I have a great deal of brush left-over from pruning the orchard(s) at the property I am managing. The property also happens to be where I and my extended family hunt deer.
One of the deer hunting stands is in the northwest corner of that orchard. There is a grassy meadow to the north of orchard and from the stand is 180 degrees of arc. 90 degrees of arc is a farm-field and 90 degrees is orchard. It is impossible to see the orchard from the stand because there are houses down-range from the orchard and what you cannot see, you cannot shoot-at.
It occurred to me, as I was dragging the brush, that I can create a fence of stacked brush with gaps in it to funnel the deer traffic. Traffic that would flow closer to the stand can be diverted farther way and traffic that would otherwise be farther away can be diverted closer.
Optimum range of shots
In general, for a given weapon there is a sweet-spot with regard to distance or range to the target. For a smooth-bore shotgun shooting a Foster slug, that distance is between 40 yards and 70 yards. Closer than that and the deer might hear incidental noise from the stand and/or it might give you very little time to react. Farther than 70 yards you start running into the limitations of your technology. Certainly, you can kill deer with Foster slugs out of shotguns at greater distances but there are more things that can go wrong.
With a traditional bow using the arrow speeds of forty years ago, 20-to-25 yards was considered "ideal". Far enough away that the deer cannot hear you hyperventilating nor your heart racing. Close enough that they are unlikely to "jump the string".
Crossbows
I happen to know of a young man who hunts in Eaton Rapids. He hunts both archery and firearms season. He reads the on-line magazines and religiously watches hunting videos. He is also very optimistic. He regularly launches arrows at deer 60 yards away because he has seen it done on videos by dudes using the same (fast and expensive) crossbow that he is using.
The reason that I know of this young man is because he has requested permission to track wounded deer (plural) across my property, deer that he wounded when shooting from his stand which was a quarter-mile away. And no, he never did collect those wounded animals.
The question I am posing to you, my readers, is what is the "sweet-spot" in terms of range for Whitetail Deer if a duffer like me was using a 10 year old crossbow with an advertised velocity of 370fps?
30 yards or less
ReplyDeleteI think a stern talking is due the young man that is outshooting his abilities and wounding many animals and not recovering any of them. Maybe discuss this with the landowner where is hunting. This is unethical behavior.
ReplyDelete+1 here. If done regularly, he is wounding a lot of deer. If he hunts a regular crossing, moving the stand for a more sure shot is far more productive. Wind plays havoc on arrow shots.
DeleteThe land-owner, my neighbor, is highly resistant to input. I suspect that is because I carry XY chromosomes.
DeleteThe hunter is her grandson and (virtually) the only time she sees him is during hunting season and I doubt that she is willing to tell him to straighten up.
My silence is a compromise. On one hand, I would like to make the world perfect. On the other hand, I will probably have to live with any fallout with this neighbor for a very long time.
40 yards
ReplyDelete30-40 yards would be the furthest I would try. That is why they have range finders. Spot stuff around you before you see the deer. Then you know if they are there, how far out are they.
ReplyDeleteBut I am an old fart who could care less about horns and like to eat deer.
I have the ability to put the "door" through the linear brush pile any place I want. It looks like 30 yards +/- 2 yards is the winner. It doesn't have to be very wide before deer will use it.
DeleteNo matter how good the hit, the deer may be lost anyway. I have found a bled out deer rotting in the woods. Checking around, found a neighbor who had a guy carrying a bloody arrow asking questions. It must have been a good hit, there was a huge pool of blood- but it ran through two or three different properties.
ReplyDeleteArrows work by bleeding animals out, they almost always run. This can be a big problem when hunting a small property, especially if it's an urban interface - I've heard numerous stories about deer dying next to mansion pools and on public paths.
DeleteIn my experience, I don't plan a crossbow shot over 30 yards and prefer under 20. And I assume I'll have to chase at least 100 yards. I've also missed more shots than I've made with them. My crossbow is also a modern one that runs a little under 400 fps.
Jonathan
When deer are hunted with arrows, the hunter should wait at least 30-45 minutes to follow up their shot. The animal stays calm and bleeds out without running far.
DeleteWhat anon said at 12:04. I haven't hunted in decades, but do recall a wounded animal running forever while me and my brother gave chase. This is sometime back in the 70's. The deer was dying but continued to run as we followed it. As I took up archery and read some, I realized that if hurt, the animal will run a little, then lay up somewhere, then bleed out. 30 minutes is a decent time. Mark the spot you hit the deer, then mark the spot you last saw it run to mentally. Wait, then follow slowly and quietly. Lessons learned.
Delete"...what is the "sweet-spot" in terms of range for Whitetail Deer if a duffer like me was using a 10 year old crossbow with an advertised velocity of 370fps?"
ReplyDeleteTwo feet. Use the crossbow as a club.
For the mentioned young lad, he's outshooting both his technology and his skill level. Arrow-shot deer will need to be tracked because they die from exsanguination, not "shock of impact.". I suspect that if allowed to cross your property in pursuit of wounded deer two things will happen: 1) his stomping around will cripple your ability to harvest deer, and; 2) he will take permission as full license, so a deer that presents itself will become wounded, making one more deer that he will track and lose.
That he is losing so many deer is prima facie evidence that he needs to either change methods - a suitable firearm with which he is well trained instead of bow & arrow - or cease hunting deer completely.
More important than the bow is the arrow. What point, what weight, what weight distribution, what smoothness. Is the hunter patient and diciplined?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ashbybowhunting.org/ashby-reports
10 yards under what you can shoot a fist sized group at on the range setup how you would hunt. If you're taking hunting shots off hand, you can't set your go/no go range shooting off a bench or tripod. This, more than anything, is what I suspect trips up crossbow hunters.
ReplyDeleteI suspect for most people this works out to 25 or 30 yards. But it also tells you what to do if you want to extend your range. Either build fancier blinds so you can hunt off a tripod or practixe shooting the crossbow with a hasty sling while sitting.