normal shot distance?

[sdsnowbound]

Hello,
I'm shooting a recurve w/o a sight. I participated in the King Arthurs tounament in San diego today and was pretty blown away by how far the shots were- a lot of them were in the 35 yard to 55 yard range with a few at 60 and 1 at 70 yards. Is that a normal shooting distance for traditional archery tournaments/competitions? I just started shooting last year and I'd like to become good enough to shoot respectably in competitions and eventually do some bow hunting. I usually practice at 15- 20 yards and sometimes go back to 30 yards. What distance do you normally shoot? What distances are normal at club shoots etc? Thanks for your advice.
Bruce

[myfriendis410]

I recently took up a longbow and have been shooting it steadily for the last 2 1/2 months. I only shoot at 20 and 30 yards with it and our little 3D shoot is set up so that the trad guys shoot at no more than 30 yards to compete with the compound guys.

I would like to shoot longer yardages, but I think another year at thirty will be needed to perfect my form and release before I can consider moving back.

[Orygun]

Normal for you is where you can place an arrow consistently. For hunting purposes that may be a lot closer than field targets. Some here can drop an arrow in from a far piece and others (me) need to be much closer.

For tournaments, longer distances separate the accurate from the really accurate. Nothing wrong with that.

[Speckmisser]

Those longer ranges are normal for competition and tourney shooting. I believe the Olympics even has a 100 meter target.

I don't shoot competition, but I do enjoy just shooting crazy distances with my recurve out in the field, shooting pine cones, sticks, and other inanimate objects.

Shooting targets at long range with a trad bow is a hoot, both because you have so much time to watch the arrow arc, and because it's just fun to see how accurate you can be. It's also excellent practice for the close range (< 25 yards) shooting you'll be doing when you hunt.

[rwlittle]

whatever distance you can shoot a pie plate.

[huntcrazy]

65 yards

[Hunt Crazy In Ca]

...............nice screen name................

[Zbearclaw]

I believe that King Arthurs Tourney is by a whole different type of archer than those that hunt with trad gear.

Meaning, in my opinion they are interested in pointing the tip to the sky and see how far she goes.

The other 3d tourneys I have seen had had trad stakes that were usually closer than compound, and the compound stakes were no where near 70yds. That is silly long for instinctive shooting. Gap shooters and the Field tourney guys do it all the time, but is kinda silly in my mind for instinctive guys.

I consider anything more than a few yards past point on distance to be a "long ways" shooting instinctive trad. For me it is much more fun, and instructional to shoot harder "short" shots.

[Family Tradition]

When I hunt with my recurve I'm looking for anything under 35-40 yards.

Once there I'm good to go.

M

[Backtalk]

65 yards

With a Trad. bow?

[slanttop357]

...............nice screen name................

[Bender]

60, 65 yards? Maybe not for hunting. But when going to a mixed shoot often compounds will shoot from the Adult stakes and Trad shooters will shoot from the Youth stakes. I always shoot my longbow from the Grown Up's stakes.

[Backtalk]

60, 65 yards? Maybe not for hunting. But when going to a mixed shoot often compounds will shoot from the Adult stakes and Trad shooters will shoot from the Youth stakes. I always shoot my longbow from the Grown Up's stakes.

I agree with your thinking. I can hit a pie plate at 80 yards about every time with my long bow, however my understanding of the question was distance for hunting.

[huntwa]

20 yards is perfect

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