My Dad told me story a long time ago. A tourist is walking though New York City with a violin case and goes up to a stranger on the street and asks, "How to I get to Carnegie Hall?". The stranger smiles and replies, "Practice". I guess it makes sense if you knew that Carnegie Hall was where the best symphony orchestras played in New York.
Same thing here. I can introduce you to local guys who have, and can, put an arrow into the kill zone repeatedly on a 3d target at 60 yards, unmarked. One with a longbow and the other with a recurve- both no sights. I can introduce you to multiple guys shooting compound/ sights who can do the same (I'm not including yours truly in that list I might add).
When you hunt spot and stalk, and it's illegal to have a feeder to shoot over, you adapt and learn how to judge distances, and then restrict your maximum shot distance to where you ethically believe your maximum killing distance is. If you shoot out of a ground blind or have the time, a laser rangefinder sure helps.
How to learn? 2 ways I was taught were to memorize what a target looks like at 20, 25 and 30 yards, and then try to double those distances. What I found was the best way to learn distances for 3d shoots, was to go to a football field (without your bow), and watch your dog walking around, or kids practicing. You have an immediate way to measure the distance (on the ground) and see how far away it is. Then you go to where you hunt, looking at a tree or bush or rock, making an estimate of the distance and then checking your estimate against the actual distance with a rangefinder. If you do it enough, you can get pretty good at estimating distance, like many things, if you practice.
And, No, I have never taken a 60 yard shot at an animal. I think almost everything I've shot has been at 25 yards, or less.
Same thing here. I can introduce you to local guys who have, and can, put an arrow into the kill zone repeatedly on a 3d target at 60 yards, unmarked. One with a longbow and the other with a recurve- both no sights. I can introduce you to multiple guys shooting compound/ sights who can do the same (I'm not including yours truly in that list I might add).
When you hunt spot and stalk, and it's illegal to have a feeder to shoot over, you adapt and learn how to judge distances, and then restrict your maximum shot distance to where you ethically believe your maximum killing distance is. If you shoot out of a ground blind or have the time, a laser rangefinder sure helps.
How to learn? 2 ways I was taught were to memorize what a target looks like at 20, 25 and 30 yards, and then try to double those distances. What I found was the best way to learn distances for 3d shoots, was to go to a football field (without your bow), and watch your dog walking around, or kids practicing. You have an immediate way to measure the distance (on the ground) and see how far away it is. Then you go to where you hunt, looking at a tree or bush or rock, making an estimate of the distance and then checking your estimate against the actual distance with a rangefinder. If you do it enough, you can get pretty good at estimating distance, like many things, if you practice.
And, No, I have never taken a 60 yard shot at an animal. I think almost everything I've shot has been at 25 yards, or less.
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