Which crossbow? My Ravin R20 will probably kill a lot farther out than my Excalibur Vortex will. But that said I pretty much limit my shots at deer to 40 yards maybe 50 on a food plot. On a coyote I might try a much longer shot though.

 

Why is it that the ethical distance for the shot changes for a coyote over a deer? Do we not have the responsibility as hunters to make ethical shots on all animals whether we like them or not? Funny how some change the rules to fit their needs.

 

Well that's a big depends. For me 440-451 fps 50yds is where I'll take out animals with confidence. With that said I do know folks that routinely shoot animals to 90yds. They wound a bunch too. That's not for me.

Learn your own conscious and, become proficient at it I say.
To the original ?: The distance at which your xbow would put the fear of god into you if you were the mark.

I know a 350fps barrel arrow lobbed at 50yds doesn't scare me. If I knew when the trigger was pulled I'd be able to get out of the way.
A 400fps barrel arrow would make me sweat a little at 50yds. If I knew when the trigger was pulled I would probably get hit somewhere but, not original poi.
A arrow traveling at 400fps at the 50yd mark scares the he!! out of me. I don't think there's enough time to think about moving.lol Arrow penetration has to be there at a distance too. Not only do you have to get it there at a extended distance but, it has to work to wormville.

crappie-toms shot watcher drop dead reaction time theory.
You have to send a few thousand variable speed arrows down range to think this chit up.lol

 

From an energy standpoint, I’ve done velocity loss tests to 100 yards on a number of arrow/crossbow combinations. Generally, less than 25% of the energy is lost in the first 100 yards . As range increases beyond 100 yards, even less energy is lost each additional range gradient. IOW’s , energy loss %age from 0-50 yards >50-100 yards >100-150 yards > 150-200 yards, and so on.
Less than 50% of initial energy is lost during the 1st 200 yards. Generally crossbow arrows have well over 4x the energy needed for a clean whitetail kill.

What is meant by “Effective Maximum Effective Range”? And on what?

Energy remaining is not the limiting factor.

What is? Generally, trajectory is the limiting factor. The arc of the arrow makes range estimation very critical. By 100 yards even 2 yards of range error can make a crossbow/arrow combination, that unrealistically groups within 1” , the difference between a clean kill and a poor hit or even a miss.

Additionally, many hunters believe that the launch noise or arrow noise can cause an alert or even just fast reacting animal to move during the sub-1 second arrow flight. So, the “jumping the string” problem causes many to not shoot beyond a 40-50 yard maximum range. I believe that a noisy arrow can make a deer react regardless of range. For a 20-30 yard shot with a fast arrow, I doubt they can react fast enough to counter a low chest shot aim.
Though a lot of people disagree, I believe that a crossbow/vertical bow being shot at 40-50 yards or greater will not cause the same “duck/launch reaction that a closer shot will cause.

So, shooting a comparatively fast, accurate, quiet crossbow with a quiet arrow will extend your maximum range. Understanding “deer or whatever” body language, very accurately ranging, being a very precise shooter, having good to great optics will just enhance what I mentioned in the previous sentence.

Each situation will determine what you think is ethical at that time. When you enhance every aspect of what’s in your control, you’ll have your own personal maximum ethical range. I think you meant “ethical” range.

 

40 yards is considered the ethical kill range on an animal due to all the variables involved that could cause the arrow to miss it's intended POI and cause a slow death or and injury that would cause the animal to suffer. Going any farther would depend on many factors such as the skill level of the shooter, wind level, direction, clearance, behavior of the animal at the time, fps rating of the bow, broadhead being used, weight of the arrow......ect.......
I was typing this before I read what you posted SEW....

 

40 yards is considered the ethical kill range on an animal due to all the variables involved that could cause the arrow to miss it's intended POI and cause a slow death or and injury that would cause the animal to suffer. ...

By Who? You?
I can pretty easily prove (in my experience) 40 isnt a range that is considered ethical by a majority of opinion and/or science based fact. The crossbow isnt magical. A 300 fps arrow is a 300 fps arrow out of a crossbow or a vertical bow.
Nobody out there has ever said 40 yards is a slam dunk and gotten everyone behind them. Such people have gotten trash thrown at them for sure, but not a lot of support for a poke like that.

Everyone focuses on string jumping but at 40 yards, an animals natural movement can cause a wound/miss. A simple turn to the left/right to get the next mouth full of grass can change the point of aim tremendously and takes a millisecond to happen. A bedded deer? For sure. A deer standing with free will to move as it desires and when it desires? Nope. You cant read a deers mind. Its going to do whatever its going to do and 300 fps over 40 yards isnt going to change that.

Now its true that a lot of animals get killed at that distance but not all of them. Not even close to all of them.
Every year the internet forums are filled with lost deer/elk threads, speaking of long shots and ill results.
Many of those threads start out.... I knew I could make that shot. I practice at this distance all the time.
Problem is.... They dont practice on targets that suddenly change position.

 

Soo Marty what have you ever killed or, shot a arrow at?

 

Soo Marty what have you ever killed or, shot a arrow at?[/QUO

Yep

 

My answer to that would be that only you can decide through practice what your maximum range is. Mine won’t be the same as yours and yours will be different from other people as well....
Good luck this year.......

 

The reason I gave that lengthy answer was because of the wording of the original question...”what is the maximum effective kill range?..”? Energy remaining or shot placement on a non-static target? Hard to tell just what was meant. Hopefully, all those factors spelled out can help with his personal decision.

 

I want shots at 35-40 yards or closer. That said, my longest kill was at 45 yards.

 

Maximum effective range of a modern xbow on deer sized game is probably hundreds of meters. Similar to any weapon that has a projectile, energy is not going to be the deciding factor on killing, it is and always will be shot placement. If I could lob an arrow out of my Bulldog 380 and hit a deer in the lungs at 300 meters with a 400gr arrow, thats a dead deer. Will I hit that deer at 300 meters? maybe. Would I try? nope. Will an arrow kill at those ranges? Yes of course.

 

Great answer, Steve!!! Thanks!

 

Ain't that the truth, Dukes!!!

Atleast I got your #4 checked off nicely!!!!

 

Depends on the hunt. If you are out west (open prairie) you will have to expand your range a bit. 50 - 60plus yards is more the norm if you are stalking ProngHorn and Mule deer. Elk, I don't know. Alabama parkland hunting 20-40 yards.

 

As far away as to where the animals movement cannot effect the point of impact. Beyond that, there is only chance that aids you. You could likely kill a deer at 400 yards if you could hit it. Same as a longbow.

 

This is my setup.
Excalibur Micro 315
Hawke Red Hot 3x32 illuminated scope
Hawke match rings
Black Eagle Zombie 16.5”/385gn
Cal Flemish string

50 yards

 

Same bow as my wife. Just not the light arrows. Like I said.... 400 yards at least. Maybe 1/2 mile. As long as its there when it arrives. Which isnt likely at 30 so 1/2 mile requires about the same amount of luck as 40 yards.

 

Buster Scruggs, lol.

 

For me it's all about the hunting and up close. After climbing the scale of weapons used from shotgun, vert, rifle, handgun and now -at 79- crossbow, the kill is the last the least anticipated part of hunting. It ends the hunting part. Of the previous 10 crossbow kills, the furthest was 37 yards.

 

Me personally i practice at 60 yds, i will take my shots out to 60 yds. Crossbows i use at that hunting distance are Excal BD 360, MXB's 365 Charge & 400

 

40 yds ain't far, Dude! I know a guy that regularly shoots way past that. And he doesn't loose any either!!!

 

Yeah.... Only been doing this for some 5 decades now. I probably dont know what I am talking about

 

Max range is way further then I intend to drop the string. The shot is the anti climax of the hunt, at least for me. I like to get that animal in as close as possible. I love that adrenaline rush of your heart pounding, hands sweating and trying to move without being detected. Once the bow thumps the work begins.....

 

Agreed. Last yr I had 7 deer within 30 yards simultaneously; one of em at 9. Really enjoyable. Unfortunately it ended when a nice buck walked through a big puddle at 17 yards. I had visualized the possibility, and hoped it happened. Just could NOT shoot when it did.

 

Got any more Lonny? Trying to make me feel guilty for killing a few yotes and maybe even wounding a few? I hate to tell you this but you are wasting your breath. I will shoot at every yote I get a chance at.
I also keep a loaded .22 by my back door so I can pop out and take running shots on coyotes going through my food plot out back. Shot at 2 and did not even bother going to see if I hit them or not. My next door neighbor told me later that he had found two dead coyotes that barely made it to the swampy area back there so I did kill both. I did not shed a tear!

 

Just dont tell anyone about whats ethical if they decide to do the same as your talking to deer or when someone shoots your dog because they dont like dogs. Or you accidentally shoot someones dog taking pot shots out your back door

 

I don't think you really need to worry about that. I love dogs and deer. Only animal I will shoot without worrying about is a yote. I will not even shoot or allow anyone else to shoot the family of gray foxes that live out back. I just hate yotes and I have only wounded one over the years that I know of and it was while deer hunting and I missed and shot it in it's front left leg using a .308. My nephew killed it the next day while on stand is how I know where I hit it.
For your viewing pleasure here is a good yote.

 

I don't think you really need to worry about that. I love dogs and deer. Only animal I will shoot without worrying about is a yote. I will not even shoot or allow anyone else to shoot the family of gray foxes that live out back. I just hate yotes and I have only wounded one over the years that I know of and it was while deer hunting and I missed and shot it in it's front left leg using a .308. My nephew killed it the next day while on stand is how I know where I hit it.
For your viewing pleasure here is a good yote.

you are so blind Wow you wont allow anyone to kill a grey fox you make the rules the more you talk the worse you sound You are so short sided that you dont even know what your argument is for taking unethical shots at animals

 

You guys ever seen how yotes take down deer!?..... Ain't pretty!!
If I let one go just because I'm afraid of hit'n a bit bad, the buggar will be rip'n the guts out of a deer shortly after....

 

You guys ever seen how yotes take down deer!?..... Ain't pretty!!
If I let one go just because I'm afraid of hit'n a bit bad, the buggar will be rip'n the guts out of a deer shortly after....

Good grief.

 

I'm a 'scoundrel'.....!!! LOL! You're hilarious!!!! LMAO!!!!!!

 

Ok. I hear ya dudes....I know what you're say'n, but, I've hit a yote before too far back with my rifle, and he really didn't last long anyway. I think their bodies are small enough, that they can't take as much as a deer can....
So. like Robert, if I get a chance too whack one, I'm gonna take the shot, even if it's not quite ideal because.....
Gotta go here,
KTK

 

I suggest that the personal attacks cease. They do no one any good but do a lot of harm. Personally, I hate coyotes due largely to the fact that they are a threat to my cat. I love my cat! They are not native to this area but were introduced in the 50s to give the Fox hunters game to chase since they about wiped out the fox population.
Then in the 60s , Fox/coyote hunting virtually stopped, trapping ceased and we were overrun by coyotes and still are.
Back in the 1990s, we had a three week cold snap with ice/snow everywhere and temps around zero. I was in a stand with my Black Widow, and watched 8 coyotes cross a field and set up under my tree stand. When I tried to come down, they tried to attack me. I had only 4 arrows. No flashlight as I was leaving before dark to get to church, that evening. It got dark. They were still there. Eventually they left. Temp was well below zero. It was a long, scary , crunchy, dark 600-700 yards to my truck.
I have yet to wound a coyote , without killing it (40 NBT out of 223 or 17g Vmax out of 17 HMR or an arrow); but I do not show them the respect that I do most other animals. I suspect Robert wouldn’t want them to suffer either. They are horrible on deer. They are a major factor on fawn mortality here in Arkansas. Unfortunately, packs of 2 or more domestic dogs are also. Though I hate them running deer, period, especially in my woods, I don’t shoot them. Their owners are at fault.

 

I suggest that the personal attacks cease. They do no one any good but do a lot of harm. Personally, I hate coyotes due largely to the fact that they are a threat to my cat. I love my cat! They are not native to this area but were introduced in the 50s to give the Fox hunters game to chase since they about wiped out the fox population.
Then in the 60s , Fox/coyote hunting virtually stopped, trapping ceased and we were overrun by coyotes and still are.
Back in the 1990s, we had a three week cold snap with ice/snow everywhere and temps around zero. I was in a stand with my Black Widow, and watched 8 coyotes cross a field and set up under my tree stand. When I tried to come down, they tried to attack me. I had only 4 arrows. No flashlight as I was leaving before dark to get to church, that evening. It got dark. They were still there. Eventually they left. Temp was well below zero. It was a long, scary , crunchy, dark 600-700 yards to my truck.
I have yet to wound a coyote , without killing it (40 NBT out of 223 or 17g Vmax out of 17 HMR or an arrow); but I do not show them the respect that I do most other animals. I suspect Robert wouldn’t want them to suffer either. They are horrible on deer. They are a major factor on fawn mortality here in Arkansas. Unfortunately, packs of 2 or more domestic dogs are also. Though I hate them running deer, period, especially in my woods, I don’t shoot them. Their owners are at fault.

That experience really sends a chill down your spine doesn't it. I had a similar experience a few years ago during muzzle loader season. I was sitting there with one ball in the gun on the ground and a pack of coyotes starting howling and ripping apart some animal they had caught, quite a a lot of growling and howling less than 50 yards away and still fairly dark out. I stayed still for about an hour and as soon as it got quiet I moved out of there, I was a good mile back in, since that experience and a few episodes with bears and cubs and coming across someones drug patch growing in the forest I started carrying a pistol when archery or muzzleloader hunting.

 

They even hand out nuisance permits allowing farmers to slaughter deer by the truckload and many do it. Not for me but I dont fault them for wanting to kill them Like i said as long as it is done ethically The same with coyotes I care less how many people want to kill but dont come on here and tell someone its unethical to shoot a deer over so many yards . Then out of the other side of your mouth say shoot at a coyote where ever and how ever far you want