I'm not a bowhunter anymore and don't consider myself a long range hunter with my rifle. I bow hunted whitetail through high school and college and really enjoyed it. I also learned an awful lot that made me a better hunter during that time and the hours spent in the woods. I took a few mature bucks and never shot one from a treestand, I got them all from ground level hunting along trails and putting a big tree between me and the trail I used as cover, drew the bow while the buck was blocked from my sight by the tree. After college my time constraints and hunting desire had to make a compromise, I gave up the bow and the long season so I could focus on hunting during the shorter rifle and muzzle loader seasons and focus on work the rest of the fall. I really want to pick the bow back up every fall, but I have more time constraints than ever and my drive when focusing on hunting gets in the way of the rest of my life, best that I don't at this time.
I am curious, what is the time of flight of an arrow at that range with a modern bow?
My bowhunting ended about 2002 and I know the technology has come a long way since then. I practiced with my bow a lot back when I hunted with it at 80yds on a target pinned up to the round bales in our hayshed. I never shot past half that distance at a deer, but practicing at longer ranges really helped show me the problems in my shooting form. An older employee at the bow shop I frequented back then told me to shoot long and if I got good there, I'd be really good up close. I took it to heart and felt it helped. I apply it to my shooting with firearms also and feel it helps. I shoot my rifles practicing farther than I would shoot game. Over time I have extended my comfortable distance through practice and it really helps my confidence at shorter ranges.
I have a hard time answering max range questions like this, because I feel that it depends so much on the conditions. With a rifle am I prone over a pack with tons of time to range, use the wind meter, get set? Am I kneeling off sticks or sitting behind my upright pack? I have learned from hunting predators and game what shots are high percentage and what are not by how steady I can get my crosshairs against the animal and what the range is. If I can make the shot closer and higher percentage I always will, but if I can't I get into the best position I can and look through the scope. This shows me how little I can make the reticle wobble and if I should take the shot or not.
One variable that always needs considered when stretching the range of your weapon is time of flight. How far can the animal move before the projectile arrives. No matter how perfect your shot is, if the time of flight will be long enough the animal may not be where you shot for when the projectile arrives. A bedded animal unaware of your presence gives you more leeway, a moving or feeding animal gives you less. I always feel that a hunter owes it to their quarry to know how long it takes their projectile to cover the distance when you start approaching your max range, and factor that into their decisions.
Just my 2 cents and something I think gets overlooked by some. I talk to a lot of hunters who think about an animal jumping the string, but not about other movement. Predator hunting taught me a lot on this, shooting at animals with small vital areas that switch directions frequently.
