Just to be clear, I'm talking mainly traditional bowhunting here, but some of does apply to any kind of shooting really.
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Distance. How far is too far? How close is enough? These seem to be a couple of the big questions that come up when we talk about taking shots on critters.
I'm curious how folks make their shooting distance decisions when shooting on critters... does it matter which critter? Its size? your accuracy at each distance? Your desire to finally bag a critter?
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For me there are a lot of factors... and they seem to change based on my state of mind and experiences.
I'll take a long shot on some rabbits, but not on others. I probably will have a hard time taking shots longer than 15 yards on any WT in the foreseeable future... even 15 might be too long. I prefer shots on hogs at 15 or less... but given the situation... a 20 yard shot is not out of the question. I have taken a 20 yard shot on a turkey... probably won't do that again. They are actually pretty small targets, but not too small that a miss won't land you in any trouble. Most long shots on squirrels/rabbits are a miss or a hit. A hit on a rabbit is almost a guaranteed recovery as long as you are not scared to use your boot.
Desperation is a weird factor that has played a role. But that doesn't always mean a long shot is taken. If I am desperate for a confidence boost, I will wait for a sure thing and get the close shot. Unfortunately, there is no such thing... as a sure thing. I think that is what played a role in my most recent, long shot. I took a 24 yard shot on a javi in the depths of the worst string of bad luck since I've picked up a bow. I knew it was 24 yards. I didn't think I could get closer without getting busted... and I took the shot with certainty that I would hit and kill it. The only doubt I had in my mind was whether or not I would recover it. If sure things aren't sure things... than need I focus on what could go wrong... again? Somehow I suppressed that thought. Maybe I was desperate... but I felt too comfortable. My body was at ease. I was focused. Oddly enough, after taking that shot... in the past few weeks, I've been shooting lights out at 20-24 yards. I typically struggle there. I'm sure dropping an critter at 24 and recovering it helps. But it seems if I don't worry about what it means to miss, I seem to miss less. But I find that hard to do on certain animals or certain situations. And it is odd... I certainly cared about missing on that Javi and how I would feel about it going into it. There was a lot... and I mean a lot riding on that shot.
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Distance. How far is too far? How close is enough? These seem to be a couple of the big questions that come up when we talk about taking shots on critters.
I'm curious how folks make their shooting distance decisions when shooting on critters... does it matter which critter? Its size? your accuracy at each distance? Your desire to finally bag a critter?
****
For me there are a lot of factors... and they seem to change based on my state of mind and experiences.
I'll take a long shot on some rabbits, but not on others. I probably will have a hard time taking shots longer than 15 yards on any WT in the foreseeable future... even 15 might be too long. I prefer shots on hogs at 15 or less... but given the situation... a 20 yard shot is not out of the question. I have taken a 20 yard shot on a turkey... probably won't do that again. They are actually pretty small targets, but not too small that a miss won't land you in any trouble. Most long shots on squirrels/rabbits are a miss or a hit. A hit on a rabbit is almost a guaranteed recovery as long as you are not scared to use your boot.
Desperation is a weird factor that has played a role. But that doesn't always mean a long shot is taken. If I am desperate for a confidence boost, I will wait for a sure thing and get the close shot. Unfortunately, there is no such thing... as a sure thing. I think that is what played a role in my most recent, long shot. I took a 24 yard shot on a javi in the depths of the worst string of bad luck since I've picked up a bow. I knew it was 24 yards. I didn't think I could get closer without getting busted... and I took the shot with certainty that I would hit and kill it. The only doubt I had in my mind was whether or not I would recover it. If sure things aren't sure things... than need I focus on what could go wrong... again? Somehow I suppressed that thought. Maybe I was desperate... but I felt too comfortable. My body was at ease. I was focused. Oddly enough, after taking that shot... in the past few weeks, I've been shooting lights out at 20-24 yards. I typically struggle there. I'm sure dropping an critter at 24 and recovering it helps. But it seems if I don't worry about what it means to miss, I seem to miss less. But I find that hard to do on certain animals or certain situations. And it is odd... I certainly cared about missing on that Javi and how I would feel about it going into it. There was a lot... and I mean a lot riding on that shot.
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