Elk Taken With Light Arrow Setups?

[Evan Williams]

dickey48 what is your draw length?

 

[Sunspot]

I try to find the balance between flat-shooting and weight needed to successfully get the job done. I like a certain amount of flat trajectory for minimizing arc. With my elk arrow, I used an ACC with 100gr Shuttle-T that weighed 424gr. out of a 65# bow. My KE was 75 and well above the minimum recommended for Dangerous game. It had no problem skewering a nice NV bull last September.

 

[keep]

I shot this one with 355gr at 35 yds. It caught him at the joint in the shoulder and knocked a chip off the joint and still penetrated 18". That said, I felt like I should have gotten better penetration. I've since moved to a 460gr arrow and may go heavier than that.

 

[dickey48]

Sorry for the delay. been out. I draw 25" on a PSE Vendetta XS. It is the fastest bow I have found for short draw people. Haven't had a chance to try some of the new short draw stuff that has come out recently.

 

[ridgefire]

i am shooting 76lbs so here in wa i have to shoot an arrow that weighs 456 grains or more so i really do not have much of a choice. that being said, i have heard too much bad stuff about lighter arrows having penetration issues at longer ranges so would shy away from them anyways. i currently shoot a 495ish grain arrow at 270fps but thinking of bumping it up to 550 or so this year.

 

[justin davis]

I recently tried out some Axis arrows. My finished arrow weight was 430. Hmm not really happy with it being that light. Might have to do some adjusting..try to get it up to 460 or more!

 

[ElkNut1]

After a bit more testing of a bunch of different wts & arrows you will see that if you shoot an arrow that is a finished wt of 6.5-6.7 grns an inch per lb of draw wt you are pulling then you will be near the peak penetration performance with both bow & arrow taking advantage of all energy available! If wanting to be real close to peak performance add 6grn to 10grn per 1" of draw over 28" of normal draw. Put as much wt forward as is possible/reasonable & your arrows will hit like a tank giving you great penetration. Example--73lb draw wt X 6.5= 475grn! If you shoot this poundage then yes a 430grn arrow will be fast but will suffer in penetration because that light arrow cannot store the energy your 73lb draw is providing! On impact the oscillation would inhibit penetration.

ElkNut1