Arrow weight for elk?

[Charina]

My take: Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. Then somewhere way down the list is correct arrow spine, tuning, etc - of course, all for the purpose of shot placement. After that, then I'll be thinking about overall weight of my arrow. I suggest that placing a 350 grain arrow in the mid-chest from a 60lb draw, the elk will be recoverable. Shoot it in the gut with a 650 grain arrow from a 80lb bow with all the KE or momentum that is possible, and you likely won't recover it.

When working in a butcher shop, we used to find healed over broadheads in deer and elk on a semi-regular basis. Hip. Fore and rear leg bones. Vertebrae. Hit those bones, and it doesn't matter what your arrow weight is. Again, it's all about the shot placement.

I read Dr. Ashby info with great interest. I haven't read all of what is available, so perhaps the questions and concerns I have with some examples would be addressed elsewhere. My burning question after reading the paper later linked to is: At what point does splitting hairs matter? When hunting Buffalo, Elephant, or Rhino? When hunting elk with a home-made long-bow barely meeting legal minimum draw weight? It seems to me that with ANY reasonable adult compound bow made within the last 5-10 years, with a 100 grain head, on a shaft of standard weights (excluding the ultra low gpi shafts - talking about typical hunting shafts), I suspect there is more than enough momentum to punch around/through a rib and deliver a lethal and trackable trail. As fascinating as the physics and knowledge is to me, it feels like getting lost in the forest and forgetting to look at the big picture. Again, at what point does maximizing bow energy transfer momentum derived from mass begin to matter? Under 50lb and 26 inch draw? Under 45lb? I just don't see this as germane to modern hunting bows and hunting of elk.

Choose your spine based on your bow, tune it, and practice, practice, practice. Its all about shot placement.

 

[ben h]

Charina, I thought exactly like you until 2013 when my friend lost his 6x6 bull due to poor penetration on what he thought was a done deal at the shot and when the bull turned his heart sunk about how much arrow was sticking out of the wrong side of the bull. I wasn't there (due to stupid work), but another friends was and he corroborates his story. 20 something yard shot on a broadside bull, shooting a 70 lb Z7, with 100 gr G5 striker heads, carbon express blue streak arrows. He said there's no way he hit shoulder blade, but here we are. Maybe it was rib. It wasn't until after this, we actually bought a scale and weighed our arrows which were in the 360 gr range that we even thought about this to be an issue, especially after blowing through several cows and deer with this exact same setup. His hunt was a limited tag in Utah, which at the time required about 8 pts to get plus the 5 year waiting period, so more than likely that cost him 10-13 years to repeat (unless out of state of course at a considerable costs, in terms of time and money).

I'm in complete agreement with you that shot placement is #1, but I think I diverge after that. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the 300 gr range that get elk, but I think you're taking a chance that just isn't worth it. I'd go as heavy as you can and still have good projectory and reasonable speed. For my setup, that's about 480 gr in my opinion, but I sort of hate stacked up pins anyway. Good luck, whatever you chose.

 

[sneaky]

The link for momentum v KE doesn't seam to be active. I have been looking for some science driven data as I am currently wrestling with this debate for my first elk hunt. I feel like everything I have heard on both camps (light vs heavy) has been anecdotal for the most part. The physics of both seem to make sense, however I eventually get caught in some sort of logic loop after a while. I would love to see any reports people could present links to!

KE= Force required to stop an object in the span of one foot
Momentum= Force required to stop an object over the span of one second.

Much easier to stop a light object (ping pong ball) than a heavy one (golf ball, to keep the analogy using similar sized objects)
You have to find YOUR acceptable balance of speed vs arrow weight. I'm not a speed freak, I like heavy, hard hitting, quiet, arrows. Heavy arrows are just more efficient, that isn't opinion, that is physics. Slower. Quieter. Deadlier. Just use a sharp broadhead or its all for naught.

 

[RRen]

I have a 360g arrow with 100g head. I ordered 3g tubing inserts. Would you guys rather add a heavier broadhead or use the tubeing to add weight. They are CE maxima reds 28inch.

 

[KineKilla]

475-525gr total weight is the sweet spot for me. It spreads the pins out a bit, quiets the bow down a bit and hits like a hammer.

My $.02

Sent from my SM-N976U using Tapatalk

 

[Fullfan]

As mentioned above, shot placement. Hit a bone like leg, shoulder and your loosing a elk.
I’m at 426 gn @ 270ish. Good COC head like the magnus black hornet or Ironwill and things will work just fine. Hit them in the right spot and a pack job will soon follow

 

[Packer9037]

I know this is a weight discussion...are you guys shooting mostly fixed blade/1 piece broadheads?

 

[LostArra]

Does anyone else shoot the same arrow and broadhead for all species they hunt?

 

[Wapiti1]

I have a 360g arrow with 100g head. I ordered 3g tubing inserts. Would you guys rather add a heavier broadhead or use the tubeing to add weight. They are CE maxima reds 28inch.

The answer is whether or not you are spined correctly. Adding weight up front only will weaken the spine, so you'll have to have an arrow spine that will accommodate that. If you have an arrow that is spined on the border weak, then adding point weight wouldn't work, so you would want to add the weight tube. The weight tube adds evenly throughout and has less or no affect on your arrow spine.

Hope that makes sense.

Jeremy

 

[Wapiti1]

Does anyone else shoot the same arrow and broadhead for all species they hunt?

Yes.

Jeremy

 

[BBob]

Does anyone else shoot the same arrow and broadhead for all species they hunt?

Yes, it’s considered pretty light these days. I’ve killed plenty of elk along with everything else for many years. Mechanical blades too. The same setup doesn’t/didn’t work at all for a friend. He doesn’t shoot well under pressure at game but I do. That translates to he can’t make a good shot on game but I generally do. My arrow absolutely will not go through an elk shoulder but that’s not a problem for me, I just don’t shoot them in the shoulder.

 

[Stalker69]

Don't over think it. Run your normal set up unless you have like a 350 gr. set up. I have taken multiple bulls here in Az with a bow. Lung punch them and it doesn't matter. If you hit one in the shoulder, chances are the bull will be lost.

My last bull hunt I used my current set up of Victory VAP with stainless outserts and 100 gr Wac em' broadheads. My total arrow weight is right around 445 grains and my bow flings them at 280ish. This is the same set up I use for Antelope, deer and elk. I see no reason to have multiple set ups.

Yep, I find around 500 gr. to be a great arrow set up for most everything, and find no reason to have different arrow setup for the animals I hunt ( same as yours) I tried heavier, way heavier, and lighter and really had no issues with any of them. I do how ever prefer gold tip shafts, and use there fact weight system I love it.

 

[Stalker69]

Charina, I thought exactly like you until 2013 when my friend lost his 6x6 bull due to poor penetration on what he thought was a done deal at the shot and when the bull turned his heart sunk about how much arrow was sticking out of the wrong side of the bull. I wasn't there (due to stupid work), but another friends was and he corroborates his story. 20 something yard shot on a broadside bull, shooting a 70 lb Z7, with 100 gr G5 striker heads, carbon express blue streak arrows. He said there's no way he hit shoulder blade, but here we are. Maybe it was rib. It wasn't until after this, we actually bought a scale and weighed our arrows which were in the 360 gr range that we even thought about this to be an issue, especially after blowing through several cows and deer with this exact same setup. His hunt was a limited tag in Utah, which at the time required about 8 pts to get plus the 5 year waiting period, so more than likely that cost him 10-13 years to repeat (unless out of state of course at a considerable costs, in terms of time and money).

I'm in complete agreement with you that shot placement is #1, but I think I diverge after that. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the 300 gr range that get elk, but I think you're taking a chance that just isn't worth it. I'd go as heavy as you can and still have good projectory and reasonable speed. For my setup, that's about 480 gr in my opinion, but I sort of hate stacked up pins anyway. Good luck, whatever you chose.

I have seen 680 gr and 700 gr arrows “ fail” to penetrate on what looked like perfect shots also. But then again I see 300 wm with 200 gr. Bullets placed what appears to be perfect shots fail to lead to a recovery occasionally to. Some times weird things happen.

 

[JBiggs]

Im running 570 gr and use them for elk and whitetail. sacrificed some speed but quieted the bow down. They hit like a dang tank. Will go through an Aluminum canoe no problem! lol. Doesnt matter if your shooting 400-700 grains, Putting that arrow in the sweet spot is all that matters.