Just curious about everyone’s average and max distance deer kills. Mine are zero and zero, with a bow at least.

Average 12 yards. Max 20.

Regardless of weapon, many average shot on whitetails from up in a tree is about 12 yards. Maybe 30 from the ground, including a couple in the 60-80 yard range with assorted rifles, but in thickly settled areas, I prefer shooting down at a steeper angle to eliminate ricochet.

Longest killing shot with a bow was my first; 28 on a mule deer which stood up in his bed to check me out as I filtered my way through a bedding area one afternoon. I will confess to a few longer attempts in my first few years, but none of those ever drew blood.

Phew!

Average 14 yards / furthest 39 yards. All compound bow. The vast majority of deer I have come by my stands anymore are from 10 yards- 15 yards.

Ave. = 15 yards. Longest = 53 yards, this was back in '64. Nowadays I rarely shoot over 25 yards. Kills were with recurve, and compound bows.

Average 7-12 yds. Max around 22 yds,

Average about 6 yards, longest was 9 and that was this year.

I would shoot further if I had to, so far so good.

average 20 max 30

Just out of curiosity if one shoots instinctively and doesn't consciously estimate range how could one day with any certainty?

Speaking only for myself, I paced it off after the fact. Honestly, I was surprised that it was that long, but in the moment I had zero doubt.

I don't shoot instinctively but I do carry a rangefinder. Always ranging every tree and bush around me out to 30 yards or so.

Then they just come right on in...

Average 12-15. Maximum 23. Stepped of all shots just so I'd know.

Minimum about 12 feet, maximum what looks like 30/35 yds, I didn't pace it just it looked about that much. Missed one at like 35/40 or so too. All recurve. Now I stick to my own rule of 3/10s of a second. What that means is that if you shoot 180 fps that translate to 18 yds max, a crossbow at 400 fps , 40 yds max. I shoot 190 , so 19 yds is my max. that minimizes the chance of a deer jumping the string.

I've killed deer directly below me so zero yards, and at 30 yards. My average is closer to 20 or a bit under.

My average is 18 yards. I like to keep my Max to about 30 yards although I’ve shot them farther under perfect conditions

Thanks y’all. I dropped one at about 17 yds with a handgun once. Would like to beat that with a recurve. Looks like it will have to be next season at this rate.

Average 22 yrs with recurve max was 37 longest with compound 78 yards,

I went from 35 to 40 when I was younger I felt I could shoot out to then 20 to 10 when I got older simply because of Eyesite.

A few times I was on a paid hunts when I had to shoot further or along a field edge in the open in thick cover the shots were longer.

Animals right under me forget it I had difficulty's so I either waited till they went past or shot them coming towards me.

I learned over the years to move in closer if I had set up to far for the shot. I moved the stand for the next shot in closer to where animal had been coming out.

As you get older your Eyesite may very well adjust your shot distances.

I shot an antelope at 63 yards RC as he went under the fence chasing a doe. He was a giant and as I watched the arrow hit it was like in still motion and thought it wasn't going to get to him in enough time. He dropped down to go under fence and arrow hit him in his right ham. Never saw so much blood and guide said you got him he's a monster. I said no lets push him and bleed him out he got up in the dark when you came to get me and walked off bleeding. I'm telling you you have him look at this blood and look at your arrow. He's going to die.

The shot was supposed to be 15 yards and when I shot is was 63 yards. The long shot was blocked in with logs. Well the doe and him pushed trough the long distance and I let him have it and it resulted in a wounded animal. Had the timing been a little sooner when I released the arrow the outcome would have been a 17 inch antelope. The vertical was good but the horizonal timing was off a little at that distance. I felt I had it timed right but no my judgment was off.

Outfitter got the animal 2 weeks later with a gun and the outfitter said there had been a gash in the right rear leg that was festered and that was the one I shot. He couldn't understand how that animal didn't die that night. I said arrow shot critters is a game of inch's and tried to tell you that night we needed to push that animal to bleed him out and keep his wound open. He learned a lesson and so did the guide and I learned a lesson as well never trust the guide or the Outfitter if they weren't archers. They don't really understand the complete arrow game.

At longer distances more things can happen that increase more variables than with close shots. There's many reasons to shoot close but sometimes you still should be confident enough to be able to take a longer shot.

10-28ish yds

10-15 but I did shoot a doe this year at 30yds I felt good with that shot

Around 11yds. Longest 28yds.

12 to 15 yards with a recurve. I did shoot an antelope at 62 yards with a compound years ago.

Average about 15 yds, longest 40, closest 3. Treestands,ground blinds, and deer "pushes". All Longbows and Recurves, never owned anything else.

Usually with a recurve my kills are 15-18 yards. I have killed a deer at 38 yds and antelope 40 yds. Bear 6-8 yds.

My 39th season in all those years most deer have been shot between 12-15 yards. My longest kill shot was 32 yards. Honestly didn't know at the time it was that far when I shot. I usually don't think much about yardage, just can I make the shot or not. I try to set up for 15 yard shots when hunting.

I have only killed one deer with a trad bow, and that was this season. So my average and longest shot are the same, I'm going it call it 12 yards.

That's a tough question, because I don't think that way. Plus it would take too long to do the math which I'm not good at. I'm a gapper that doesn't judge distance, so when I look at an animal it's with the though, 'I can make that shot'. I do pace off my shots for my log book.

Here's an example of one of my goof ups. I was sitting near an elk wallow in a tree. The tree was 12 yard down wind. Kind of marshy in a field up wind. A bull came out on the far side of that field and started walking to the wallow. He had to walk over 300 yard, but he was on a B line to the wallow. While he was walking I turned my left shoulder to the wallow. This put his line of travel almost at my back.

It was dead calm. He stopped at 18ish yards and drank at a little hole I never saw. Should I shuffle my feet and shoot or wait until he gets to the wallow. I decided to wait.

When he was done drinking he assended me and walked away. The he turned broadside and you know what I thought, "I can make that shot". I shot and he went about 60 yards. I paced off the shot - 45 yards. Pays to practice at 60 yards. If I had judged the distance I'm sure I wouldn't have shot.

Bowmania

over a 10 year period i kept track of my kill shots with a bow and it came out to 16 yds , my longest shot was 35 yds with a recurve.

Average over 56 yrs and 200 kills - 17 yards- Longest 65-70 in 1973 with stickbows

If you take shots over 20 yards with a recurve you are going to cripple more animals no matter how good of shot you are. It isn't like target shooting out there. To many things can and do happen as range increases.

10-15 yrds mostly. Longest 27 yrds. I limit shots at deer to 20 yards.

Average 14 yards, shortest 3 yds, longest on deer was 22 steps although I did shoot a red fox at 27 steps.

My average is about 11 yards. My farthest about 27-28yards. I’ve killed 2 at that distance

Not for sure as only a few I've checked, but I would guess about 10-12 yards. For a long time my long shot was 16 yard until about '92 or '93. Shot a spike at 46 paces. I couldn't believe it was that far and I must have miscounted. Turned around and paced 46 back to where I'd shot from. Like a couple others have mentioned, at the moment the shot was presented, it just seemed....right. I will confess that I had been doing a lot of shooting at 50 yd that summer. Had just learned string making. Right outside the door and 50 yd away was a big stump with dark woods for background. The distance made it easy to watch the arrow fly to see if my string(s) were decent or "crap".

Steve

Everyone has their own capability and their own set of personal ethics and that should be good enough. Ultimately, some folks won't 'fess-up' to taking a longer shot, in fear of being bad- mouthed by the trad ethics police, and we know that happens here.

Mine is what it has been and will continue to be that in the future, depending on my mood at the time......maybe. A little archive investigation though will show this same topic several dozen times...a good way to check on people to see if theirs have changed. LOL

As Tennessee Ernie Ford (and many others) sang, "Ain't nobody's business but my own". :)

Average 10-12 yards, longest a big doe at 37ish. Shot felt good, longbow held almost horizontal seated in a treestand. She was a pain in the butt, glad I got her.

Average 12 - 14 yds and my longest was about 27 yds. I shoot "instinctively" and don't think about yardage when taking a shot, but always have a general awareness of the distance.

Average is 12-15 yards. Longest, just shy of 30. A few in the 25-26 yard range.

Avg 12ish. Max was a 42yrd Tree stand shot.

I'm nobody special. 17.3 so that would put my max around 34.6. :o) Regards

Only one kill with recurve, that was 5 yards. Average when I used a compound was around 10 yards. wpab

15 and under, shot one at 26 this year. I really worked on some long range shooting this summer felt good out 30

Mean, Median, or Mode. LOL

Average shot is around 10 yards. I did shoot one about 15 years ago when I was on top of my game for the year, just a little over 30 yards.

Fdp beat me to it. I don’t know what my average is but it’s close

Thanks y’all. The average is about where I expected but the range is much broader than I would have guessed. Everything from 6 feet to 70 yards with trad equipment. Interesting.

Less than 20 yards average. Something like 30 yards max.

My shortest big game kill shot...20'. My longest..75 yards. Average is around 30-35. I live in a wide open place where a 20 yard shot looks close enough to spit on them. So not knowing distance and shooting instinctively helps. If I have confidence and I believe I can hit it, I shoot.

15-25 yards for Whitetail. Practiced for Elk at 40 yards but never a kill on Elk.

Sunset Hill for the win!!! Shawn

As best as I can recall over my now 35 years of bow hunting, my average will be between 12-15 yds; longest was about 25 yds. The longest shot I remember was about 35 yards while in college- shot under him.

The scariest thing is realizing I’m now in the final days of my 35th season!

Sunset Hill, well said, my most recent LONG shot was on a buck chasing a doe around me for 15 minutes, when a finally stopped in the open I drilled him. He dropped very close to where he was hit and I thought that's further than I shoot so I paced it off, it was 51 yards but I was so tuned in the shot took out both lungs. Never thought about the distance.

My average is close...12yds maybe as most hunting is done from tree stands.. My longest shots have been "heat of the moment" decisions...not always good ones. One of the longest maybe 40yds. was after I was certain the first shot connected well at about 15yds but the deer stopped and wasn't dropping. Flung another and hit...got down to find the first arrow was a clean miss. Deer was recovered , so happy ending but not quite text book. Stuff happens out there.

Most kill shots 12 yds or less. Longest 27. I always base it on my confidence level. Usually 27 yds looks pretty far for a deer. Even 20 can look far in the woods. I’ve missed a pile of elk at 30+ I shoot underneath em. All DIY public land. In fact not a year goes by where I haven’t missed one. Lol. They’re just big and farther shots, and tough terrain. I’ve started to stray from Trad on those hunts... I like to make Trad a short game.

Late for this thread but this is a very important subject for me especially in our modern era of social media. As a life long bowhunter I’ve watched a negative trend (IMO) of longer and longer kill shots posted on platforms like Instagram being acceptable. Longer being in excess of 80, 90 and even 100 yards. I’m from Nevada where we have opportunity to some of the largest bulls and bucks on the planet and have witnessed so call bowhunters letting an arrow fly at animals over 100 yards. Call me old school but IMO we should be working as much on our hunting skills as we do on our shooting skills. I’ve been a trad hunter since I was a boy and have taken big game from 5 yds to 18 yds and have a self imposed max of 20 yds. Why? Not because I’m a horrible shot, but because I deeply respect the animals I hunt and cherish the opportunity to hone my ability’s as a hunter. I fail more than I succeed and that’s ok, at the end of the day I’m a better hunter than i was that morning. A kill photo is secondary to me when compared to the memories I have of all the close encounters I have had. Don’t ever let the increased yardages disconnect yourself from why we started bowhunting.

Best archery shot I ever made was with a compound. Hit a deer in the eye at 125 yrds, first shot. It was a 3D deer at a novelty shoot. Still didn't win anything, as usual.

James

Average 12 to 15 longest 28ish

How about we ask P&Y to disqualify any animal taken with a rangefinder?

Oh, wait. Never mind. They already caved on let-off, so that toothpaste ain’t goin’ back in the tube.

The best we can hope for is that states which do not have a pressing need to trim there deer herds as much as possible will wise up I realize that archery seasons are supposed to be more then just a set of dates on the calendar. Hunter Density Management.

For me, Nevadabulls nailed it! My max so far - 23yds, thought it was 20. Avg about 20yds w/ trad. Don't shoot past about 25yds. Practice to 35, but getting older and less confidence, even though I'm still deadly on targets out to 35yds! Now w/ vermin, the ranges change!;^)

My shortest was my first at about 8 or 9 feet shooting thru a bush. My average is about 23 give or take because my setups are at about 25 yards for whitetails. I find deer react by looking first if you're not too close then they're hit by the time they decide to run. Too close and they practically turn inside out gathering to run from a percieved predators final lunge. My longest paced off to 43 or 44 yards and was on a mule deer buck.

X2 Nevadabulls !

I am seeing that "long distance archery thing" in AZ. Works until it doesn't. Animals move.... My average: 14.75 yards Longest: 21 yards, down a hill.

“ I am seeing that "long distance archery thing" in AZ. Works until it doesn't. ”

I think a lot of game departments are seeing that in a lot of states, with all of the focus recently on “1000 yard“ rifles and shooting animals at ridiculous distances off of sandbags. It’s not just archery… It’s a seismic shift in the whole Sporting ethic.

Bad news all around.

Average 17. Farthest deer killed was at 20. The last 5 opportunities were 5-10 yards.

Average 11, Longest 27.

Average 12, longest 18

Spot on GF with the seismic shift. The most troubling thing is that it is becoming the new normal across the board particularly with younger generations never knowing or having an opportunity to experience anything different. We are little by little taking the hunt out of hunting.

Yup.

We have a drop-box library at the park where you can swap your literary treasures and I grabbed a copy or three of Guns & Ammo.... In addition to an article on a “muzzleloader” which lets you seat your bullet via the muzzle and then breech-load a powder cartridge (FFL required), I came across an article on a rifle in .338 Win Mag; the author had always dreamed of a hunt for a big, Alaskan grizz, so this was a hunt of a lifetime, right?

He got his one chance across a big river, so he built himself a shooting platform by stacking up rocks and padding it with a backpack, cranked a come-up one notch on the scope turret, and shot his Bear through the chest from a nearly a quarter mile out. 410 lasered yards.

These ain’t The Old Days anymore, and it’s a damn shame, because I think Old School hunting probably stand a chance at the ballot box, but that kind of stupidity just won’t sell.

How is it that some people cannot grasp the difference between giving an animal every reasonable opportunity to escape, and plunking one at such a distance that the animal could be 100% aware of exactly where the hunter is and simply not give a rip?

But hey, as long as they can brag about it at the water cooler at work…

Where’s the Pucker Factor in THAT??

Shawn......Are you actually saying there is no greater chance of wounding game the longer the shot ?????? If you are, then that is the real BUNK !!!!!!! papabear is 100% correct. Does game get crippled at shorter distances???? Of course but......There would be a lot less cripples if hunters would simply shorten their max shot distances no matter their ability !!!

Shawn......Are you actually saying there is no greater chance of wounding game the longer the shot ?????? If you are, then that is the real BUNK !!!!!!! papabear is 100% correct. Does game get crippled at shorter distances???? Of course but......There would be a lot less cripples if hunters would simply shorten their max shot distances no matter their ability !!!

The 17 yard thing in bowhunting is the newest thing in distance. The generation before mine took much longer shots regularly. Watch a FB video, or read about HH's shots, or better yet talk to Larry Hatfield. Not saying its right or wrong but your making it sound like something new when our average shots today with stickbows is much shorter than in the past.

JMO, The whole 17 yard thing is right if people are proficient out to 20 or 25 and simply enjoy getting closer, with the side benefit of fewer things going wrong, all else being equal, of course!

(as if that ever happened…)

I have no issue with bowhunters using sights. Releases weren’t legal when I started into Bowhunting, so of course, they’re on my list of Factors Contributing to the Demise of Bowhunting. But let’s be serious for just a minute here… It’s the let-off and the lasers that are ruining the whole concept of Fair Chase. For years and years and years in Colorado, everybody knew that the average shot distance on an Elk during rifle season was 70 yards.

Now, a good number of entirely mediocre shots think they’re solid at 70, because the object of their man crush says he did it in a magazine article.

I have taken many deer with varied archery tackle. From recurves, compounds, and with the hated weapon-horizontal--well you all know. My longest shot has been 38 yards, and I have been hunting since the early 1970's. Much of this is a self imposed limit, but I either try to get closer, and if in a stand, I limit myself to a self imposed distance. With a recurve I like them 20 yards, and into 10. I do not take steep angle shots. I like knowing that I can get an arrow into both lungs, and not just one. I will admit I have passed up many animals due to bad angles quartering, and steep downward angles under my stands I have hunted out of. My highest percentage of distances has been around 20 yards on Whitetailed deer.

Shawn...you know me. I always kept my shots at big game 25 yds and under. Then on my 2nd mule deer hunt in Wyoming, I passed a few good ones that were 40. The guys out there told me "That should you need to take, nothing between you and deer but low sage and air." They all had 60 yd pins on their compounds.

I practiced diligently out to 40 remainder of hunt and killed my biggest mule deer at.......12 yds. However, back in NY I started practicing out to 35-40. My concentration improved, my accuracy improved not only at longer distances but close range shots. Now, I have killed whitetails over 30 yds numerous times BUT I waited for the right situation.

Mean....undisturbed, feeding or just walking by. Never when they are on alert. This year...same. 30 yds trotting by following a doe. Led him, released and 100 yds later, standing over the kill

I forget who it was who wrote it, but many years ago I read an article in which the author (probably Chuck Adams) stated that it can be a mistake to let them get too close, because a sudden, unnatural noise in very close proximity will turn them inside out trying to get the hell out of there. His observation was that at somewhat longer yardage… really depends on the individual animal’s personal space Zone... but the proposition was that maybe we are best off learning what that envelope is for each type of animal that we hunt (and how that varies from one place to the next) ... and the recommendation was that we try to stay just barely beyond it.

I know that an awful lot of us truly relish the idea of making the shot inside of that animal’s safety bubble, but if the outcomes of our shots tend to be better from a few yards further out, then we probably owe it to ourselves and the animals to learn to stretch those last few yards. Reliably and accurately, to be sure.

Definitely a judgment call, wouldn’t you say?

And of course we have a huge advantage with our stick bows, which are so much quieter than the Contraptions... and a much more natural sound, as well.

Good point GF, I understand what Adam’s is saying although it all depends on the situation and conditions. I cow called In a giant bull one time to under 6yds. He was broadside when I drew and shot but not looking straight at me, rather looking ahead with his head slightly down trying to wind the cow he thought was close by. The arrow buried itself into his side almost all the way to the nock. All that was sticking out was about an inch of fletch. The broadhead had almost broke through his rib on the opposite side. At that moment he jerked his head up and looked the opposite direction but just stood there. I was shocked, thinking I need to grab another arrow. He turned his head my way and I could see his right eye lock onto the nock and fletch sticking out his side, he then jumped sideways away from me and tore trees branches off getting out of there. Piled up in the bottom of the canyon. I surmised he felt the broadhead strike his rib on the off side. Moral of the story, he didn’t see, smell or even here my almost silent black wolf longbow. Like any situation you gotta know when to move and when not to. Agreed it is always a judgment call we need to make sure we get right!

From 7-35 yards for me, most being between 10-15 yards. To me, that’s what bow hunting is, getting close.

“ To me, that’s what bow hunting is, getting close.”

Yep, but the definition of Close is pretty subjective. Sitting up in a tree, waiting for a Whitetail to wander by… I figure 5 yards is Close. I like to set up in funnel areas and make my bets based on which trails I think will deliver the goods, given what I’m looking for on a given day.

But I would hazard a guess that there are not a lot of successful Elk and mule deer hunters who average between 10 and 15 yards. Not saying I wouldn’t generally prefer that kind of a distance, but you can’t bank on that the way that you can when you’re 10 or 20 feet up a tree, watching over a scrape, trail, or bait- pile...

In the open sagebrush areas I hunt, it's not always spot and stalk like the magazine articles and TV shows say...spitting range shots. Sure, we like closer shots but if we relied on getting 20 yards and under, a lot of us would go hungry. But you can't put that out there for the general PC crowd to read. ??

Like I said earlier, if I'm confident, I shoot. All my hunting is feet on the ground as there are no sagebrush tall enough or large enough to hang a stand and the deer wander too much to pattern them for a ground blind in my country. This year I had a chance to sneak up on and shoot at a crippled three legged buck. I got a 20 yard broadside shot as he was clearing some sage. Timing the shot, I was drawing and releasing as his chest opened up. He saw my movement and did an inside out 180 spin as I watched the fletch spinning to his chest...and the arrow missed. Yet when I shoot longer shots the deer don't even move until the arrow strikes. Each situation is different but I'd rather shoot at deer that don't react spooked because I'm too close and they hear or see each movement.

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