50yards and under.

 

20 to last year 150 yards lol. Once I get serious about hunting usually mid-September and switch to practicing with BHs I don't shoot over 60.

 

Mostly 65yards with my TP Nitro 505. Makes shooting anything upto 50 seem alot easier

 

I only practice out to 45 yards.

 

I keep my blob at 50 yards over the years that’s been 90% of my practice. That’s where I do all my broadhead testing also.

 

I shoot to 30 yards in my backyard, but I take my target to a friends house to shoot farther distances.

 

I will double check sighting often out to 50, but no practice beyond 30. Never shot one past 25, but have been known to have a look at them at 45 on the way in. Maybe one day one of them will give me a good enough excuse out past 25, and maybe I will take it up on the offer. I used to shoot targets at 100 to calibrate scopes and for fun, but it wasn't what I would call practice of any sort, it was a much more controlled task.

 

5 yard increments. 20 - 80 yards.

 

20 to 80 occasionally 110

 

20-45 yards 90% of the time in the back yard.

 

30 to 40 yards with a rest. Going to start focusing on my offhand, kneeling and assingrass more this summer though so I expect that range to be shorter until I get my form down. Might give public land a try next season so I want to be prepared for different shooting positions.

 

If I had ... the room I'd train from 5 yards to 70 yards with the lion's share between 30 & 60 yards. I'd confirm trajectory at 80, 90 and 100 yards just to have it. I'd also "practice with a purpose." I'd use both 3D targets and spots. That is with introduced distractions. Loud music that you hate makes a good concentration tool. And I'd do it from sitting, standing leaning against a support, elevated positions, off a bench, off a rail and off a tripod clamp setup. I'd test how many "quality" shots I could get off in 60 seconds, or how long it takes me to get off 3 quality shots. I'd keep score and records, so you'll know if you're getting better or regressing.

 

Good plan, I like it and will copy some. You could also add in a small jog or exercise to raise your heart rate to simulate stress at the shot opportunity.

 

I have the majority of my stands set up for crossbow hunting where my shot opportunities will be 40 yards or less, so most of my practice is at 30 yards with enough shots at 35 and 40 to know how to adjust if needed.

 

40 yards max. That's my longest shot available in my backyard..lol

 

I can shoot 60 yards at the house. I've never shot a critter at over 35, but it's nice to know YOU and your equipment could, if needed, handle that scenario.
I do practice from elevated platforms since 97% of my hunting is from a treed stand.
I know it sounds crazy, but if you hunt from a tree stand, put one up in your back yard, then shoot from it at all angles.

And I'll throw my 2 cents in with Iron Duke, back in the day when I was a "long range" rifle guy at the place I worked, part of our qualification course was to run a 1/2 mile, then go prone and fire 3 rounds at a 1.5-inch circle at 100 yards.
All of this was under a time limit. you couldn't stop to catch your breath, slow your heart rate or anything but run and shoot.
The minute the whistle blew, you were on the clock. It'll sure weed out the non-hackers! 🤣😂

Putting a little stress in your shooting makes for a better shooter. It also lets YOU know what YOUR limitations are!!

 

I usually practice at 50 yards and under with the majority of shots at 40 and under.

 

Mostly 30 to 40 yards with a maximum of 50.
I have space for longer but hunt heavily wooded areas so max hunting shots are around 30.

 

I like to place my target at an unknown range under 50, and then range and shoot using reticle holdover and see how close it is. Basically just trying to simulate a hunting situation.

 

My approach with a vertical bow has always been twice the distance of what my ethical range is. So I’d practice routinely at 70yds. And most importantly, doing it in low light. Lighting changes everything. 35yds is low light isn’t so easy for me.

Being new to crossbow hunting, I’ll be practicing 100yd shots in low light to determine if I can maintain ethical lethality at 50yds.


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Practice mostly at 20-30 yards and a few sighters at 50 . I have never shot at a deer over 35 yards most being under 20

 

Shooting about 340FPS with a 20,30,40,50 four dot scope, Practice in 10 yard increments from 20 to 50 yards. occasionally, I will do 60 and 70 yards just for grins and to remind me what the crossbow is capable of and to refresh my understanding of arrow trajectories.
Hunting shots, 40 or less.

 

Pressure shooting to me is a group or more accurately a ragged hole. I found once the tuning is done and broadhead is selected.

I like to put up a target at 50 yards and shoot broadheads only. I will shoot one arrow a day sometimes two. I might cock my bow come inside have my breakfast and coffee. Then go out load and kill a deer (shoot the paper plate) then put the bow up as well as the arrow. Next day or maybe that afternoon or right at the last hint of light, i'll shot a different arrow with my practice broadhead at the same target. Always shooting the same target i get a group or hopefully a ragged hole. The pressure to keep that going day after day is all the pressure i need. I also mix in all 3 bows i have, i might shoot the camo 400 tomorrow the BD 360 then when ever and in no order the black 400 gets a shot or two. I try and shoot at least once a day regardless of the weather minis thunderstorms . I don't hunt thunderstorms or really hard rain so those days gets a buy. And my range gets muddy so a few day gap in my shooting is welcome as i see it hunting. I might go weeks without shooting my bows during season.

I need to prepare myself for one shot whenever it comes. And know mt bows scopes and arrows hold zero without nursing.

The only shot that matters is the first shot of the day.

Its a great idea to mix ranges up. I no longer do other than to confirm. I use a Optimizer that gives me to the to the yard accuracy without guessing. So to me 20 or 60 yards there's no difference. I turn the scope down at 20 and up at 60 so the sight picture is the same. Even using the 4 power husky the end result is the same.

Try and make it as close to your hunting as you can.

 

rt2bowhunter that is a very practical exercise!
You are correct the first shot is all that counts. When i lived in PA and had my own range I used to shoot my rifles clean bore and cold. One shot a day because heated barrels often move Point of Impact.

 

Haven’t owned a place I can shoot since ‘99. Our club has targets out to 60. I mostly shoot 40 and 50.

 

Ever watch “633 Squadron”, a movie , semi-fictional about a British squadron of Mosquitoes bombing a dam down a long gorge, much like on the movie, Top Gun Maverick? Incidentally, both Star Wars and TG Maverick essentially copied that type of target run in from 633 Sq.

Anyway, regardless of what distractions are occurring such as AAA or missile launch signals , tracers, etc, during the last 5 seconds of a bomb run (5 secs is an eternity when being shot at, but not for tgt acquisition) , everything else is put out of the crew’s minds except hitting the target. The tgt/objective needs looked at as a “target”, just like in practice.

We NEED to do that when hunting. Turn that deer, bear, turkey into, just that, a target. No shakes, no emotions, just calculated, 100% target shooting. After the shot, you can have all the emotional reactions that come naturally.

 

Superb advice ... Everyone practices (well maybe not everyone...LOL) hitting spots and targets but very, very few work on their mental game. Once you become technically proficient, (you can hit those "spots") introducing pressure into your training has the biggest positive effect on your shooting in stressful situations. Personally, I don't feel nervous or emotion before or during the shot. Doesn't matter if it's a squirrel or a monster buck. It's a target. My emotion comes after the shot if that target hasn't dropped in it's tracks. Which of course is particularly prevalent in archery. It's "performance anxiety."...lol I worry about those death runs and if something went wrong. Or if the run is going to end up in a busy parking lot, someone's driveway, or some other unforeseen CF.