Short range shots

[new2xbow]

OK i have to ask, how off will i be if i use the 20yd crosshairs at say a 15 or 10 yd shot. I havent practiced these ranges as i don't want to tear of vanes going through the target.

[gendoc]

20yrds or less is our most average range... 4 hunters involved here.

[gerald strine]

Just use the spot above the 20 yard cross hairs were the duplex goes from thick to thin as the aiming spot and you will be rite on at 10 yards.

[ComfyBear]

LIke Gerald said, use the top post above the crosshair. However, if you were to use the crosshairs, you'd find that at 10-15 yards you'd only be shooting approx. 1" high.

[new2xbow]

since it seems most here have said 30 or 40 is max they would take, has anyone ever tried zeroing at 20 with what would be the 30 yrd chevron, hence making the crosshairs 10 yd, 1st chevron 20 and so forth?

[Louvp]

I read somewhere that where the heavy bar comes down & meets the thin crosshair line is the 10yd mark.

[wabi]

I use a single reticle (duplex reticle Leupold shotgun scope) on my Phoenix. Sighted in at 25 yards the arrow is never above/below the aiming point out to 30 yards. With the scope adjusted to 2.5x I can use the top & bottom "posts" (where the crosshair changes from thick to thin) for 15 & 35 yards, but in most hunting situations I simply confirm the deer is inside 30 yards and hold dead-on the center of the kill zone.
I've shot deer as close as 7 yards using that method and had no trouble killing it. The hit was 2-3" high, but still through both lungs and the deer only went about 40 yards after the shot.

The top "post" where the crosshair transitions from thick to thin on Excalibur's scopes is calibrated to be on at 10 yards with the crosshair zeroed at 20 yards and adjusted to match your arrow speed.
Works fine, but if you use the crosshair instead it will still be a dead deer if you shoot at the center of the lungs.

The other thing I take into consideration on a shot is that the deer IS a 3-D target. I adjust the aiming point to get BOTH lungs on an angled target. On a deer angled away from you the aiming point may be far back on the surface (hide) to get the back of the near lung and the front of the far lung. Study deer anatomy and it becomes easier. If you're in an elevated stand and the deer is close the aiming point should be a bit high, so using the crosshair instead of the 10 yard reticle may be an advantage, anyway. You'll hit high hit on the near lung and low on the far lung, but both lungs hit = dead deer.