West hunting shooting distances

[grumthompson]

How far do you think someone should be comfortable shooting prior to hunting out west? I’ve heard upwards of 70 yards would be appropriate before. Any ideas?

 

[Billy Goat]

It depends on terrain, how you are hunting.


It's better to know what you are actually capable of, and staying in that, then trying to push yourself to a certain number.


Understand how you shoot in different positions, situations.

 

[jimh406]

Like anywhere, it depends on how tight the cover is. Hunt the cover that makes sense for your ability.

An easy thing to do is watch "hunting" videos, you'll see a variety of different ranges in kill shots.

 

[JJ1179]

Are you referring to archery or rifle?

 

[Hnthrdr]

Sounds like archery. It depends on the individual, personally I’m not stretching it past 65 on an animal. Lots can happen while that arrow is in the air

 

[trophyhill]

You should be comfortable at whatever distance you are comfortable with. Out west or back east or anywhere else you hunt. Get em up close and this question goes away ;

 

[MT-nuffgun]

I have killed 3 elk with a bow. 1st at 37 yards, second at 23 yards, third at 60 yards. I practice out to 60 yards with broadheads. I keep things pretty simple with a 5 pin sight. The area I hunt is pretty open and 90% of my elk hunting is spot and stalk. Biggest issue I run into with this style of hunting is the ability to accurately judge distance without a range finder and be able to think/react fast. The bull I killed this year started at fifteen yards after a calculated stalk. Things went to hell before I could raise up enough to clear a branch. Bull ran out a ways and stopped broadside to look back, I held for 60 and it was true. Bull piled up 40 yards later.

 

[Elk97]

I figure that if I'm extremely confident that I can hit a tight group at a set distance on a stationary target my max range on an elk is 10 yards less than that. Might bump that up if elk is not aware of me and standing perfectly broadside. No matter what I wouldn't take a shot over 60 or so, too much respect for the animal to risk a bad hit. From some of the threads here I think the average distance of shots taken is less than 50.

 

[Dennis]

For me I would say 0-40 yards are my most common archery shot distance. I practice out to 60 yards and my longest shot has been 55 yards. Getting as close as possible with as lethal of set up as possible is my goal.

 

[pirogue]

How far do you think someone should be comfortable shooting prior to hunting out west? I’ve heard upwards of 70 yards would be appropriate before. Any ideas?

Uggh, what are you hunting. Vitals area size varies greatly. I practice out to 60-70. That being said, I’d feel comfortable shooting at an elk at 60 yards, but not a pronghorn or Coues.

 

[camelcluch]

Out to 60 but practice as far as possible

 

[MattB]

I will never understand why people delineate between "back east" and "out west". Distance. time, and physics are the same in both regions. The 0-40 response is the one that resonates most closely to me. Last year I killed my buck at 25 yards spot and stalk.

 

[ddowning]

I do not hunt out west. I am an archer. I practice to 100 yards and can keep my shots in a whitetail kill zone at 90 yards. The furthest I will shoot at a whitetail is 50 yards. I have shot them successfully to 64 yards when my personal imposed limit was 60 yards. I live in an area with more doe tags available than hunters to buy them. After shooting a lot of deer, I noticed that all the weird stuff happened past 50 yards. Also, a lot of spine hit on string jumpers in the 30-35 yard range. Every deer I have killed has been with the same bow and a similar arrow setup running around 300 fps. (Yes, my bow is ancient, 2002 model, bought new).

If I planned on hunting out west, I would probably ask this of the people I trust. Just because you can stack arrows at distance and pull 80 or 90# of draw weight does not mean that the animal will stand there and take it. The only reason I would shoot past 50 on a whitetail is a follow-up shot on an already hit deer. My guess would be the same exists for Mule deer and elk if you find someone with the killing experience to answer.

 

[Will-will hunt]

I regularly PRACTICE out to 100yds, limit hunting to inside 40yds.

 

[Bigborealaska]

For me I would say 0-40 yards are my most common archery shot distance. I practice out to 60 yards and my longest shot has been 55 yards. Getting as close as possible with as lethal of set up as possible is my goal.

This 100%. It's not definitive because there are areas i've been in that are gnarly and a shot under 20 is the only shot you could take because of all the deadfall and trees. In the same region 2 miles down the mountain its wide open and a 60 yard shot is feasible.

 

[wapitibob]

In the last 50 years I've shot one time past 35 yards.

 

[Marble]

I regularly shoot past 100 with accuracy of a pie plate. I would shoot at animal that far out if circumstances were just right. But rarely will they be just right.

The animal would need to be either bedded or feeding, not alert.
No wind
As little angle or side hill as possible.

I am very comfortable out to 60 shooting at animals in any condition. In the last 5 years I haven't shot an animal past 51 yards. Most have been 25-45.

For me the further I practice, the easier closer shots are.

 

[DayBreaker]

I practice out to 60 but don't plan to shoot more than 40 unless it's a follow up. Having the confidence to shoot another 20-30 yards if it runs and stops after a hit is comforting.

 

[mavinwa2]

Depends on your western terrain hunted.
In the northern pines of AZ, shot opportunities are often <50 yards.

I hunt mostly AZ desert areas and other open terrain.
In this terrain, if you can't shoot a BH accurately at 70-yards, your opportunities will be severely limited.
My max shot is out to 80 yards, if conditions allow. Wind/Breeze over 5mph, that shot distance gets limited to 50/60 yards max.
Muley buck image in avatar taken at 67-yards, little breeze, no significant wind. Pass-thru, taking out heart, lungs and buck down for the count inside of 90yds, within eyesight.

NOTE: it's one thing practicing, shooting with your feet on level ground.
Quite another in the field; up & downhill, uneven ground affecting stance. At camp, I also practice with my stance on uneven ground, makes a difference and checking the sight bubble becomes a necessity.

 

[roosiebull]

I can’t think of a situation where I would be tempted to shoot an elk past 40yds on the first shot. I practice a lot further, but I prefer to keep it simple in the woods

The last Friday of the season I had the bull I’ve been trying to kill the last 3 years, for 5+ minutes quartered away @ 62yds, I have 100% confidence that bull would have been dead inside 100yds, but what if?

When I was younger, I shot a bull at 54yds that was 100% calm and feeding, he took a step as I shot and I hit him probably 8” back (luckily it was in a clear cut and I still watched him die) that’s always stuck with me, even though I’m way better at reading animal behavior, I want them closer…

It really makes me cringe when someone talks about their first archery critter past 75yds, seems like early in your archery hunting career is the worst time to be shooting long bombs.

At the end of the day, it’s up to the individual, some people are excellent shots, and excellent under pressure… most people are neither, and most aren’t as good as they think they are

My best advice is never shoot out of desperation, you will almost certainly regret it. It’s fair to say, your worst arrows at any range will likely be similar to shots in the woods hunting, it’s always a place you’ve never shot before, possibly uneven terrain, and your form will not be what it is in the back yard.

Only you can know how far you are comfortable shooting, everyone is at a different skill level