Arrow & Broadhead Setup for Elk

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I have a Matthews Vertix with a 29 inch draw length at 70lbs. Planning on doing my first archery elk hunt here in Colorado this September. Constraining myself to 60 yards. Looking for advice and insight on the best arrow setup and broadhead selection. I'm thinking either Iron Will or Valkyrie broadheads - not set on either but think I want to stick with a high end fixed blade. New to the archery game and just not sure where to start out for my hunting setup! Thanks
 

Brendan

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Easton Axis 300. Cut to around 27.5 - 28" carbon to carbon. Easton Brass HIT Insert - 50 Grains. Iron will 25 grain impact collar. 125 grain Easton RPS field tips. 100 grain Iron Will Solid 100 broadheads. Lighted Nock if you like them. 3 fletch AAE Max stealth with a right helical. Don't glue the impact collars on - practice with the 125 grain heads, and swap to collar plus broadhead when needed.

You can swap out the Iron Will Broadheads for any good fixed blade: Muzzy, Slick Trick 3 blades are good choices if you want to save some $$$.

Speed should be 270 - 280 fps.
 

Zac

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Either of those options are great. I'd get ahold of either Brent or Bill depending on which system you end up going with. I'm assuming your considering running their respective components and not just the head. I've used both and believe they are the two best systems by far.
 

nphunter

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I agree with Brendan, that’s a solid recommendation for a great arrow. I just build pretty much the same arrow. I’m going to do some 10gr IW collars though instead of 25gr and not using max stealths. I will be right at 495gr.

I will be using a Trypan mechanical as well since they are legal here. I had great success with the same weight arrow and a Trypan last fall on my bull. I do have some IW S100’s for hunting ID where expandables are illegal

If you want great flying heads for 60yd shots stick with small surface area heads. In my experience the best flying heads are Typically 2 blade 1 1/8” or less cut heads, Iron Will, Solid, Day Six, Magnus. Larger cut or 3 and 4 blade head fly noticeably worse at 60+.

Solid Legends fly extremely well and since they’ve been around forever you can find them used for a lot less than new. The nice thing about solid or the new Day 6 EVO over IW is they are stainless. I lost a solid in the woods for two years after missing a bull. Found it later while elk hunting and was able to wipe it off, put an edge on it and couldn’t tell the difference between it and the others in my quiver after two full years buried in the woods. The IW heads get surface rust on them just sitting in my quiver for a few days.

I would also avoid heads without bleeders, you will have plenty of energy to push any head you use through an elk and you lose a lot of cutting surface when you go to a two blade without bleeders.
 
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I can speak for Solid broadheads. Hands down the best flying head I’ve tried. On par is the Valkyrie. I just picked up two boxes of those. Man, they are a work of art, but you pay like they’re original Picasso. Can’t speak for some of the others mentioned above.

The Valkyrie setup is a touch too heavy for my liking. Using small diameter shafts in to 10 GPI range, it’s basically impossible to keep the full setup under 500 grains with Valkyrie. In their defense, this is by design to stay within their “ideal” FOC range.

I’m shooting Victory VAPes and demand a bulletproof insert/outsert. In addition to Valkyrie, also tried out Ethics Archery’s insert/outsert system. They are a MUCH stronger system than standard Victory outserts (honestly my one gripe with Victory is their fundamentally flawed insert/outsert setup). Ethics are reasonably priced too.

I tried the Ethics side by side with Valkyrie center pins with field points. Using the same shafts, my Ethics setup penetrates slightly better at 480 grains than the Valkyrie at about 505. That’s with my old Bowtech Insanity CPX at 29” draw and 70#, for what it’s worth. That result is consistent from 20 yards out to 70 (as far as I can shoot in my yard). I don’t have a chrono so not sure of the exact speed, but the lighter, cheaper setup goes faster, drops less, and penetrates better... so that’s all I need to know.

I also find it much easier to strop a two blade broadhead to crazy sharp levels than a three blade like Valkyrie. They suggest using a bench grinder and their buff/polish wheel system to touch up edges, then finished with their special broadhead lube. Just a little too involved IMO.

All that said, I don’t mean to put down Valkyrie. They’ve put in the time to create a great product based on real research. If you want the Rolls of arrow/broadhead setups and don’t mind a little upkeep, it’s a great option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

406unltd

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Valkyrie centerpin has been great. Tough as nails and enough head weight options to choke a horse. You can go light and fast or heavy. Combine that with Brents sharpening system with the bench grinder wheels and those suckers get nasty nasty sharp and it’s super fast and easy. I wouldn’t recommend the x impact shafts. I’d stick with either victory VAP or the gold tip plat pierce. They are no doubt a more durable arrow. Lots of options for fletch, nock, and shafts though.

My setup is currently as follows-
29.5 x impact
Deep six nock
4 aae hybrid 26 fletch
21g sleeve
210 short jag
555-558 total weight
273-275fps
Not a speed demon and I do need to be more precise with yardage but it’s been a great flying system and the broadheads have always tuned very easy. That’s just my experience with them but whichever you choose will be an awesome setup I’m sure🤙🏻
 

KBC

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Easton Axis 300. Cut to around 27.5 - 28" carbon to carbon. Easton Brass HIT Insert - 50 Grains. Iron will 25 grain impact collar. 125 grain Easton RPS field tips. 100 grain Iron Will Solid 100 broadheads. Lighted Nock if you like them. 3 fletch AAE Max stealth with a right helical. Don't glue the impact collars on - practice with the 125 grain heads, and swap to collar plus broadhead when needed.

You can swap out the Iron Will Broadheads for any good fixed blade: Muzzy, Slick Trick 3 blades are good choices if you want to save some $$$.

Speed should be 270 - 280 fps.
Why the recommendation for practicing with 125 grain field points and then going to 100 grain head with 25 grain collar? I am just about to order some iron will 125s and the 10 grain collar because 125 grain heads just seem a little beefier to me. I'm putting together a really similar arrow for shooting elk, moose, bear, deer or whatever walks in front of me that's legal.
Thanks in advance! I've really picked up a lot of good info from your posts.
 

pirogue

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Just don’t overthink it. Last fall, I got a complete pass through, on a mud caked 6 pt bull, at 32 yards. 60# bow, 28” draw, 100 gr fixed broadhead on an Easton FMJ. Don’t have a clue about a “collar”, and never used any weighted inserts.
 

Brendan

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Why the recommendation for practicing with 125 grain field points and then going to 100 grain head with 25 grain collar? I am just about to order some iron will 125s and the 10 grain collar because 125 grain heads just seem a little beefier to me. I'm putting together a really similar arrow for shooting elk, moose, bear, deer or whatever walks in front of me that's legal.
Thanks in advance! I've really picked up a lot of good info from your posts.
Allows me to practice using a field point and no collar which is better in bag targets, won't damage collar when they're not needed, need fewer of them as they're only for hunting arrows, and have exact same weight as my broadheads.

Also, generally better broadhead selection in 100 grain.
 
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KyleR1985

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Ethics archery static half outs, or static inserts/outserts, 200-250gr up front total including whatever small COC broadhead you like, on any arrow of your choosing in 300 spine cut as short as you can without interfering with the rest.

Brand of your arrows and broadheads up to you. the suggestions above are all good. i'll throw in QAD exodus as an option as well.
 

rslscobra

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I use Victory RIP XV 300 spine with Ethics Archery 120gr. outsert system (aluminum/stainless). No wraps, victory nock and AAE Max Stealth vanes three fletch. 100gr. broadhead. Total arrow weight 455gr. with 19% FOC and 290fps.
 

MattB

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Don't overthink it. I generally agreed with Brendan's approach although I will not spend what it takes to fill a quiver with IW's although I can afford to.

I have a bunch of VPA 125 gr. 3 blades and will be shooting them against Black Hornets and Micro Hades 4 blades to see which rides in my quiver this elk season.
 
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I’m going with a Black Eagle X Impact and the 100 grain focos system. I will use either a black hornet or ram cat 125 head. With 3 max stealths and wrap I’m at 486 grains and 17% foc. 27” carbon to carbon and should be in the 280 FPS range. Lots of good combos. Find one that flies for you and shoot that with confidence.
 

Zac

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Man you might want to rethink the Ramcat. I think it used to be a great head but durability is pretty bad since they sold out and entered Walmart. Walmart is always the end of a good head.
 

Zac

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Now that I think about it I'd try that B3 Destrukt head out if I was a former Ramcat fan. Thinking about giving it a run myself. I like the idea of offset blades to add some steering.
 

Bill V

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I think it's hard to beat a durable .204 ID arrow like the match grade Axis or Rampage with Iron Will Impact Collars and HIT inserts with total arrow weight about 450 to 550 grains. I will carry Iron Will s125 and wide125 for elk.

s125_system.jpg
 

TheViking

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Easton Injexion 280 spine (thickest wall shaft out of any normal hunting arrow) with a Day Six 100 grain steel outsert. I can’t hurt it, I’ve tried.
 

TX_Diver

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I think it's hard to beat a durable .204 ID arrow like the match grade Axis or Rampage with Iron Will Impact Collars and HIT inserts with total arrow weight about 450 to 550 grains. I will carry Iron Will s125 and wide125 for elk.

View attachment 184039

Looking at your heads for elk this year but don't see dimensions posted for anything other than the wide series? Am I missing something on the site? Curious how big the S100s are.

Been shooting the magnus stinger buzzcuts and really no reason to change, but love the collars you've been putting out and curious to try the broadheads and see how they fly for me.
 
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