunting is a different question entirely. Weather, terrain, animal behavior, ambient noise, veg/cover and where I'm positioned the answer varies, wildly. But I'm generally not likely to shoot much past 40yds even under optimal (to me, at the time) conditions.

 

One day I will try FOBS! The local shops don't carry them around here.

 

These are not FOBs. These are a new fletching we are developing right now.

 

Do you have a better pic of them?

 

I think "long distance" starts where your comfort level stops. If you're not comfortable shooting at 30yds, then that's going to feel like a long shot.

SCFox