Your Comfort Level

[Swede]

The shoot or don't shoot pictures we get for discussion are interesting and I suppose it gives us an idea where different hunters are comfortable taking a shot. But do they really reveal the whole story? This past weekend I watched over four hours of hunting on my home DVD setup. In those shows I saw a great archery shooter make kills at 80 yards. I also saw some misses and one critter get killed with a shot through the ethereal artery in a ham. What I did not see was any wounded animal get away to die lost to the hunter.
When I took elk into the butcher shop in Burns, Oregon I observed a shelf with many different broadheads on display. They had all been embedded in animals brought in for butchering. The broadheads were not ones that came from the proud owner of the animal. The animal had been shot long before and got away once.
What I am saying is that when you release an arrow or a bullet, it is going to hit somewhere. Once the arrow is in flight you have no more control over it or the animal you shot at. Even though I admire the big game hunter that can stack arrows at the indoor range and has ice water in his veins when he sees the trophy he wants. With his skill he has killed a lot of big game and knows how they react when hit. This gives him a great advantage over most of us. I still think he takes some very risky shots.
I am not perfect either. I have made bad shots and lost game. Several times I have been included in ground searches for other hunters lost game. It happens but we can and must minimize wounding of animals. Be as careful as you can be and don't overestimate your shooting range. If anyone tells me they have never missed or left a wounded animal to get away, I know they have little experience shooting big game. That is not an excuse to be callous or to take risky shots. It is a call to know your skill and not think you are better than you are. When bow hunting, I absolutely limit myself to forty-yard shots on deer and elk. I do not shoot moving animals. Like many of you I let many animals get away. I hate searching for days and wondering where one went after making a poor shot.

[Lefty]

My dad taught us we only take the shot that will kill animal.

We didn't take shots where one would most likely kill the animal and certainly not a shot you hope to make.

I cant think of ever loosing a big game animal to a bad shot( Oh I have missed some)

When I pull the trigger I expect the animal to drop, Im am notorious if the crosshairs come back down on a standing animal there is a 2nd shot immediately no matter how much blood is being pumped out a the moment


Archery I still try for the perfect shoot,,, but that hasnt been perfect

[Indian Summer]

My comfort zone with elk is 40 yards. But… I don’t need a 10 yard pin. That’s point blank with a high poundage bow. So my top pin is 15 yards. Next is 25 yards then 35 and 45 yards. So I practice to 45 yards. But I will only shoot to 35 when hunting. Murphy’s Law you know! Too many variables past 40 and when it comes to wounding an elk I avoid that at all costs.

My arthritis has gotten really bad. Turning a doorknob or getting the lid off of a water bottle is not easy. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to shoot my Matthews bow. I received a new crossbow as a gift this past Christmas. It’s very lightweight and narrow. Wyoming allows crossbow during archery season. I’m thinking about taking it out for both season. The next time I draw a license. If I did, I would only shoot elk to 40 yards with it. I can sink broadheads in a bull’s-eye at 50 yards all day long. But as with any archery shot, the conditions would have to be right. But 40 yards max for me.

[Swede]

Indian Summer. I am amazed. I suffer with arthritis too and am dealing with the same problems. It is weakening me so I cannot draw my bow like I used too. I had to detune the bow last season to 56#. At the rate I am going, I hope for a couple more good seasons. After I hang up my bow, maybe I can mentor a couple of hunters who are struggling to get an elk.

[Swede]

Lefty, missing a shot means you did not hit the exact spot you intended to. If the miss is big enough you did not touch the animal. If it was less of a miss, you just wounded it. Are all of you misses so great you did not wound the animal and all of your hits perfect? That seems very unlikely if you have shot at animals many times. Just my thought.

[7mmfan]

This is part of the reason that I gave up archery hunting. I'm a stickler for the perfect shot, and many years went by where I passed on several shots in a season because it wasn't perfect. However in that time, and with all that experience, the success I gained when I picked up a rifle again was staggering.

I have 3 shots that haunt me in my career. Two with a rifle, one with a bow. The archery shot was a large mule deer doe shot at about 15 yards, steep downhill shot from a sitting position on the ground. I shot too far forward and hit her in the shoulder. Only got about 4" of penetration (old Browning bow). I tracked that doe for a long time until blood petered out. This was in the snow in early December. I believe that animal lived.

#2 was a big 3-pt Mule Deer that I shot at as it ran by me on opening day of rifle season in Washington. I had just been looking at a buck across the draw I was sitting in and had my scope zoomed all the way out to 10x. Suddenly this buck and another one came running down the hill behind be and stopped at no more than 10 yards. I swung on him and shot, but I couldn't see anything but brown. I hit him in the stomach. Luckily I was able to watch him bed down and quickly cut the distance to make a finishing shot. I felt absolutely terrible about the whole process but the deer was dead and recovered.

#3 is a large black bear several years ago. Shot was 200 yards, slightly angled downhill. The animal was quartering to me at about 45 degrees. The shot was actually exactly what I intended it to be, the animal was just much tougher than I ever imagined. The bullet entered through the shoulder and exited mid-chest on the other side. The animal dropped like a hot rock on the impact and rolled down the hill like he was dead instantly. Several seconds later he managed to get to his feet and start moving away. The exit wound was obvious and blood was pouring out. He made it out of sight before I could get a good follow up shot. I tracked that bear for 300 yards, found half of his front leg bone laying in the trail where the bullet had shattered it along with chunks of lung. The blood ended up drying up and a grid search over the next several hours yielded nothing. This is the only animal I've ever shot and lost and I believe died.

All three of these instances were learning experiences that changed me and how I hunt. I no longer shoot at animals assuming the bullet will kill them, I plan my shot carefully taking angle into account and place the bullet exactly where it needs to be for maximum damage. I also have practiced immediate follow-up shots. For the longest time I experienced one shot immediate kills where no follow up was needed. This lulled me into a false sense of security and I was not prepared for the follow up shot when it was needed.

[Lefty]

Indian Summer. I am amazed. I suffer with arthritis too and am dealing with the same problems. It is weakening me so I cannot draw my bow like I used too. I had to detune the bow last season to 56#. At the rate I am going, I hope for a couple more good seasons. After I hang up my bow, maybe I can mentor a couple of hunters who are struggling to get an elk.

My doc offered me a crossbow permit

[RanchoSueno]

If I don't have a perfect window into the vitals and know the round about range, I won't take it but anything that does fit the bill and is 50yds or less... it's hammer time. With my bow anyway. I feel like I am becoming almost exclusively an archery hunter but I've nailed a couple whitetails with the 450 bushmaster and 350 legend with some reach. My biggest buck was 140yds. Which for my state is reach since we have limited firearm options here. Only straight wall cartridge, no rifle calibers