Eskimos for elk

[zwickey2bl]

Hi gang,
I'm going to Colorado in September for elk. Building arrows right now, ash shafting. Still staining and sealing right now so now sure how they're going to weigh out finished, but my stained/sealed, uncut shafts are weighing around 585 grs. I shoot a HH Big Five that's right at 60# at my 28.5" draw. I have a dozen brand new Zwickey Eskimo 4-blades I was thinking of using. Enough broadhead or would you go with something a little wider? I have some old Deltas as well, both 2s and 4s.

[sneakybow]

Wider heads are gonna be tougher to push through an elk.  There's a reason why Ashby preaches the 3/1 ratio.  If you were shooting deer, then go for it.  Those heads will be fine for elk.

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[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Zwickey's have killed a lot of elk, in all variations. The Eskimo 4 blades sound like a good choice, but I wouldn't tell you not to try the Delta's if you're confident in your setup. FWIW, I'd personally use the Eskimo 4 blade or Delta 2 blade given your setup, with slight preference to the Eskimo. I like bleeder blades.

I've used bigger broadheads (read Simmons TreeSharks) for elk, but that was with a 68 lb bow at 32" and the arrows were 750 grains. It worked just fine for chopping through ribs and getting to the offside leg bone. You have a little less juice in your setup, hence my leaning towards the Eskimos.

[Stephen S]

You will be fine with either. Pick the one that flies the best!!!

[pavan]

For years an area bow hunter here, used four blade Deltas for deer and two blade Eskimos for elk.  He believed two holes were better than one with his 50 pound Bear Kodiak. Then he went to Grizzlies for everything. 

[durp]

either will get her done...this is my 52 elk season and my quiver is full of Eskimo 4blade

[SuperK]

Never shot an elk but with your set up I would think a 2 edge Delta or a 4 edge Eskimo would work well.  If you are concerned about penetration, file the bleeder blades off the Eskimos and use them as a 2 edge. 

[zwickey2bl]

Thanks guys, all that pretty much confirms my inclination; that is, the Eskimos might penetrate a little better since I'm not shooting as heavy a bow as I used to. When I first started shooting Deltas, I was shooting 75-80#. That was quite a few years and a few surgeries ago. I think I'm gonna go with the Eskis this trip. Hope I get a chance to find out how they work! I appreciate all the thoughtful replies. Hope ya'll all have a great hunting season! I'm getting excited!

[old_goat2]

I bought some silver flames a while back and they came with some Eskimos also, package deal. Never have used them, but they seem like a nice head, but my thoughts then and now, id file that tip down to a tanto tip before I would use them, might be unfounded worry, but that tip looks fragile to me!

[zwickey2bl]

Roger that. I've always filed a chisel point on my Zwickeys.

[BWallace10327]

I have never had any problem with a Zwickey Eskimo.  160's are my preference.  I killed 2 muley does and 1 turkey with the same head and will be trying to put that same Zwickey through an elk or bear this season.  One of the more popular 3 blade heads did the job on a heart shot deer, but broke apart when it hit some sand on the offside of the deer.  Another of the same popular make came apart when I mis... I mean when the deer jumped out of the way and the arrow hit a pinon pine branch.  I have never bent or broken a Zwickey.  My only complaint is their slogan "In a business where the best is none too good"  Great broadheads, not real flashy, but great nonetheless. 

[zwickey2bl]

I did bend a Delta this year on a medium-sized whitetail buck, first and only time I ever had that happen. I had a good quartering away angle on him when I dropped the string, but he was edgy already and spun toward me at the sound of the string. The arrow hit him right on the point of the shoulder, and may have hit the "I-post" portion of the shoulder blade. I saw the impact point. The arrow fell out about 20 yards from the point of the shot, and the front 3/4" of the blade was bent. He may have bent it while running rather than the impact itself causing the distortion. I had a fair but not great blood trail that went about 150 yards then quit. I looked for him for 6 hours but struck out. I saw him two weeks later, seemingly doing fine.

[zwickey2bl]

Got my ash shafts cut to length tonight and made up a dummy just for weight. Looks like they're going to weigh out to about 675 grs with a 125 gr Eskimo and four 4" feathers. 11.25 grs per # of draw weight, by my ciphering.

[cacciatore]

I have killed many animals with the Eskimos and they are so easy to make super razor sharp but on impact with heavy wild boar bones they are been losers.

[Tim Finley]

I don't think you could do much better than a 4 blade Eskimo. Ive shot deer ,bear, and antelope with them and they worked great ,like a Razorhead only a little harder to sharpen and a little smaller bleeder.
   Zwickeys are tough I seen a guy shoot at the iron deer target once and he stuck 2 Zwickeys in the steel every thing else broke . Make sure you use the long broadhead adaptors .

[zwickey2bl]

Thanks Tom. Mine are glue-ons for wood shafts, so they are "long adapters".

[Howitser]

Zwickey2bl, I've posted these before but here is how they have always worked for me.  This is the far side shoulder condyle after a shoulder blade and 2 layers of ribs

[attachment=1][attachment=2]

[Charlie Lamb]

Well, they are not 3 to 1 and they are not single bevel. I don't see how they could possibly kill anything.

[donalcorn]

I think you will be very happy with that set up. Every elk I've ever taken were with 135 Eskimos in front of 400 grain poc.

[zwickey2bl]

You're right Charlie. What was I thinking?  No way these old Zwickeys can work. I'll just go out and shoot 'em off into the blue just to get rid of them. Nobody here would want them. Go buy me some of those newfangled expandable heads.