First deer with bow

huntingaddict · #1 10-14-2009, 12:07 PM

didn't think it was possible to get something with a bow only picked it up during the summer
Monday night walking to stand 3 does stood up from the tall grass took the one closest to me a 65 yrds double lung shot but still had to track it in the woods.

I had about 10 inch pentetration I use these g5 125 grain on easton 340 with a 64.5 pound 31.25 draw. Am I using the right set up because i thought the arrow where supposed to go through them or should i try lighter set up with more draw weight ? Still very green on this bow hunting but some of us still get lucky..

albertabiggame · #2 10-14-2009, 12:14 PM

If you made a double lung at 65 yds there is nothing to worry about. That is a long way for most archery setup's. If you are at 50 and closer you will get your pass through more than likely on a perfect broadside shot. I recently took a deer at 51 yds w/100 gr trophy ridge BH,340 Maxima,65 lb General. So you did very well for 65 yds. That is a @#$% of a shot. Congrats.

BigRackLover · #3 10-14-2009, 12:19 PM

Great shot! Thats quite the distance for a bow.

Anyway, part of bow hunting is tracking. With lung shots, they always run so its important to:

listen and watch for direction of game flight
watch your arrow for location of hit
find and inspect your arrow (color, blood, bubbles, etc)
follow the blood trail after the "wait" (wait times varies on the above 3 things)

If you got both lungs, you've got the right setup. You won't always get a passthrough, but with todays compound bows on deer you should if you only hit hide & vitals (although I'm unsure about how much speed & energy you lose at 60 + yards). Ribs, muscle and bones can affect penetration along with bow & arrow setup. Was it only lungs & hide? Cracked ribs? Lost meat?

If this was a whitetail, that's quite an accomplishment at 65 yards especially considering you bumped them. Congratulations. The first bow kill is a wicked feeling, hopefully your hooked and you'll sell your rifles.

monstermulie · #4 10-14-2009, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huntingaddict

didn't think it was possible to get something with a bow only picked it up during the summer
Monday night walking to stand 3 does stood up from the tall grass took the one closest to me a 65 yrds double lung shot but still had to track it in the woods.

I had about 10 inch pentetration I use these g5 125 grain on easton 340 with a 64.5 pound 31.25 draw. Am I using the right set up because i thought the arrow where supposed to go through them or should i try lighter set up with more draw weight ? Still very green on this bow hunting but some of us still get lucky..

assuming a 30" arrow and you're 125 grain broad head you're shooting an arrow that weighs about 420 grains. ((9.5*30)+125)=420 but probably closer to the 450 grain mark with the knock, fletching, and insert. so with a 450 grain arrow and a 64.5 lb set up you're shooting you're bow at 6.97 grains/lb, now just for refferance, IBO speeds are shot at 5 grains/lb so you're quite a bit heaver. Say the IBO speed on your bow is about 300 ft/sec, I'd say you're around 250-260 ft/sec with that draw length, weight, and weight of arrow. If you want better pennitration, go to a lighter set up, try getting into a arrow that weight in the low 8 grains/inch range with a 85 or 100 grain broad head. This will lower your kenetic energy a little bit but your speed will greatly increase. You also have to take into account that making a shot a 65 yrds will greatly diminish you're kenetic energy, the farther the shot the more rapidly your KE drops off, its an exponential decline

huntingaddict · #5 10-14-2009, 12:20 PM

lucky shot

BigRackLover · #6 10-14-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huntingaddict

lucky shot

I'm glad you know that.

Stinky Buffalo · #7 10-14-2009, 12:30 PM

Congrats, sounds like an awesome shot!

Stinky

Jeromeo · #8 10-14-2009, 02:03 PM

Wow that's one heck of a shot. I passed on a buck on Monday night at about 40 yards because I wasn't comfortable with the shot. I don't have a whole heck of a lot of experience past 30 yards and didn't want to injure anything. Good work on 65 yards.

GillieSuit · #9 10-14-2009, 02:23 PM

65 yards is an amazing shot with a bow. However, it sounds to me you are lucky you recovered this animal at all.

In my experience anything past 40 meters (approx 45 yards) is too far to be shooting at with a bow. There are way too many things that can go wrong.

For your sake I am glad you hit your mark and killed your intended target. This could have been a far different outcome. Gut shot, Muscle hit etc etc.....none of which would have been very good.

If you keep your shots well within 35 yards your arrows should easily pass through any deer or elk.

If you want to improve penetration with your existing setup. You need to calculate your Front of Center Percentage (FOC %) it should be no lower than 10%. The optimum hunting FOC is between 10 and 12 %. However I know some compound shooters that will go as high as 14%.

Anyway congrats on your first bow kill. However, I would suggest keeping your shots under 35 yards. This is very acheivable from a tree stand. I have taken a mule deer doe and an elk this year with my bow. The Muley was at 18 yards (Double Lung Pass Through). The Elk was at 25 yards (Double Lung Pass Through). Neither animal travelled further than 60 yards after the shot.

Good Luck for the rest of the season. Stay Safe, and have fun.

Rocks · #10 10-14-2009, 03:43 PM

Yup, you got lucky. Turned out good though and good for you. I did the same thing with my first moose, shot it from 65 yards, one shot right through the guts, I was lucky cause he stood there and let me fling a couple more arrows at him and got him in the boiler room. I learned right there 65 yards is too far. Wouldn't shoot past 40 yards after that.

Practice lots, and practice lots, and then get up close and personal to your prey. My closest shot with the compound was at 15 yards on a whitetail buck and that's way more fun than flinging arrows long distance.

rielbowhunter · #11 10-15-2009, 10:46 PM

Hey congrats on your first bow kill.
Hey killing a whitetail off the ground is some thing to be proud of. way to go! so much more fun when you can look them in the eye.
Now the addiction starts, ha ha,
Thats a far shot for sure. you must have hit a rib, or your broadheads where dull.because I think you still can get a pass through at 65 yards.
I have shot right through a big muley at 50 yards and the arrow was stuck deep in the ground. I only took that shot because it was broad side, looking away from me didn't know i was there. I would not shoot at any animal that saw me or was alert beyond 30 yards. because they will move before the arrow gets there, and i tell you this so you don't have to learn the hard way. like a lot of us have. I try to limit myself to 40 yards now. you will have much shorter blood trails to follow.

CNP · #12 10-16-2009, 09:05 AM

Quote:

I had about 10 inch pentetration I use these g5 125 grain on easton 340 with a 64.5 pound 31.25 draw. Am I using the right set up because i thought the arrow where supposed to go through them or should i try lighter set up with more draw weight ? Still very green on this bow hunting but some of us still get lucky..

You must be 6'6" or a knuckle dragger

to have a 31.25 draw. Yeah, you sound green but we were all there at one time. Your set-up sounds fine. Arrows do not necessarily pass through. Hitting ribs on the close side will slow it down and hitting ribs on the way out may stop it right there. They won't go through a shoulder on the far side either.....10" penetration gets through all of the vitals hiding in the engine room.

matathonman · #13 10-16-2009, 04:39 PM

Sounds to me you did just fine. You double lunged the deer, it ran a ways and piled up. You found it. That's how it works.
As far as your set-up, if it isn't broke don't fix it.
Good luck on the rest of your season!

220swifty · #14 10-17-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRackLover

Great shot! Thats quite the distance for a bow.

Anyway, part of bow hunting is tracking. With lung shots, they always run so its important to:

listen and watch for direction of game flight
watch your arrow for location of hit
find and inspect your arrow (color, blood, bubbles, etc)
follow the blood trail after the "wait" (wait times varies on the above 3 things)

If you got both lungs, you've got the right setup. You won't always get a passthrough, but with todays compound bows on deer you should if you only hit hide & vitals (although I'm unsure about how much speed & energy you lose at 60 + yards). Ribs, muscle and bones can affect penetration along with bow & arrow setup. Was it only lungs & hide? Cracked ribs? Lost meat?

If this was a whitetail, that's quite an accomplishment at 65 yards especially considering you bumped them. Congratulations. The first bow kill is a wicked feeling, hopefully your hooked and you'll sell your rifles.

Everything in this post is good advice, except for the bolded.

Nice work, looking forward to the photos.

russ · #15 10-17-2009, 10:36 PM

I shot a doe tonight, the arrow hit the leg bone on the opposite. No pass through and double lunged. She might went 100 yds on the full gallop.

shorthair ptr. · #16 10-17-2009, 10:41 PM

Grats on your deer, like a lot of guys are saying. 65 yrds is realistic but is pretty far even for modern archery tackle. Bowhunting is about getting close, on whitetail especially as they can react to the shot so damn quick.

huntingaddict · #17 10-19-2009, 09:24 PM

lots of practise always used bran new g5's I might be a Knuckle dragger but I can hit a pieplate at 75yrd consistantly. I practise almost every day and make sure I always switch distance and angles every few arrows. thanks for all the credit guys wish my elk hunt this weekend went as good as that did. Who knew spirit river would be full of other hunters on the weekend . Guess me and my bow will go up in dec. for my cow elk.

Trav · #18 10-19-2009, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huntingaddict

lots of practise always used bran new g5's I might be a Knuckle dragger but I can hit a pieplate at 75yrd consistantly. I practise almost every day and make sure I always switch distance and angles every few arrows. thanks for all the credit guys wish my elk hunt this weekend went as good as that did. Who knew spirit river would be full of other hunters on the weekend . Guess me and my bow will go up in dec. for my cow elk.

congrats on the deer, nice to know that you knew it was a lucky shot. Hitting a pie plate at 75 yards consistently is good, but would never think about shooting an animal that far. To much can happen between you and the animal.I practice all summer out to 70 meters but I will only shoot under 40 with an live animal.

Montecs are great broadheads for sure. Last Year I got really lucky when a doe jumped my string and I ended up hitting her through both shoulders. I had a complete pass through going through both shoulders and she went 25 yards and piled up. Keep the montecs sharp and you will have good success

Congrats again

russ · #19 10-20-2009, 06:42 AM

A lot of guys assume that the pie plate is the gold standard. Here's the rub, there's no tension when you're practising. So between the animal moving and your groups literally doubling in size it gets a bit sporty even past 40 yds with the "pie plate standard".

As an example, I've taken up shooting a bit of FITA 1440's this past year. In practice I've shot decently - with rounds @ 70m scoring around and above 340/360 with a PB of 347. However once I went to shoot competitively, with that very little bit of added pressure, (and it's not very much) I struggled. I can't remember off hand but I don't think I even broke 300 & if I did it certainly wasn't up to the standard I had expected. I'd link the results for you but the FCA link is broken and ATAA hasn't posted them yet.