I'd like to hear how far away from the target people shoot. Paces, yards or whatever. I'm sort of new to this after not shooting for 43 years, and shooting again for 2 and a half years. I chose to stick to 30 yards until I'm consistent, then I may change it up and go closer or further. 20 yards seemed too close to me, and further seemed... well, too far. I know 20 yards or less is standard for hunting but I'm just target shooting for now. Do people change the distance a lot, stick with one distance, or what? And why?

Most competition shooting is 60 yards and in with some 80 yard. I shoot out to 50m. It's fun

World Archert 3D 30m, Field 50m and Target 70m (sometimes)

IFAA 3D 60y, Field 80y

Clout 180y sometimes for FUN

Although those distances sound intimidating most of the IFAA Field/3D distances are under 50y. I takes a dedicated aiming system like Gap and a little practice to build confidence but ANYONE can become competent at these distances.

Clouts .. 180yds ... York rounds 60 80 100yds and formal roving marks up to 200yds

200 yards, wow! Makes me wonder if I could even sling my arrows that far.

Thanks... interesting. I shoot instinctive style, no sights or gap shooting. As a teen I often shot as far as my 45# Grizzly would shoot, aiming at big oak trees and things like that. It was fun but now I'm trying to get much more accuracy and consistency. I've hit a bullseye at 40 yards but I'm wondering how to practice... stay with one distance until it's mastered, change it up... that sort of thing.

Steve 'Flight shooting' which is a tourney just to see how far an arrow will go, the unlimited WR is 1.4km and the record for a 35# Longbow is over 400m.

Most IFAA Field Archers are shooting low to mid 40's which is fine for 80 yards

Renewed Archer

What I do is set 5y marks out, starting from 5y out to 80y, shoot at each distance until I miss two shots then go back half the distance and start again. i.e reach 40y and miss, return to 20y and start again.

This allows you to flow through the easy distances and spend more time at your weaker distances. start with a big target face and make it smaller as you gain confidence. daily practice you should be hitting consistently to 60y with most modern bows within weeks. You can measure progress quite nicely as you get to see how far you get back and how your starting distance gets bigger over the weeks.

I start at 10 yds work on form, haven't shot in a year.Then I work my way back to 30 yds.I will shoot longer distances if I'm stump shooting.

I have four targets in my yard that I shoot at regularly ranging from 18 to 40 yards. I shoot more arrows at the 40 because I like watching the arrows fly I guess although my groups aren't very good. I have another target in a different area that I use to tune my bows.

I start around 10 yards and do a walk back. I will only walk back,if I hit the spot that I'm looking at.If I miss,I start over at 10.After awhile your brain will pick up on the yardage without a second thought.Like Rick Welch say's,How far is it? Don't know,Dont care! Good Luck!

I like to shoot from all distances. I got into stick bows because I was not very good at judging how far targets/animals were.

I don't measure how far but after shooting for years you kind of know if it's close to 10, 20, 30 yards or the oh boy that's out there. I guess it just comes down to practice.

I wont get into an argument about how rick Welch does it, he's and exceptional not a normal everyday Archer in the sense he has his own quite different methods that work really well for him in Hunting and 3D, he never shoots marked Field rounds or Indoors.

I'm my opinion and experience using marked yardage to learn will speed up the learning process, it means you can shoot EVERYTHING unmarked and marked yardage equally well, allowing a more adaptable and well rounded Archer.

<=35 yards

RA -

OK, really don't want to know what distance "people" shoot (since you can't see what they are doing at their reported distances), you want to know what distance you should shoot. Right?

A brand new shooter should stay at 5 yards, maybe 10, until basic form is down. A general rule is when groups are 6" or less, add 5 yards. Repeat. The 6" rule holds, until you get past 30-40 yards, when doubling that may be more appropriate.

The distances you practice depend on what you plan on doing. If all you want to do is shoot indoor spots, you "may" not need more than 20 yards. If you plan on trad 3D, maybe 25, if you plan on field it's 20' to 80 yards (but be real, on a 28 target course thee are only 2 80 yard shots, average shot is about 50). If you want serious target work (Olympic) you'll be living at 70M.

Viper out.

Depends on the bow.

Hunting bow - usually 25 and in but I always know my point-on distance "just in case" which is usually 40-50 yards.

Barebow recurve (target bow) - Depends on the round I'm preparing for. Indoor (18M), Field (5-50M), Outdoor (50/60M) or clout (165M).

Olympic recurve - usually 70M unless I'm shooting field, then it's 10-60M.

Compound? Usually 10 yards because I'm setting up a bow for someone else. LOL

zetabow said this...."I'm my opinion and experience using marked yardage to learn will speed up the learning process, it means you can shoot EVERYTHING unmarked and marked yardage equally well, allowing a more adaptable and well rounded Archer."

That is the most true statement written here for a while. This silliness about not shooting marked distance comes from folks who never did it much to see how it improves your total accuracy. Those of us who have done it, know for a fact that it is probably the quickest way to accurate, multi-range shooting...marked or not marked.

I'm a bowhunter, so my range is at bowhunting distances. I practice anywhere from 10 to 40 yards regularly.

George

There are always exceptions to the rule but for the average shooter it's a proven and fast technique.

Ricky Welch doesn't know or care about the distance because he spent the last 20 odd years ingraining it and doesn't need to think yardage, like most good shooters, experience/time allows them know without measuring but you have to start somewhere.

As a beginner you can see the results as you progress on walkback, you spend most of your time at the distance you can hit while gradually increasing distance. One of the biggest issues for beginners which Viper pointed out is they push their distance too early, once you're too far outside your comfort zone Form/confidence starts to fall apart. This walkback technique builds distance and confidence at the same level.

20 and in. USUALLY, not always. I sometimes shoot out to about 45. I hit the 3D elk target in the rack at 107 yards a couple weeks ago. "Shot-of-the day!!!" yells son, holding his 2K cbow. lol

"A brand new shooter should stay at 5 yards, maybe 10, until basic form is down. A general rule is when groups are 6" or less, add 5 yards. Repeat."

Well...I'll be damned. Viper said something I totally agree with. lol

Thanks again to everyone. Zetabow, that sounds like a great way to do it. I'll try it. Should be more interesting and fun also. Thanks George for confirming it.

Who knows, I might do well shooting further back also. The couple of times I tried 40 yards I did. I think b/c I had to focus more so I wouldn't lose an arrow! LOL! Here's a pic of one of those shots. For some on other threads who asked, "Who would shoot an old vintage bow after shooting a modern one?", well, I would. This was a done with a 1960 Kodiak Special Deluxe. I don't see how you could ask for anything more from a bow. All the shots were not like that but I could tell it wasn't just chance.

Nice looking Bow

Renewed Archer, the only one to hold you back is you, so be smart, but don't think you can't do something because someone else said it was hard to do. Good luck and have fun.

zeta (Steve) -

Just to hi-jack the thread a little, did you ever shoot an outdoor PAA/International round in your youth?

A lot of us learned outdoor distances that way 40 years ago.

Viper out.

I practice 40yds every time I can, 2-5 days a week at my club's range. Classic recurves and longbows.

When I'm on my game at the range I'm as good at 40 as 30. There's a lesson in that, wish I knew what it was.

I shoot out to 50-55 yards all the time.

I mainly hunt and shoot 3D, which has a max distance of 25 yards. I keep my practicing to 25 yards and less, with most shooting in the 15-22 yard range. That is just me. I agree that shooting longer distance will make the shorter shots much easier. So, don't necessarily follow my advice except this: there is no need to shoot 30 yards if you can't shoot well at 25 yards and so on.

If a shooter doesn't need to know the yardage to shoot well then how will knowing it help him

" If a shooter doesn't need to know the yardage to shoot well then how will knowing it help him " ... a babysaph Koan :-)

"instinctive" shooters probably don't claim to know the distance, but mechanowheelies do seem to get anxious about precise distance.

I took a Sharpie and wrote the distance to my target on everything in the yard, Sat antenna, Clothes line poles, dog fence marking flags, Deck posts. I walk around and shoot but after every shot I see what distance I was at. If I hit center I move, sometimes closer, sometimes farther.

T4

I practice at all ranges,, just for fun,,

25 YARDS AND 45 YARDS.

! am all about getting up close to game. I hate and I do mean hate long distance stuff. My maximum shooting distance is 18 yards. That and closer is where I am most confident and comfortable and I never shoot past 18 yards. That ingrains in my mind where my max is.Just my 2 cents. Be safe !!!!!!!

ok I will add,, I am the boss of my bow and I shoot as far as I want,, or close,,since I am just shooting for fun,, it alows me to do whatever distance I want,, sometimes I see how far my bow will shoot, thats a concept,, but seriously,, as stated above it depends on what you want to do as to what distance you should practice and shoot,,

I have been primarily shooting about 17 yards and in with my recurve. After shooting my compound at 60 yards a lot this summer in preparation for an antelope hunt, I will start shoot longer ranges with the recurve in order to determine if it makes the closer shots a bit easier.

Couple good post here on the subject.

George and Zeta speak about shooting marked yardage. I tend to agree. What makes the difference if you know yardage or not? Your brain will automatically and instinctively adjust, in time regardless. In fact for a beginning gap shooter your better off to know the yardage and judge your gap accordingly. Your brain will correctly adjust correctly automatically in time.

I could never figure out the logic behind this guessing game, hail mary poke and hope type shooting.

I know the distances in my yard when I shoot, in 5 yd increments, but I constantly move around

And When I climb into my treestand I do shoot yardages with a rangefinder at certain points and form a mental image of my kill zone. But when a deer walks into my range, I don't think about gap, my brain does that for me automatically.

Monkryball made a good point as well. Its fun to shoot longer distance in the yard and its no big deal when groups open up beyond 30 yds. But its a whole different ball game when you are standing on a 20" Platform in a tree 15' off the ground and drawing a hunting weight bow.

Wow. Lots of different ways. Thanks again everyone for chiming in.

George, your advice is taken to heart. Shooting is after all largely or mostly a mental game, it seems to me. I'm my best friend and worst enemy when shooting. I think I'll just tell myself it is not difficult to shoot from further out... just different. I'll let you know how it goes! Shandor

I usually shoot out to 20 yards because I am strictly a bowhunter and do not compete in 3D or field archery. I did find what George and Zeta very practical. Both good post.

"Zetabow said this...."I'm my opinion and experience using marked yardage to learn will speed up the learning process, it means you can shoot EVERYTHING unmarked and marked yardage equally well, allowing a more adaptable and well rounded Archer."

"That is the most true statement written here for a while. This silliness about not shooting marked distance comes from folks who never did it much to see how it improves your total accuracy. Those of us who have done it, know for a fact that it is probably the quickest way to accurate, multi-range shooting...marked or not marked"

Makes sense to me even though I am not a field archer. That is why golf courses have the yardage marked on tee boxes,sprinkler heads and approach flags. So you know how far away you are.......that said, after playing for a period of time from known yardage, your brain knows what 100 yards or 200 yards looks like. I constantly guess yardage and then range it with a range finder, unless it is looking up or down a steep hill or across water, I am usually very close, because of practice not "the force"

I also want to add that I am shooting a full length, 462 gr arrow from a 44# bow. I am shooting three under with a high anchor so my point on is around 30 yards and maybe a little less. I have never marked it off exactly but it is about that distance. I don't like having to hold my arrow above my aiming point so I keep my shots at approx. 25 yards or less.

Here in California we shoot longer distances. Most of the people I shoot with can hit at 50 yards most of the time.

From 10 to 50 yards, a lot between 15 to 30, and you would be surprised how much I shoot at 10 feet, its a lot. My target is a 1 inch ring of PVC suspended on spiderwire whether I'm at 8-10 feet or 50 yards the target size is always the same. If I break the PVC (I have a pile of them on standby) and there is a small piece still on the Spiderwire then I'll shoot at that. That's all on a block target, 3D targets are out in the woods with the real deer. Shots are seldom over 15-20 yards because of cover, however yard shooting of plastic deer may be quite a bit longer.

Great post!. I shoot mostly 5 to 25 yards most of the time. Sometimes out to 30. My rig is my hunting bow with bh on shooting at coffee lids. Never forget about that close shot. Lots of close kills the past ten years. My judo tipping I get a little out there to about 40 yards. I shoot about five days a week. I'm a addict. Happy shooting everyone!

Shooting at market distances has helped me the most at judging distance. It really works the shot image into your brain. I shoot out to 70 yrds often, though at that distance i'm just as happy to hit the bag. Most of my shooting is at 15 thru 30 yrds.

"How far from the target do i shoot.? I like to walk in the woods and shoot at old stumps from when they logged many years ago. Stumps might have old spring board cuts. usually those of cedar. Also like to just rove and shoot at targets of opportunity. Good to get away from the repetition of the straw bales in the end of my barn. Good to watch the arc of the arrow on longer targets. Learning to adjust trajectory with distance. Good to shoot up hill and down. Shooting across draws kinda throws off my distance perception. How far? Now farther drive than before since they are logging close to home. I have to be a better shot now, my Whoopie dog has passed away. She very, very seldom ever let me lose a bad shot arrow. be safe /be thankful

I generally shoot walk-backs from 5 to 35 or so yards. But, out to 50 occasionally, just for fun and the "long bomb" 1st shot thread. Past 35 will make the short ones look easy, on targets that is, but like what was said above, a live big game animal is a completely different kind of deal! Wyatt

18 meters as of late.

Pic is a robin hood my friend Steve got quite a while back.

Again I say, wow! Lots of good comments. One additional thing I learned from this post is, go ahead and ask a question! You never know when a lot of people will contribute their knowledge and experience.

I know some like flat trajectory shooting, and it is pretty cool. But I like watching the arch of a long shot also. I'm going to just move back further... much further at times... and have fun, whether it's a "good shot" or not. Like almost everyone here, I shoot for the fun of it so why not change it up and have more fun? I'll just have to not criticize myself if I don't get a tight group at 50+ yards!

I shoot the same set-up for hunting and 3D. I like doing walk ups and walk backs at different yards. I shoot 1 shot at each yrd. Usually 8yrds to 30yrds. Sometimes I stretch it out to 40yrds or 50yrds. But for hunting, I keep it to about 20yrds and under.

I think Viper hit the nail on the head. In my backyard I'm shooting from 5 to 25 yards at various angles.

Ok just to show what is possible with modern high tech ILF setup and Stringwalking, walkback 10y to 70y, one missed arrow bottom left of face. I don't do this every time and it took me years of hard work to get to this level. On a good day I can keep a tidy groups to 60y and still be somewhere on paper out to 70y.

With something like a Longbow and woodies I could shoot nice groups out to 30y and keep most scoring out to 50y, it's all relative to the type of equipment you shoot. The key for me is the consistency more than accuracy, to shot 12-13 arrows at each distance and score consistently tells me I'm doing something right.

I'll go back to 45 most days I practice too check out my gaps but concentrate on those 3-D distances of 10 to 40. Can shoot back to 80 yd in the winter on an acreage in South Florida with a 10 ft tall vegetation covered sand pile for a backstop. Will shoot 50 or 55 some days since it is fun.

Unfortunately, after 36 years, someone finally bought the lot in back last winter and may build on it. Was vacant pine tree and and palmetto covered land up till now. Don't think of my old Kodiak Specials as target bows anymore, so don't go to the road to stretch it out now for field archery practice. 'Bout all I shoot now will be those 3-D's. Don't have anymore of those real short light arrows with nibs around either, so shoot what I can, which now are those 3-D's. Not like long ago when I had two field archery clubs in my city in Oklahoma where going to the field range was easy. Maybe when I get rich and win the mega thing, I'll buy lots of different land and make sure we all have plenty of handy dandy field ranges to enjoy.

Could never relate 3-D's to hunting as some have said. Just to having fun. Suppose if I thought I could hit a chipmunk at 120 yd, I would do it, but all I can do now is kill a paper plate at 3-D distances.

Buzz, that's a very good twenty yard group.

Guess I'll chime in...

As a rule, I will take shots from as far away as the situation allows for. In my back yard, that's about 50 feet. At the local club, you can really air 'em out if you like... And I do.

Which brings me to range estimation vs. marked yardage.

JMO, shooting long, unknown distances is fun, but really kind of stupid unless you have a very forgiving backstop - the kind that is either too big to miss or soft enough that it doesn't matter. Losing and/or busting up arrows in bulk quantities has got to get old pretty quick. My personal pain tolerance tops out at about 2 shafts/session

On the other hand.... Shooting long distance at marked range is the ONLY way to learn how to do it, and best approach (again, IMO) is to work out your point-on distance; if you're holding solidly point- on and you still can't group, then it's not your aim that is blowing things up. If you refuse to pay attention to anything but your target, then you really don't know where you're aiming; you'll FIND OUT.... AFTER the fact, of course (assuming that your form is good).

But if you don't know exactly where you're aiming and you aren't hitting your mark, you won't know whether it's your AIM that is off, or your FORM.

You might as well work up a custom load for a rifle shooting off-hand at 200 yards... with no sights.

The odd thing is... You get the impression that some people honestly believe that learning to shoot well at 50 or 60 or 80 yards or more will turn an honest hunter into a wanton, unrepentant wounder of game (which is about as rational as suggesting that owning a gun will turn a mild-mannered person violent.

So JMO, learn your point-on first. Then when you can group around the bull, figure out how many steps closer or farther you need to be in order to hit center by holding point-on at 6:00 and 12:00 on that target face. Then find or (create) an aiming point higher and higher on the target or back-stop or something tall behind the back-stop and keep holding point-on at those marks while your arrows drop into the target so you can get a realistic sense of your group size.

I'm in the early stages of the process, to be sure, because for FAR too many years I confined my shots to ranges where I didn't have much chance of missing a 3D target and blowing up a $12 arrow. But now that I'm using long-range to improve my form, I use the big NFAA targets - just to keep my expenses down... Besides - if you miss "high" or "low" at XX yards on a 3D, you don't know by how much. If you miss high on an 8' vertical surface, you'll know EXACTLY how much too high you really were and you can adjust either your hold or your distance until you've dialed it in...

zetabow, that's nice shooting and inspiring.

Reminds me of a story David Ellenbogen told me. He used to have an archery shop, taught archery and shot in tournaments. Now he just makes the best wood arrows anywhere.

When he he was doing a lot of tournament shooting he had a very expensive bow. I think he said it was over $2K, maybe $3K, and that was about 30+ years ago. People said he was winning the tournaments b/c he had such an expensive bow. To stop their complaining he shot in tournaments for a year with only a kid's style all-fiberglass bow. He still won most of the tournaments.

For most of us, maybe it is the type of equipment. For some, maybe not!

Incidentally - this shows conclusively that I'm still a work in progress.... First attempt shooting a new bow at 65 yards (I had started at 80 and arrows were raining down on a 15-yard long landing strip with the target somewhere near the middle of it).

IIRC, started off shooting point-on with some cant to the bow and was hitting left, then switched to string-blur technique which helped me with the horizontal error.... and introduced a bunch of vertical variability.

But it was pretty cool to see the look on my 11-year-old's face when I brushed that wiffle ball with a fletching at 65...

The more technical bow isn't so much about the cost but the ability to tune it well and shoot light arrows without damaging the limbs, I'm shooting 37# with 285g arrows run out of crawls for a 60y point on. It would be much harder to do that kind of long range accuracy with a rig and arrows that only gave me 35y to 40y point on. The bow is specifically set for IFAA/WA Field rounds but the Stringwalking makes Indoor rounds and short range 3D no problem for me also.

Unlike the USA Field is as popular as 3D in Europe and most Archers don't specialize in only one shooting discipline, they will shoot many different types of tourneys, just because they can. I will shoot World Archery 3D world champs in a few weeks in France, max distance 33y, it's been a while since it happened but great to see USA actually sending a team this year.

Obviously Form and confidence play a part, as GF said a big target boss while learning really helps.

Deer usually no more than 30 yards. Elk and moose 50

I really enjoy shooting long shots but rarely shoot over 80 yards.

Five to 30 metres.

What I shoot when hunting.

I change it up all the time...that's why I love roving!

30yrds max for big game

20yrds is the norm

It's 17.3 for a reason. It would be longer if stick hunters could hit well at longer range, but in general, they can't. If they spent alot more time shooting and really worked at becoming decent distance shots, they could up the range somewhat. Most guys shoot pretty good to about fifteen yards, but their game has completely fallen apart by thirty yards Not all, but most, ime. Include myself in the 17.3 group.

Very few men could consistently hit a soccer ball at thirty yards barebow, shot after shot after shot. VERY few. I kick old soccer ball around our property and hit it with blunts, but only at close range. I can shoot a half dozen at that ball at thirty yards, and hit it once, maybe. BTW you need to have fast raection if that arrow comes back atcha, lemme tell yuh.

Been shooting the field course PSAA normal distance is out to 50 yards. But ya just to air out at the 80 yarder. Most of my deer have been taken under 20 yards and considerably closer since I started staying on the ground.

I'm missing something.

What the hell does your max comfortable hunting distance have to do with how far you're willing to shoot IN PRACTICE??

Especially when establishing decent accuracy at longer range will improve your accuracy at shorter/hunting distance???

Man, do I wish that I'd had the sense to work the NFAA course when I had a club membership and I was getting down there a couple times a week! JMO, anybody who is not spending at least a decent portion of his practice time shooting at the longest distance that his range will allow is missing a GREAT opportunity to improve on his form & accuracy... and that will carry over to any range that a person might care to shoot.

I swear... you'd think people were afraid they'll catch the Good or something!

Well im not a target archer per-say I will take stump shots at long distance,,,but i shoot instinctive,i dont gap or string walk etc My eyes and brain works well from zero to 30yrs and I personally would have to switch shooting styles to be accurate out farther then that And because im a hunter i perfer to practise and train myself in my own effctive hunting range Just my opinion and how i do it,,,,i gave up being cool along time ago : )

I am a Hunter not competitive archer. I have a range in the yard with uphill, downhill and level targets. Each one is marked every five yards from 10-35 yards. I spray a line for marks after I mow each time with orange marking paint. A month before the season I stop refreshing the marks after I mow.

You don't need to be a target archer. The farther you shoot the more you'll refine your shooting which makes close up shots gimmes. Plus shooting 60,70,or 80 yards is just flatout fun.

I'm just an old hunter and hunting shots to me, are inside 25 yards, so that's what I practice the most. I do shoot at longer ranges but I don't carry that over to my hunting. I know some of you live in more open places where longer shots are the norm, but around here, It's 25 and under for me, with 15-20 yards being my favorite. In my humble opinion there's too much that can happen between the time the string slips off my fingers and the arrow reaches the target, to shoot any farther.

Unless I missed something nothing was said about long range hunting. The opening ask about target shooting and I just added that longer distance shooting will greatly improve your hunting distance shooting. Long range magnifies your mistakes so you can corre t them.

Just to add another aspect to this discussion re what's possible and how accurately people can or cannot shoot... I was reading a book about Red Cloud, the 19th century Sioux warrior/chief. In it there was mention of historical observations of Sioux warriors hitting a silver dollar consistently at 30 yards, and a shape the size of a human head consistently at 100 yards. Many of them could do that from horseback also. Of course they didn't have any modern bows, arrows, spine testers, scales, etc. But they did start shooting as toddlers and practiced their whole lives.

GLF, if you're talking to me, my post wasn't directed at you. Renewed archer asked what distances from the target we shot and I was just answering his question with an explanation of why I shoot the distances I do. No offence intended.

Shooting 3D tourney this weekend and friend I coached last two years is kicking my butt, having a blast. This was 28 yards, nice feeling when you someone to push your shooting to the limit.

My crew and I shoot random unknown distances from around 15-65 yds.

At the 3D range those are not necessarily clear shooting lanes either- just to keep it interesting!

More fun.

Better training for real hunting situations out here.

Good to push yourself and get outside your comfort zone too.

Needless to say some of us (like me!) spend a fair amount of $$ on arrows

8-D

Thanks everyone for great posts. I've been changing it up lately and not being too attached to results. Yesterday I shot a 60" bow and it seemed I did the same from 20 to 35 yards. Good shots were good, bad shots were bad! Today I moved back to 40 yards from my usual 30, with a 66" 37# 1961 Kodiak Special, and trying two different spines and weights of arrows. The heavier shaft arrows definitely needed to be lobbed a little higher. But I got both 23/64" and 11/32" shafts fairly close. Some really close, enough to be a thrill and a lot of fun. I'm going to keep shooting my vintage bows with just instinctive technique and see how it goes.

Beautiful!! I can understand what you're talking about when you say you were thrilled with your shooting. After all the years I've been doing this, I still find it exciting, whether I'm shooting targets, or hunting and I can't say that about a lot of other things. Nice shooting!

Got into the groove the following days round and beat my friend by more than 100 points. 50 x 3D max distance was 43y, I had two wounds and I shot 48 kills, 43 were the pro ring. 28 points behind winning Compound (we all shot same stakes)

Towards the end I just got stronger with a lot of encouragement from the guys in my shooting group, not really a long range tourney but I was very please to be so consistently accurate and focused for the day, and shooting with good company really helps.

I practice for hunting situations. I agree with much of the expert advice given you, and I'll add none to it, as I'm not an expert. However, I have a suggestion for you. Since you're doing target shooting, I suggest you concentrate on one target game for now. Shoot the 300 round. 60 arrows at 20 yards, using a single spot 300 round target you can buy from a place like Lancasters. Starting out, I'd limit the rounds to 30 arrows. If you're not fatiguing, you could shoot the full 60 arrows. The 300 will allow you to measure your progress by your scores.

Joe

200 yards ... need I say more

Yes. How you did it. You woke up one day and decided to shoot the bow, went out and hit the stick 200 yards away? Or you studied how to shoot the bow first and with time your arrows started to fall where you wanted? PS Very nice lucky shot.

Could go out as far as 80+yd on this target with a large pile of sand behind it, but the lot behind ours in FL sold last year after being native vegetation since the late seventies. Losing the target was the result. Hoping a new target can be built after the first of the year. It maybe much more limited though in distance due to new neighbors.

Like killing those small diameter paper plates and (they don't mind the string noise) and most of my shooting before the 80+ target got scraped was short 3-D distances. However, I did shoot longer distances occationally to keep satisfied with my old rosewood recurves. Part of my interest with shooting those old bows, is watching arrows arc down into those targets.

I shoot 6 different trad bows so I always warm up at 15,25 yards on a flat surface. I'll then shoot uphill and downhill 25, 45 yards. Then just walk about and vary distances up to 45-50 yards while varying my stance like kneeling, hiding behind tree etc.. I will no longer let friends shoot uphill or downhill, lost too many arrows!. LOL.

I like old threads. At home., 5 to 40 yards. At local range, 25 to 60 yards. In National forests, as far as hope to recover my arrow! I know Shandor has unlimited ranges.

In the summer I shoot broadheads out to 50 yards getting ready for moose season starting August 25. I shoot "cold" shots because that is what counts with hunting.

As Jim Fetrow used to say I focus on "shooting the line". A moose has a very deep kill zone, but one needs to stay away from the scapula, meaning right and left has less leeway.

A moose has a considerably bigger kill zone with a rifle.

By this time of year lack of shooting time generally means an effective range of 25 yards.

DDave

I really dont practice past 20 yd. If im good at 20 I can get a shot at most deer or game. If not. then I pass. Have 20 marked from my blind. I have to shoot past that at 3D sometimes but it usually works out ok.

Roving is a fun great way to practice at any distance youd want, and if your a hunter,which i am. Helps judging distance and shooting around, over,under,intended target's.. i shoot often from 10 to 40 yards...

I usually practice from 20 yards and less, but I will shoot out to 40 yards from time to time, and different shot angles from all distances. The closer it gets to hunting season, I shoot more from probably 15 and less because where I hunt it's nearly impossible to find a place to shoot out to 20 yards due to all the brush.

I shoot out to 80 yards or so routinely. That said, I do think there is something to be said for keeping all of your shots at realistic hunting range during the season unless you have a really well defined system for shooting at longer and pretty well estimated ranges - gapping or string open walking or something like that.

And I say that because my habit is to practice at longer ranges than I am really comfortable with for hunting purposes, and then I find that I tend to miss high and low at short range. Mostly high.

I just love the longer shots. Although I do have to say that keeping things closer is a lot less expensive!

When I shoot by myself I dont do exact yardage, I just shoot. When I shoot with compound friends, I will shoot their yardage, since they have yardage pins, they tend to worry more about yardage. I do however try to get exact yardage for the shot of the day posts on here.

at one point in time I regularly shot my compound to 80 & my favourite practice distance was 50 & at one time my favorite distance with my recurve was 40 & although I had never even heard of gap or point on I believe that was my point on distance. these days I rarely shoot past 40 with my compound & past 25 with recurve or longbows except for stumping I do ocaisonly take long shoots at dirt clods in the field at my house

Normally start at 3 yards ('bale' shots) then work out to 20+. On a good day I'll get out to 30 or so.

I shoot a York round at home twice a week

In the summer months I set up my 25 3D targets. 23 of them are set from 7 to 25 yards but for fun I have a 100 yard moose and a 50 yard buffalo shot. The grand kids love chucking arrows at those two long targets.

I'm a bowhunter, 20 and under...I'll mix it up and sometimes bounce out to 30. But practice for hunting 20 yrds and under;18 yrds being my sweet spot..

All the way!!! Arrowchucker

17.5 yards

I usually shoot at 15 yards but sometimes go out to 40 or so for fun. Depends on my mood. Jawge

I practice from 3 to 45 yards but spend most of my time between 6 and 20 yards. Working primarily on being comfortable shooting shots that I may encounter while hunting or on the 3D courses.

In practice this means I rarely have my feet, my body, or my bow in what might be considered a target archery stance.

I practice shots sitting, kneeling, standing , crouched, and every other possible contorted position I can put my body into as well as every conceivable Bow cant possible from the various body positions from full horizontal both ways.

When I first started I didn't think a right hand shooter could cant the bow to the left fully horizontal and keep the arrow on the shelf but with practice I learned you can with a deep hook and rolling the string as you draw.

I found I am most comfortable and accurate with my feet pointed at four o'clock away from the target, if we call the target twelve o'clock. Certainly not the setup a coach would recommend to a student but from experimentation I have found what works for me. Past 20 yards that is the orientation I choose with the bow vertical. Good Day

5-20. Once in a while 25.

I'm a back yard range shooter. I practice from 5-20 yards. Ive practiced at greater distances, but I'm only a hunter, and do not participate in 3D, and other events. Now I mostly just practice for my self imposed limit of 20 yards.

My first shot is usually from around fifty-five yards, give or take a few steps. I don't know the exact yardage but will step it off after I shoot a time or two. I fully expect to hit a vital at that distance as well, although I don't always, and the longer range makes you fine-down your form.

10 to 20 when I am shooting. I don't have any interest flinging many arrows and out past 20 its a little harder to see even though I had an eye fixed.

I try to limit shooting to the range I'm going to shoot at animals. Now at 3D's that different though. Let her rip.LOL

Thirty five yards is my first arrows to the target. That's just the distance from door to target. Can shoot out to 70 yards at home.

Like shooting the 80 harder at our club. Also like to air them out even further, its just such a romantic thing. Hunting shots at deer twenty yards and under.

That's pretty far for an old guy there hawkeye:)

"My first shot is usually from around fifty-five yards, give or take a few steps. I don't know the exact yardage but will step it off after I shoot a time or two. I fully expect to hit a vital at that distance as well, although I don't always, and the longer range makes you fine-down your form." Saw the youtube video with the Kodiak magnum. Very impressive.I'm only good to 20 with the same bow. After that one out of five arrows is a foot out of the center.

I average 10 to 30 yards.

I shoot out to 30 yards and sometimes farther just for fun. It seems to give me more confidence at the closer shots. That being said I always finish a shooting session up close concentrating on form and creating muscle memory.

0-30

I am 100% with you rattlesnake except for the 30 yard bounce....18 yards is my absolute max distance!!!I practice from 18 yards in....If it's past 18 yards I pass.Archers see how far away they can be for a quick clean kill.....Ethical bowhunters see how close they can get for a quick clean kill and I am a 100% trad bowhunter. I hate long distance shooting whether you're good at it or not. It encourages arrow slinging bowhunters to go ahead and take an irresponsible shot and see what happens.I ran into another bowhunter one evening who had missed a nice buck 2 nights in a row. I asked him how far was the shot??? He replied ONLY(yes he said ONLY) 70 yards. I then replied why would you take such a ridiculously long shot at a game animal?? He said he sees guys at his archery club practicing shots at 70 and farther often so he thought he'd take a crack at a deer and maybe get lucky. I can't stand that stuff !!!

If you take the attitude that 'X is my maximum', it always will be. I prefer to think of my maximum distance as a 'work in progress'.

It may take a full season of shooting to add a yard. Or a couple months of solid, boring 'form' work/practice. What's it worth to you?

When I decided to get a bit more 'competitive' wit my 3-D shooting, I realized that I needed to be at least on target out to 25 yards. Yeah, 5's at that range won't win you many belt buckles but it beats spending time *behind* the target ;-)

I shoot from 20 to 60 yards. Mostly 25-40. I don't hunt anymore so I shoot for the fun of watching fly and to prepare for 3D shoots. I find that when I shoot the longer distances I have to concentrate on all the little things to be consistant. Thats improves my short range accuracy also. I've been keeping all my shots on a 30" target at 60 yds lately so I may try backing up another 10 .Pic is a 40 Ydgroup.

del of logan!!! Good shooting!!!!

"I hate long distance shooting whether you're good at it or not. It encourages arrow slinging bowhunters to go ahead and take an irresponsible shot and see what happens."

No disrespect meant but that statement is not true my friend. Field shooters...past and present, and currently FITA field and other target archers who bowhunt, are as ethical as you or anyone else and don't take shots they know they likely won't make. Just because you ran into some folks who do it, doesn't make at a major issue.

I'm one of those long distance shooters for fun and competition, and my longest shot taken at a deer in the wild was less than 35 yards, and the average is under 20. My long distance shooting make me more confident in the hunting woods when that deer walks by at twenty yards, so let's not paint with such a broad brush.

15-18 yds.for hunting,20 yd.at 3D's

Wow, I'm amazed to see this thread pop up again. I started it as Renewed Archer... had to change my log in name so I'm using my regular name.

I've been setting up bales further out, gradually, on a hill behind my house. Now I have them at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60 and 70 yards. In another place I have 100 yard bales set up but haven't shot there yet. I've been going through old and new bows shooting at 70 yards, seeing which bows work best and with what arrows... which often are different than for shooting closer. It's been great fun. I love seeing the arrows sail through the air in graceful arcs.

I'm still just shooting instinctive. I don't keep score, I just try to get a perfect shot at whatever distance I'm shooting. For myself, I define a perfect shot as being within half a shaft width of the exact center of the target. It might take a dozen arrows, it might take over 100 arrows, it might not happen at all. But more and more it is happening. This was my shooting today, from 70 yards, with a 1960 43# 64" Kodiak, which is 47# for me. I shot 84 arrows. Missed the bales entirely with 16 arrows. But these 4 made it all worthwhile.

My first perfect shot at 70 yards was with a 28# 64" Kodiak Deluxe, a few months ago. Since then I've had 14 perfect shots, with bows from 24 to 48#s. When I figure out which bows shoot which arrows the best I'll move on to the 100 yard bales... which are marked off every ten yards.

This much fun is a real surprise, coming later in my life.

Thanks everyone for your comments, advice and encouragement.

This is where I shoot. I've had to get new, lighter arrows to shoot at the longer distances. Fortunately I've been able to get some from Suzanne St. Charles, that are tapered 1/4" to 5/16", and some a little bigger. However, some bows do better with much heavier shafts, even though the arrows have to be lobbed higher.

I agree with what others said, shooting long range really makes one work on form. And concentration. Even vision. Since I started this thread, I've also been using a rotational draw. That has allowed me to shoot more arrows and heavier bows, without pain, and to shoot better. Now I can shoot bows up to the high 50#s, although not very often, and I don't shoot them as well as lighter bows. Yet.

I also still shoot "up close", which for me is 25 yards. I'm actually not comfortable shooting closer than that. Probably b/c when I was growing up, most of my shooting was 50 to 100 yards or as far as my bow would shoot. Even though I missed 43 years of shooting, I shot so much as a kid and teen that long range shooting just is more natural for me. I've tried shooting at 20 yards or less, it is very difficult! And not much fun, for me.

As others have said, shooting farther out improves shooting closer in, just as shooting light bows improves shooting heavier bows. And it's so much fun! I encourage anyone to expand their shooting range.

I love finding one of my fields full of round bales. Fun long distance shooting . 50 yards is a pretty common shooting distance for me. Most likely its because I can put my coffee cup on the back porch rail. It's 51 yards from the rail to backstop .

Long shots are liberating. Outside our comfort zone. Past 45 yards are above my point on and really help me not care nor think about aiming. I have better form and follow through.

Welcome back Shandorweiss!

"How far away from target do I shoot" Actually I try to hit it. When I shoot too far away from it the arrows are harder to find. :^) That Shandor guy is a shooting machine and he has the finest OLD bows in the country. He also has the best archery ranges. >>>>>------> Ken

Okie... I knew I was missing something when I shoot! I'm gonna have to put a little stand where I shoot, and put my coffee mug on it.

Mark... that's it! Long shots are liberating.

Ken... yes, the arrows are harder to find. I usually miss the 70 yard bales about 15-20% of the time! But one benefit of shooting on a hillside is that they don't go so far.

My backyard range goes to 38 yds, so that's all I can do at home. At my field club, I'll shoot to about 50. I don't really enjoy shooting farther at the moment. That might change if I ever have the time to invest in longer range development.

I was at my club yesterday shooting with a few folks, and I made a couple of really good shots from well on out there, which was quite a bit of fun. I got a little too brave, though, after a while…

I lofted one through the trees at 73 yards as lasered by one of the guys who was shooting the highest-tech rig I have ever seen in my life. Bow-mounted, arrow- calibrated range-finding sight that puts the dot right on the money. He never missed, it seemed like.

But he sure did get a kick of out seeing my arrows arc down into a target from20 feet off the ground.

I’m going back this afternoon to see if I can locate that arrow Iaunched from 73.....

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