How far of a shot is challenging but acceptable? We are setting 2 bow blinds and wold like to know how far of a shot you are ok with taking towarda a feeder. Note both blinds are about 18ft tall. I was thinking about 35-45 yards but need some experienced bow hunters input.

I have had deer calm and eating corn duck my arrow from 20 yds in 15 ft tree stand. I suppose I would shoot at a deer out to 50 yards if I thought it would be my only shot and they were very settled, but with whitetails past 20 yards you better play for duck IMO.

All depends on your skill level and what you are comfortable with. It also depends on the deer that you are hunting, how much pressure they have seen, how spooky or jumpy they are, etc.

I am not a long range shooter, for me, archery is a close range sport. I practice out to 60 yards and can kill the target at the range all day long, but I personally wouldn't attempt it a deer.

With that said, 30 yards is the farthest that I would shoot at a deer on my Texas place. In Kansas, I would shoot out to 40 yards. In both, my sets are for 15-25 yards but I would reach past that if the situation arouse that I needed to shoot a littler farther.

IMO, most bow hunters and even experienced bow hunters are increasing the chance of wounding and losing an animal if the average shot distance is 40 yards. There is just a lot that can go wrong at the distance, the animal has more time to react and any mistake by the hunter is amplified at that distance.

Nothing wrong with setting up at 35-45 from the feeder, but I would put out a chum pile closer to your stand when you are going to be hunting it. My

I agree with and pretty well do what txshntr said. I have a self imposed max of 30 and try to keep it in the 25 and closer range.

I have killed deer from 7 to 37 yards but prefer to setup for shots 15 to 25 yards. I practice to 60 and will shoot hogs to that distance if I cannot get closer but to a point the closer the better.

Good advice above about setup at the longer but a chum line for getting them closer.

txshntr is spot on.

I hunt both TX and KS as well. In TX, those targets are a lot smaller and 40 yards is a long way in the woods. I shot my KS buck last year at 43 yards. When I ranged him, I thought to myself, there is no way that he will be close enough to get a shot. In KS, I will shoot out to 40ish. Im hard pressed to shoot much further than 30 in TX.

I also believe that experience plays a big role. In 2008, when I 1st started bowhunting, I would've never shot past 20 yds. Now, the more I shoot, the more comfortable I get. I practice as much as possible and I push my limits while practicing. I often shoot to 80-100yds. I like to practice elevated as well. I sometimes shoot with my jacket and gloves on.

This determines everything IMO. I would feel very comfortable shooting up to 50 yards at our current lease since the deer are so relaxed.

All this bow talk is swellin my neck. It's getting close

I keep it around 30 think iv only shot one that was actually standin under the feeder

30 and under for me.

I would not set my feeders further than 25 yards

In a popup I set them right around 20

I hunt from the ground and position my stand at 25 yards from directly below the feeder. That way if a deer is just behind the feeder I know he is 30ish, if he is just in front I know he is 20ish. With a tower, I would do the same except that I would use a rangefinder with a vertical adjustment to position the feeder so that my 20 and 30yd pins correspond with the feeder in the same way. This way you wont have to reach for a rangefinder as often before shooting.

30yds is it for me.

30 yrds for WT especially inexperienced.

Glad I asked, i will move it to the 20-25 yard range and call it good. Thanks for the input!!!

i look at deer hunting differently.
the closer i can take one the better it is to me.
my closest bow deer was one i shot that walked
between the tree and the ladder stand i was in.
if i'd been younger and more flexible, i could
have jumped down with knife in hand like arnold
swartzennigger and stabbed it to death. getting
a deer close in makes the hunt for me. i don't
do any kind of hail mary shots bow or gun.

30 yard max for me on Texas whitetails. Any further than that and the deer might not be there when the arrow gets there. Have had 2 deer that I hit in the spine at 30 that I know dropped. Had a buck almost do a 180 at 30 yrds. Arrow hit him in the hind quarter and came out the front quarter. That deer was perfectly broadside when I hit the release. Amazing how fast they can react to the shot.

This is about the same way I am. Closer the better. It's not how far, but how close I can get, draw my bow, and make a killing shot without ever getting busted. My closest shot was a mere 7 steps. My biggest buck ever (166+) was only 13 yards. My longest kill shot was 32 yds but this was a spot and stalk hunt. That was the first time for me outside 25yds other than a target block.

I had a doe about 5 yards away when I was in a ground blind (behind cedar boughs tucked in a cedar) I thought about pulling my arrow off the bow and stabbing her for the eternity it seemed she was passing by me.

Make the shots as close as you can for the hunter. If they screw up it will make them a better hunter with the game that close. I use 15-25 yards for my shots. The key for me to keeping game calm and close is to have multiple locations to hunt so I am not pressuring the same spot every day not matter what the wind is. I have found if you can drop hunters off to a set and feed the roads leaving it helps a lot. Do not let them get out of the blind till you are there to pick them up. Use a vehicle to run off game and not a hunter educating them as he gets out of a blind.

Feeder distance should be right at 20yd IMO. That way even the spookiest deer are still potentially in range. Plus a 20yd shot is a good distance for bow kills.

I've shot game as close as 17yd and as far as 25yd. I missed a huge Texas Dall because I rushed a shot at a farther distance that at which I was comfortablr (35yd).

I've had tamer deer stick there head in my blind and wildest of aoudad stare me in the eye from 50yd through a hole in branches of the tree I was tripod-ed in. It depends on the deer and pressure, as others have said before.

30 yards and less, any shot with a bow is challenging though just because you have to be so stealthy

Set up near 25 yards and that will leave you room to throw out corn. If you can set two stands to allow you to play for the wind changes that will be even better.

YUP, 20-35max for me as well ! To much can go wrong at further distances to create a bad shot or a jump of the strings. I would rather pass then injure a deer or anything else !

Best of luck to everyone this year !

The deer on our lease definitely aren't duckers. However I'm still one who would rather be under 20 than over 20. I'm good with 25 but if I have to shoot over 35 they will get a pass.