Long-Range Archery: 4 Ways to Get More Distance From Your Bow

These long-range archery tweaks will help you flatten trajectory, gain sight clearance and make distant targets fun instead of impossible.

A long-range archery setup doesn’t have to mean a brand-new bow or a total rebuild. If you’re preparing for an upcoming Total Archery Challenge shoot, or if you just want to stretch your effective practice range, there are several ways to squeeze a few extra yards out of your compound bow setup.

At TAC, long-range shooting is a big part of the draw. And for hunters getting ready for deer season, few things build confidence at normal hunting distances like learning to hit targets at ranges you’d never attempt from a stand.

Never heard of Total Archery Challenge? It’s a series of non-competitive 3D archery shoots held in some spectacular locations across the country, including mountain venues such as Killington/Pico, Vermont; Red Lodge, Montana; Brian Head, Utah; and SnowRiver, Michigan. Targets are often placed at long ranges and steep angles that challenge even skilled archers.

An archery celebrates an excellent long-range shot by pointing to his arrow, which is directly in the bullseye of the caribou target — While nobody can make this shot every time at 100 yards, hitting the vitals of a 3D target at long distances dramatically increases your confidence for hunting. Not to mention it's just a hell of a lot of fun!

Best of all, these shoots are for fun. There is no official competition, although groups of friends will absolutely compete for bragging rights. It’s a chance to test the limits of your bow setup without worrying about conforming to formal competition standards for gear or equipment.

Why Long-Distance Practice Is the Best Way to Improve Confidence

At most 3D shoots held by local archery clubs, you rarely see targets beyond 50 or 60 yards. At TAC, you can count on shooting at distant elk, moose, caribou and other big-game targets. Some courses include shots in the 100-yard range, and that changes everything.

If you can consistently hit the vitals of a 3D target at long distance, imagine how easy it will be to make your next 25-yard shot at a whitetail buck.

To be clear, shooting 100 yards and beyond doesn’t mean simply launching an arrow that far. Most compound bows can do that. The challenge is being able to set your sight for those distances, hold an actual aiming reference and shoot without your scope housing or sight pin interfering with the arrow path.

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Archers with shorter draw lengths and lighter draw weights usually have the hardest time getting there. But nearly everyone can do something to improve maximum aimable distance.

The Simplest Long-Range Archery Improvement is to Increase Draw Weight

Let’s start with the obvious: more draw weight. That assumes you have room to add it and can still draw the bow cleanly with good form.

For example, if your bow has a peak draw weight of 70 pounds and you have it set to 65, you can turn the limb bolts clockwise and add another 5 pounds.

Be careful with that adjustment, though. More poundage only helps if you can control it. If you have to sky-draw, collapse at full draw or fight through the shot, the extra speed isn’t worth it.

If your bow is already maxed out, going heavier may require new limbs. On some newer Mathews bows, peak draw weight can be changed by swapping SwitchWeight modules, which is simpler and less expensive than changing limbs.

The point is simple: If you can safely increase draw weight and still shoot well, you’ll usually gain speed, flatten trajectory and extend your usable sight range.

A female archer takes aim at a far-off target in a mountain setting — Female archers aren't the only ones who benefit from increasing their bow poundage. You don't want to struggle to draw your bow, but you'll shoot farther and flatter with every extra pound you can pull.

Next, Use a Lighter Arrow

The next step for long-range archery is to shoot a lighter arrow.

Lighter arrows have flatter trajectories than heavier arrows. If you swap your hunting arrow for one that’s lighter, you can often gain yardage immediately.

The key is to stick with the correct spine. Yes, weaker-spine arrows often weigh less than stiffer ones, but you don’t want to choose a weaker shaft just to cut weight. Look for an arrow that has the spine your bow needs, but with a lower grains-per-inch rating.

For example, Easton’s 5mm Axis is a popular hunting shaft, and the 300-spine version is listed at 10.7 grains per inch. Easton’s 5.0 arrow, on the other hand, is listed at 8.4 grains per inch in a 300 spine.

By switching from the Axis to the 5.0, you’d save 2.3 grains per inch. On a 30-inch shaft, that’s 69 grains before component differences. That kind of shaft change can boost your range.

Just don’t get carried away if this is also your hunting setup. You still need the right spine, good broadhead flight and enough finished arrow weight for the job. But for TAC, 3D shooting or long-range practice, a lighter arrow can be one of the fastest ways to gain distance.

Move Your Peep Sight, but Protect Your Anchor

Moving your peep sight is another way to gain yardage for long-range archery. In this case, you’d want to move your peep up the bowstring.

That move forces you to move your sight housing up, which gives you more room to slide the sight down when you dial for longer distances.

Be careful with this adjustment, however. You don’t want to move the peep so high that you completely change your anchor at full draw. Drastically changing your anchor can lead to poor shooting form and poor accuracy.

Small adjustments are best. The goal is to gain a few extra yards without wrecking the shot process that made you accurate in the first place.

Four archers watch as another archer prepares to take a long-distance shot at a 3D archery event. — *3D archery events like TAC are more fun with friends.*

When Shooting Long Range, Move Your Sight Closer to the Riser

Many bow sights on the market today have adjustments that allow you to change how far the scope sits from the riser. If your sight allows it, move the scope closer to the riser.

That can give you more usable vertical movement before you run into clearance issues.

Dialed Archery built this concept into its sights with an angled elevation rail. As you dial for farther distances, the sight housing moves closer to the archer, helping increase usable distance before vane-clearance problems show up.

That’s one reason you’ll see a lot of Dialed sights on TAC ranges. Long-range 3D shooting exposes the limits of a setup fast, and sight clearance is one of the first places those limits show up.

a man prepares to take a long-range archery shot at a Total Archery Challenge event

Combine These Long-Range Archery Tweaks

Any one of these changes can help you gain a little more distance. Combining several of them can make a big difference.

Increase draw weight if you can handle it. Build a lighter arrow that still has the correct spine. Move your peep carefully. Bring your sight closer to the riser if your setup allows it.

None of those changes replaces practice. You still have to shoot, tune and confirm your marks. But if you’re trying to reach distant TAC targets, stretch your 3D range or build more confidence before hunting season, these long-range archery tweaks can help you get there.