1st Time Archery Elk ... Max Distance

[philcox]

I have an Idaho Archery Elk. First time hunting Elk. Going with a buddy who has some experience. My Prime Nexus 2 is pushing a 443 gr arrow (~11 FOC) about 295fps. I am comfortable at shooting out to 90 yards and consistently hitting a vitals zone in many positions and conditions (wind, angel, etc.). With that said, there is no way I would shoot an actual Bull at that distance, but I am trying to figure out the technical limits given my equipment.

I know "it depends", but say a well placed "quarter to" or "quarter away", what would be a max range given that setup? Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Billy Goat]

The max range is on you. The equipment is capable further than we are, at least most are, but field conditions dictate a lot of that.

Did you shoot the Cold Bow Challenge? That can be a humbling way to find your personal maximum effective range. That's a good place to start, then you need to understand factors like how alert the animal is, how much it might move between when you shoot and the arrow arrives.

Good sharp broadhead on that setup and it will be lethal a good ways out.

 

[chasewild]

I have a hard 45 or less.

Big animals, lots of big bones. You shouldn't have a hard time closing the gap to that distance if you give yourself some time.

 

[Randle]

Run 2 miles as fast as you can, then have some one walk up behind you and blow an airhorn when you least expect it,, then draw your bow and shoot with the that heart rate and adrenaline level coursing thru you. then you will know what your MER is...
Every one is different but screaming elk can wind you up ,

 

[philcox]

Shot the CBC (started MER at 90yds, that was optimistic, 80 would have been more realistic), I have shot with elevated heat rate, etc. I get all the “variables in a shot”, and I understand that those will be very applicable at the time it comes to loose the arrow. My particular question in this one, is purely around what the equipment is capable of on a large animal like an elk.

I am shooting a Slick Trick Viper Trick.

 

[KHNC]

Probably should figure you are good to 100 yards in your case. Good luck!

 

[Billy Goat]

Shot the CBC (started MER at 90yds, that was optimistic, 80 would have been more realistic), I have shot with elevated heat rate, etc. I get all the “variables in a shot”, and I understand that those will be very applicable at the time it comes to loose the arrow. My particular question in this one, is purely around what the equipment is capable of on a large animal like an elk.

I am shooting a Slick Trick Viper Trick.

In my experience you won't have any issues with capability at that distance, assuming you don't hit heavy bone. I don't think 80 is a very responsible distance on an elk in most situations tho, personally. Follow up on a hit animal, yes, and further. I have learned that if I get a follow-up shot on an animal I take it, doesn't matter how good my first shot is.

I have said in other threads, I don't think you can build an arrow that is capable of blowing thru heavy bone reliably. Just too many variables, not to mention the mindset a shooter can have when in their head they say, it doesn't matter, I can shoot thru it. Like trying to shoot thru brush, it's a bad idea.

 

[philcox]

Thanks for the input ... the consensus is that the equipment would do anything I could ethically do with my skill set. That is what I was wondering. My goal is 30-40 yds and 60 if a clean broadside. Consensus seems to be that the equipment will handle that.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

If I were an Elk, rifle or bow, I would want the most clean ethical shot possible. That would suck to suffer pain, infection, not to mention a slow death.

I break my opportunities down into excellent, suboptimal, poor. Tons of variables.

Even if the preshot probability is excellent things do and will go wrong even when all the variables seems ideal.
If the preshot probability is suboptimal or poor I will pass. I can't live with knowing I injured an animal knowing the shot opportunity was less than ideal from the get go.

One's definition of excellent preshot probability will vary based on skill level and experience.

That's just my perspective.

 

[BBob]

Thanks for the input ... the consensus is that the equipment would do anything I could ethically do with my skill set. That is what I was wondering. My goal is 30-40 yds and 60 if a clean broadside. Consensus seems to be that the equipment will handle that.

For all my years hunting rutting bulls I'd say 90+% of my kills and others I've been around are between 20 and 45 yards. It just seems most opportunities happen in this range regardless of what our max distances we can competently shoot are. I personally have killed two beyond that and know of many more but the vast majority I'd say come in that window.

 

[Jwknutson17]

I am confident through 70 yards in mostly all conditions and positions to hit a softball size target over and over again... yet when a screaming bull is right in front of you I've almost messed up 15 yard shots. Say.. 8 inches from where I was aiming. Still double lung but, ya.. Take the extra few seconds to settle down and relax before you let an arrow fly pays huge dividends down on target. 35 yards feels like 70 in the timber. Most places unless your out in a meadow where we hunt there isn't a way to even shoot anything past 30-40 without going through trees, sticks, brush, etc. Just ain't happening.

 

[nphunter]

I will tell you there is nothing worse than working yours and your buddies rear off to get an opportunity at a bull elk and making a shot that you wished you could have back. I have done it more than I would like to admit and each one still eats at me, most of the time you could either get closer or the bull will come in closer, if not then IMO it probably wasn't meant to be.

This last fall I drew an OIL bull tag in one of the best units in the state, I scouted hard and hunted hard, after about 20 days of chasing bulls we decided to go sit on a bench where the big herd bull we had been chasing kept ending up on but we couldn't call him down. After about 30 minutes of sitting that bull walked up on the bench and laid down 100 yards from us. I spent the next hour crawling toward him until I felt like I couldn't get any closer due to the terrain. I then sat there going through episodes of shaking uncontrollably and calming myself down for about the next 30 minutes while looking at a monster 360"+ bull through my range finder and binos from 60 yards away. My buddy was calling trying to get him to stand up and come closer and ended up calling in a different bull, this bull didn't like the other bull and stood up to chase him off, I knew his exact distance and he stood full broadside staring up at the other bull, I drew back and sent what I felt like was the perfect arrow toward that bull. Right before it got there I heard a slight click and then whack. After finding my arrow which was covered in blood we looked for that bull for the next 9 days, we had close to a dozen people out there more than once and never turned him up. I put in so much effort and so did my hunting partner which donated his entire season to help me fill that tag, so many questions go through my head still. A lot of what if's. I really feel like that bull must have walked it off and maybe I deflected and the arrow went in parallel, who knows? I really wish I could have that arrow back.

Two years prior in a meadow after two days after my buddy killed his bull we found a bunch of fresh rubs, this was about the worst weather I've ever archery hunted in, cold and blowing snow. We were in full rain gear and really covering ground to stay warm. Anyway, we got to the far edge of the bench with all of the rubs into a small meadow and decided to rip out a bugle. My buddy bugled and instantly a bull cut him off with a lip bawl followed by breaking trees and brush, my buddy ran and dove behind a downed log and I stood frozen in the meadow. That bull ran all the way to the middle of the meadow and stopped about 10 yards from me and ripped out another scream. I stood frozen as the bull and my buddy bugled back and forth, I moved super slow and nocked an arrow, right as I went to draw the bull noticed movement and circled back into the re-prod and continued to scream. That went on for probably 20 minutes, I have never had a bull so pissed in my entire life, he answered every bugle and was shredding every tree around him, I was slowly walking the outskirts of the re-prod trying to get a shot, sometimes being less than 10 feet from his antler tips raking trees. Finally, he decided to circle down below me and I had a perfect window about 20 feet wide picked out he was about to walk into, I drew back and waited, that bull stopped just shy of the window but it was still pretty open, he was 40 yards and that was a chip shot, I let the arrow fly and about halfway to the bull there was a small tamarack branch hanging down and my arrow clipped a very small branch between him and I which sent it about 45deg into outer space. That was the last I saw the bull, I had to sit down and gather myself after that encounter, I was shaking so bad when it was all said and done I was worthless for the next hour.

The year before the miss on the big bull I was out hunting solo on the last day of my vacation. I pulled up to a bugle spot and ripped out a bugle, I was instantly answered back. I walked over to the edge of the ridgetop where I heard the bugle and let out another. This time I was hit right back and could see an elk walking toward me. There was a nice 6 point bull making a b-line for me at about 50 yards, I bugled one more time and nocked an arrow, when I nocked my arrow he jumped as if I startled him and froze. I had a stare-off with him for about 20 seconds when all of a sudden another bugle rang out just to my right. A nice 5 point bull heard us and was coming across below us. I was right between them and the 6 point looked at the other bull, bugled, and started walking toward him, I drew the bow and took a shot at 20 yards when he crossed below me. The bull ran straight downhill and stopped right on the edge of the thick timber, I watched him slowly walk into a very small thicket and then slowly backed out to let him die. I went to town to get my wife and kids for the recovery since it was only about 200 yards from the road. We went back a couple hours later and started on our way in, I walked into the thicket into a bedding area I knew was there fully expecting to see a dead bull. We didn't see but a single set of tracks walking right back out the way he came and not a single drop of blood. I did find my arrow which was missing about 8" off of the front of it, that was a 420gr Easton Injextion at 20 yards out of a Hoyt CST tipped with a slick trick.

Elk are super tough animals and the stars really do have to align for everything to work out perfectly. I would have bet everything that I had that there was no way I wasn't going through that bull at 20 yards, same with the 40-yard deflection, I'm just glad it was a clean miss. I have a 100 yard range at my house and can hit a 10 ring at 40 with my eyes closed. I've also killed some bulls with lightweight gear and taking some long shots that worked out in my favor. My current setup is a 73lb RX4 with a 500gr arrow, 225gr on the tip with an expandable head. I do my best to avoid the front shoulder but you never know what will happen, the bull I ended up killing last fall spun as I shot at 35 yards and I hit him right through the front shoulder and into his heart, he was broadside and just pulled his head out of a tree when I shot.

To answer your question, yes your bow will kill an elk at whatever distance you hit him behind the shoulder. I took a follow-up shot on a bull two years ago at 90 yards and got a pass-through with a rage trypan with a 500gr arrow and a 75lb bow. A lot of crap can happen between point A and point B though that is out of your control.

 

[npm352]

I think a good rule is this: if you're about to release and think, "I hope this kills it," don't shoot. If you're thinking, "this bull is dead," shoot.

 

[SIR_34:16]

I think a good rule is this: if you're about to release and think, "I hope this kills it," don't shoot. If you're thinking, "this bull is dead," shoot.

Solid advice for any shot at all game. There are so many variables and different conditions that each shot is it's own unique scenario. If there is any shred of doubt it usually doesn't end well. Practicing out to a distance farther than you plan on shooting an animal certainly helps build confidence.

 

[mtnlomo]

Personally I shoot all year at a local 3-D course and at my grandparents small farm. Even then for elk I go 50 and in not matter what. There’s just too many variables. In the end whatever you distance you can hit EVERY time


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[buckchaser]

Important to consider actual residual energy as well. Hitting the mark is one thing, driving the arrow through the vitals for a clean kill is another.

Worth considering the terrain for post-shot tracking. Wide open terrain where you can watch the bull run after the shot for hundreds of yards or thick timber where the bull vanishes immediately after the shot and tracking blood through heavy vegetation can be very challenging.

 

[Marble]

I would take into account everything.

Distance
Wind
Lighting (people tend to shoot left in low light, or they can't see their housing really well)
Angle of terrain (this is probably the biggest factor)
Position of animal.

Under the right conditions I may shoot out to 80 at an animal.

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[sndmn11]

Based on the places I think elk live in CO during the archery season, I think an archer would be much better served practicing thread the needle type shots in thick stuff and steep incline/decline shots inside 30-40 rather than how far can I let it rain from.

 

[Coveyleader]

Only thing I can offer is It’s a lot easier talking about the close encounter you had with an elk at night with your hunting partner than it is on your hands and knees, going up and down hills searching for an elk “you hit”.

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

Silly question, it's the Idaho jungle. You can't even see 50 yards