hunter9022

txrookie, i know what you're sayin. When i use to work at a pro shop, we'd have people like that all the time that would get mad cause we couldnt finish anything cause we were so back up. We finally put a sign up that said, "If you dont like the service in september, dont wait till september!"

statjunk

I can't believe that you guys are saying that 4" at an archery range at 25 yards is ok. I am new to archery and I am just over an inch at 25 yards but definetly under 2".

What is going to happen to the 4" guy when there is a deer in their sights?

I am going to stick with that is pretty bad.

I also saw the guys buying bows and getting set ups done just a few days ago which puts them only about 8 days before opening day.

Tom

davidmil

Well for all you folks that say 4 inches is REALLY bad, I challenge you to go out and shoot 30 or 40 arrows and not have one here or there that falls in the 4 inch range. 4 inches isa little longer than thelength of your finger. It's not a great group, but it's not terrible. I've been shooting and watching shooters for 35 years. When you're just chunking some arrows, 4 inches at 25 yards is OK, not great, but OK. Measure your own sometime, and not a selective measurement. You can't just measure your best. This guy was unpracticed, setting some pins and out of there. Not bad for a casual archer. Not what we'd like, but not all bad. I'm not a 1 inch grouper by any means, but I'll take my shot at a deer in the heat of the moment anytime over some of the perfect form target junkies I've seen. I once met an Olympic medalist that took 8 years to get her first deer. Not that she didn't have shots, but she couldn't control the moment and work with the unknown distances of shooting from a tree.

LA_SWAMPER

I would have to agree that 4 inches isnt that terrible. I know I have seen worse. Talking about people waiting till the last minute, I was in the shop getting my c-peep retied when a man walked in and said he needed to have his bow tuned. I just gave it a glance and noticed his problem. He had around 50 wraps of duck tape around the riser to serve as an arrow rest! I hate to say it, but only in La.

Illinois Bowhuntin

If your bow has more duct tape then it does camo you might be a redneck.............

Hopefully the guy shooting those kind of groups will be using that distance as a maximum.I also agree that the shakiness of having a deer in front of you would probably make that grouping atleat a 6 in group.

Talondale

Whatever happened to the 9" pie plate? When I started bow hunting (about 10 years ago) they recommended you be able to put all your arrows in a 9" pie plate before you were ready to hunt. Now with all the X punchers out there you have to have a 1" group? I'm all for being proficient at shooting but let's not get ridiculous. A 4" group is fine when you are aiming at the right spot to begin with.

Speaking of Olympic archers missing: Seems I've seen a video (Quest, Realtree, or Primos) from the late 80's or early 90's where they had a guest hunter who was a gold medalist and he misses a big buck on film! Talk about embarrasing. He said "that's the difference between a live target and a piece of paper."

JeramyK

I too don't think that a 4" group at 25 yards is bad. Now consistantly being outside of 4" is different.

I'd be concerned as to whether or not that person could get that 4" group from a tree stand assuming that he/she is using one.

NorthernHunter

We can all strive to be better and I think most of us do...that's why we're posting so often about practice, practice,practice! IMO, 25 yards out is my limit when in the stand an I think I have only taken but a few shots at that range (in my early days). Most of my shots these days are about 10-15 yards. If a 4inch spread at 25 yards out is considered bad, well, i don;t know. I think that is OK as long as it's consistently 4 inches off. However, if it were me, I would work on tuning and form to get a bit tigher, but I also would not shoot unless it's 20 yards or closer...that's my comfort zone.

What i do when in the stand is loook around at my area and I pick certain trees and mentally figure which sets of trees are my outer limits and won't shoot anything unless it comes in closer. Been working like that for 15 years and it works for me.

MNpurple

When you say they were shooting 4" at 25 yards you mean 4" groups right? Whether they shoot 3,4,or 5 arrows, all arrows are within that 4" diameter circle? If so, they are consistently putting their arrows in a circle about the same size as a deer's heart. If they use a center chest hold on thier shot which I think most of us do, then I think they are doing just fine. Room for improvement yes, but I just dont see how that is so bad.

I asked what you meant because I have heard people say they are shooting 5 inches at 40 yards, then come to find out, they meant 5 inches either way around the bullseye, making for a possible 10 inch group!! Now that is not to be hunted with!

statjunk

Well then maybe I am wrong but he was shooting at a target that is about 3" around and not one of his arrows was in that target zone. He also wasn't at all consistent. He was all the way around the 3" circle. I would say he shot about 5 arrows.

Tom