04/10/2026
This tip is a little later in the month than I was planning, but I had to cool down some before I started writing. I was bored to death about a week ago and was flipping through some āReelsā for entertainment when I came across someone interviewing a few of the Archery Industriesā āinfluentialā people. Not sure how āinfluentialā they are since I hadnāt heard of any of them but the point is they were asked, āwhatās your maximum comfortable rangeā? I was absolutely flabbergasted by the answers, expecting to hear numbers like 30, maybe 35 to 40 under the right conditions. What I heard made me both sad and extremely angry at the same time, the shortest distance was 50 yards and the longest was, are you sitting down?, 120 yards, with several subjects proclaiming 100 yards as ātheirā maximum distance. One subject even advised he had pins out to 150 yards, so⦠I calmed down and assumed they were talking about shooting targets, nope, they were advocating shooting deer at these ranges.
You canāt tell, but I had to take a pause. I started getting mad all over again just writing this. Either these āhuntersā are in some kind of idiotic competition or they just donāt understand both the anatomy and athleticism of a deer. We once spoke about a 30 yard shot being questionable because of how fast a deer can āJUMPā the string. How freaking far do you think a deer can move in the time it takes for an arrow to travel 100 yards? Thereās also some indication that the deer can actually hear the arrow as itās in flight! Oh, I know the rationalization will be that bows are so much faster now, but actually, they are not. Iām dang sure they arenāt three times as fast as they were twenty years ago.
Hereās another take on this whole subject, how bad of a hunter are you, if you canāt get closer to a deer than 100 yards. If thatās the case, hang up your bow and learn to be a woodsman before you disrespect another deer by taking a 100 yard shot. That deer deserves better and you all know it, if not, stop calling yourself an archery hunter and pick up a rifle. Hell, you can probably maximize your range to one mile with a modern rifle.
So, hereās my āTipā, to all you true archery hunters out there, continue to see how close you can get that deer before you let loose an arrow and maybe consider not giving these āinfluencersā any attention. Thanks for reading and GOD BLESS!