Tim4Trout

If you can do it constantly 3 inch groups are more than fine.

atlasman

3" groups at 25 yards is plenty fine to go and get a deer. If you can keep your groups that tight consistently then you are all set for that range and under. Some good things have been mentioned already.........like make sure you can do it with broadheads and not just fieldtips. Also your first shot is all you really get so IMO group shooting is nice BUT I prefer real world practice. I will nock an arrow and just imagine I am shooting at a deer for real........one shot, sometimes I shoot quick, sometimes I hold for a LONG time and sometimes I end up somewhere in between. No matter how I shoot I go pull the arrow and see how I would have done if it was a real deer. I'm also not very fond of practicing with fieldtips for hunting. Since I don't plan on shooting a deer with a fieldtip I don't see the point in shooting them for practice for long periods of time. I shoot them for about a month and then I shoot broadheads the rest of the summer and fall. I have a bunch of friends that shoot fieldtips right up to a couple days before the season and then strap on a broadhead and see how they fly.........that is crazy IMO. Practicing with broadheads not only prepares you for the real thing but also gives you the peace of mind in knowing your rig is in fine hunting condition. I also practice a lot from a ladder stand in my backyard instead of shooting from the ground because I hunt from a stand and not the ground.........I try to keep my practice as real as I can.

DaveC

A lot of good comments and advice here.
I tend to think it was said nicley by mobowhuntr-
"If you shoot 3" groups, that sounds pretty consistent to me.
Some people are just harder on themselves than others, and demand more of themselves. Nothing wrong with that. Set your personal goals and achieve them. "

I for one try to get the tightest "groups" possible and will tweak until I am happy with the results. There are too many things that can increase the margin of error in a hunting situation not to have my arrows landing whereI want them to while practicing, in the backyard standing in the proper stance with as perfect form asI can achieve.
A lot of things don't mimick the backyard while hunting, the angle of the shot, footing on the tree stand, location of the target (never just right- pesky deer[8D]), limbs or branches to navigate around, SITTING shots. All of the comfort of backyard shooting seems to disappear while hunting (for me anyway). Therefore I will try my best to ensure my equipment is performing as good as it can so the rest is up to me.
3" groups with broadheads consistently sounds very resonable to me. The amount of arrows in the group obviously will increase the size of the group.

BTW, I'm not sure about anyone else, butI sometimes use the word "Group" when describing my shooting when in reality I'm measuring how far the arrow is from the point of aim (center of spot), especially when reffering to broadheads. IfI shoot 3 different heads at 3 different spots and measurefrom the center of the spot to the outside edge of the arrow furthest away from the center, that is what I am calling a group. I guessI might have misspoke? the results are the same IMHO, just cheaper this way..

DaveC

Hey Atlasman, I have a neighbor who thinks I'm waisting my time tweaking and shooting so much. He pulls his bow out a week before season, shoots it into the target maybe 5 times, screws on his mechanicals and then goes hunting. Last year he wounded abuck and never mentioned it to me, his wife wasn't so tight lipped[&:]. Maybe this year he'll give it 2 weeks???

Dens228

I agree with the comment on "internet archers" I always hear about the tight groups but most of them equate to the 300/60x already mentioned. I practice out to 30-35 yards and that's what I limit my hunting shots to. I feel very confident to hit a 3-4 inch group to that MOST of the time but am 99% sure I can hit the kill zone on a deer, which is larger than that, every time.

I would say a 3 inch group is above average for hunting purposes.

davidmil

Paul Mohr is right. 3 inch groups(legitimate 3 inch groups) are more than adequate if it's with broadheads. If you can tune your set up to get the same accuracy and consistancy from broadheads you're good for just about anything. The problem I find with most people is they say they shoot 3 inch groups but they're basing it on their BETTER groups and not really their average. We should probably base our group size on our largest group in any given day. It would probably more closely be a good representation of what we'll do in a tree from unknown distances under the pressures of a hurried shot at Macho Buck. I guess if we were really going to be honest with our selves we should base it on a group of say 5 arrows shot over a period of 5 days under different lighting conditions(different times of day). We should only record the first arrow we shoot. No warm up, no practice, just walk out of the house, climb the practice platform and let ONE arrow and One arrow only go and record it's impact. What could be more realistic?

DoI do it??? I do a modified practice routine when I really get near my hunting season. I do a lot of walk out of the house and shoot one arrow at the target from some place I haven't shot from before. I have some old round throw targets I just heaveout and shoot em where they land.

Paul L Mohr

A better gauge in my opinion would be to practice on a small 3-D target from different angles and distances. And see if the shots you make are lethal and in the kill zone. Remember to take into acount for shot angles and what the arrow will actually hit on the way thru. Shooting 3-D for score is not the same thing as hunting live game. A good scoring shot is not always the correct shot for live game. You have to shoot for the exit wound and picture the path of the arrow thru the game.

I don't shoot broad heads very often either. My bow is tuned well enough that my hunting arrows group as well as my target arrows do. I verify that all my hunting arrows shoot well and set them aside. I do not practice with the shafts and tips I hunt with. I don't want to take any chances of messing them up. I test all my arrows and set the best three aside for hunting. The rest I use for practice.

Kevin, I would tend to not agree with this statement:

"I've been taught that accuracy is the best test of a bow hunter , and that all else is secondary . Is that wrong ? I don't think so , I feel we owe it to the quarry ."

I will agree that accuracy is important and should be strived for, but not the most important and the singular thing you should be concerned with. I think knowing the animal is much more important. Studying the anatomy and how the animal moves is just as important as being able to make the shot. If you don't know where to properly place the arrow or when to take the shot, or more importantly when not to take the shot being accurate really isn't much good. Putting the arrow in the spot you aimed for doesn't do you much good if it was the wrong spot or the deer moved during the shot.

Hunting is so much more than flinging arrows in a tight group on a target. I can outshoot most of my hunting buddies, but they are much better hunters than I am because they have more experience at it. And I have a few friends that are excellent shots, both spots and 3-D but have yet to take a deer cleanly. They are great archers but just don't get the big picture and take time to be effective hunters as well. First you have to do your homework and be where the deer are. Then you have to be paitient and wiley enough to let them get close. And after that you have to have know when to draw the bow and take the proper shot. As well as know when to just sit still and let it go if things are not right.

That is my opinion any way.

Paul

atlasman

I have heard it all........."You're shooting already??"........."For what??"

These comments are usually from the guys who dust off their bows the weekend before the season and run around like idiots trying to get everything straight in a matter of hours.......Then they usually talk themselves into saying their setup is "all set" when they truthfukky know it's not...........or they just grab some mechanicals. Later on when they are crying about a miss or even worse.........that is when I answer the "For what?" part of their question. Some people just have to learn the hard way........and some never learn no matter what.

Muratus

I have my backyard set up to try and simulate hunting as much as possible. I let the grass grow long, tree branches hang down etc. I have my target block 10 yards from a group of 4 large trees that are all 20 yards apart from each other. I make 5 shots each round, one shot for each black dot on my target (4 corners & in the center). I make each shot from a differant location, in a differant position, sometimes hidding behind a tree or leaning up against one, etc. I don't have any yardage marks in that area but shots would range from 10 yards to 45 yards. If I can hit each one of those black dots with each of my shots, I'm happy. The dots are about 2" around.

To me that is the way a hunter should practice, try get as many varables into it as you can, then master it!

Allseasonhunter7

dk why you would try to group broadheads... itll cost you$