Judging Distance: A Critical Skill
I learned a couple interesting facts in my high school physics class. In a vacuum, where there is no air resistance, all objects fall at the same speed, regardless of their weight. For instance, a feather dropped from the same height as a rock would land at the same exact time. The other thing I learned is that a bullet fired parallel to the ground would land at the same time as a bullet dropped from the same height. The horizontal speed has no effect on gravity bringing that bullet to the ground. How does this affect a bow hunter’s need to accurately judge distance?
When hunting with a rifle over shorter distances, very little attention needs to be paid to accurately judge distance. If a typical rifle fires the bullet at 2500 feet per second, it only takes that bullet 0.06 seconds to travel 50 yards. Gravity has little effect on the bullet over that short of a time. However, if an arrow travels at 400 feet per second, it takes it 0.38 seconds to travel 50 yards. You might be surprised to learn that the arrow would fall about two feet in that amount of time. That is a significant effect, and you could see how if you were off in your distance judgment by only a few yards, it could cause you to completely miss the target. Some people think that Quebec caribou hunting means not having to be as accurate since caribou are fairly large, but not even caribou hunters are immune from heartbreaking misses.
Many people have completely missed the target because their distance determination was too far off. For a lot of bow hunters one such mistake is enough motivation to take the time to learn how to accurately judge distance. For others, it might take more than one heartbreaking miss, but all good bow hunters have learned how to accurately judge distance.
There are many methods for accurately judging distance, but the truth is that they all require some practice before going out hunting. One great way to practice is to go to a 3-D range. That is one of the best places to practice, because it provides a wide variety of conditions. If the conditions were always the same, it would be easy to accurately judge distance, but out in the woods, conditions vary widely, and there are several factors that can provide additional challenge for accurately judging distance, such as:
§ A severe slope, regardless of whether the target is above or below you § Whether the caribou is among trees or in a clearing § Variations in lighting § If you’re used to hunting one type of animal and switch to a different size animal § Differing weather conditions Caribou are fairly large, and therefore less accuracy is required for judging distance. The vital organs (heart, lung and liver) for caribou are about 15 inches in diameter. With a 240 feet per second bow, guessing that the target was 40 yards away, when it’s actually 35 yards away (overestimating by 5 yards) causes the arrow to hit about four inches above the bull’s eye. With the same bow, determining that the target was 40 yards away when it was actually 45 yards away (underestimating by 5 yards), causes the arrow to hit six inches low. Clearly it’s better to overestimate the distance than underestimate, but you can see that the 11-14% error would still be a kill on an animal as large as a caribou. However, I wouldn’t want to be much more than 5 yards off at that distance. Do you think you can judge to within 5 yards at 40 yards away? When you’re at the 3-D archery range, be sure to judge the distance, and take your shot before judging the distance with a laser range finder. Be sure to let your friends also take their shot before announcing the distance. Many 3-D ranges provide raised platforms to shoot from to simulate shooting from a tree stand. That is an important aspect to practice, since a severe angle can greatly affect the true horizontal distance to the target, and our ability to accurately judge. Judging distance is one of the most important skills for bow hunters. Even the greatest marksman among us will miss the target if his distance determination is incorrect. With all of the time and money spent on hunting, it only makes sense to take some time to learn how to accurately judge distance. Bill Phillips has written articles on many recreational activities. He’s currently working on an airsoft guns website, which offers a wealth of information and advice about selecting and using airsoft guns, including airsoft custom guns, cheap airsoft gun, electric airsoft guns and more. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The links are: airsoft custom guns: to http://1st-airsoft-guns.com/ cheap airsoft gun: to http://1st-airsoft-guns.com/cheap-airsoft-guns.html electric airsoft guns: to http://1st-airsoft-guns.com/electric-airsoft-guns.html