Elk setup

[mmgrode]

The recent elk thread got me thinking about elk hunting bow setups and how much is really needed to bring one of these brutes down. How much bow and arrow is really needed? What are all your bow and arrow setups for elk this coming season and seasons in the past? Cheers, Matt

[B.O.D.]

Well, here in Ontario the minimum bow weight for moose is 49.7 pounds. A moose is a whole lot BIGGER than an elk, so this statement might say alot.

BD  

[Bird Dog]

I'm not hunting elk this year but my advice is to shoot the heaviest arrow you can relative to your set-up...11 grains per pound is a minimum start point for me.

[jon]

I will be in Montana this Sept chasing elk. Will be shooting a 54# ACS with a GT75/95 pushing a 190gr grizly. Total weight is 675gr. She'll be moving along at 169fps and I'll be shooting from 25 yards or less.

[Bird Dog]

That's a great set-up jon.

[Tree Ghost]

I'm shooting my Schafer Silvertip (68 lbs), a Beman Black Max 340 with a 100 grain brass insert and a 150 grain stinger.  I hunt elk every year and have no trouble.  It's the same set up I use for deer, and last year I shot full length through a deer with 6 inches of the arrow hanging out a hind quarter.  It was a finishing shot at 25 yards as she tried to get up out of a bed.  I think my whole set up is weighing in around 565 grains.

Hope this helps,

Tree Ghost

[elk ninja]

Last year my setup was 55# Bear Cheyenne, POC shafts soaked in watco, 145 grain snuffers-RAZOR sharp, 4X 5" shield cut feathers, crown dip.... arrow weight was right at 600+ grains.  Shots are all within 25 yards (20-25 yards the elk HAS to be unaware AND broadside).  Lots of debate on this very topic every year, both here and other archery websites (trad and not trad)... some feel heavy bows, lighter arrows for better shot placement, others say heavy arrows and close shots.  I am the later, and believe if you have heavy SHARP arrows and good shot placement, as well as closer shots, a lighter bow gets the job done.  Ask Jim Neeves (Centaur Archery), his personal, do everything bow is 51.5 #...

[jonesy]

Moderate weight bow + heavy arrow + good shot placement = meat on the table.

[the Ferret]

Big Dog...49.7 pounds????????? That's just wierd.  

[vermonster13]

Probably a Kilo conversion Ferret

[the Ferret]

Ohhhhhhhh DOH! That makes sense  

[B.O.D.]

yep, it is a kilo thing...I still don't use it and they were teaching it to me in public school! LOL

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Here in Oregon we don't do fractions too well....it's 50 lbs as a minimum for elk.

I'm shooting a 50# recurve (with a 55# recurve coming in June) at 170 fps w/ spruce arrows w/ 160gr 2 blade broadheads=540gr arrows combo. I am trying out some 190gr heads. Might go heavier.

[Arrow4Christ]

I honestly think, after all the research I've done, most people's penetration  problems on elk come from improperly tuned arrows. I think it's very important to bareshaft your arrows. And I also think the way most people do it is wrong. They forget to take into account the fact that taking feather, vanes, cresting, wraps, etc. off the back of your arrow weakens it. I wrap duct tape around the tail end of my arrow that I have weighed and weighs the same as whatever was on the back of my arrows originally. I bareshaft them with my fletched arrows at 40 yards and adjust as necessary until they are perfect.
That being said my elk setup this year will be my DAS Dalaa equipped with Border Hex5-Hyperflex limbs at 53#@29.5". Arrows are CX Maxima Hunters with 220gr. Muzzy Phantom 4blades on the end (not because I think the weight is necessary, but because it gets me to the arrow weight I'm most accurate with). The finished shafts are about 520gr. I'm confident they'll get the job done then some. I also use an elevated rest and plunger to aid in acheiving perfect arrow flight. My dad, however, shoots off the shelf and, with some work, he is also able to get his arrows to fly stellarly  :D .

[LBR]

I'll be going for my first elk this fall.  I'll be using the same bow/arrow I use for 3-D, rabbits, hogs, and whitetail.  66@30.5", POC arrows that weigh approx. 650 grains.  Critters I've shot haven't lived long enough to complain.

As for the least you can get away with, I have no idea.  I've never been one to take that route.  If conventional wisdom says 75 works just fine, I'll use 85 as long as I can shoot it accurately.  I much rather err to the heavy side.

Chad

[T. Downing]

I hunt elk with a 58lb Matlock Longbow, Magnus& STOS single bladed broadheads and 625 grain arrows(total weight). IMHO, the most imporant factor in equipment choices for elk is total arrow weight. I'm one of those guys who believe in nothing less than 600 grains for elk. I fully respect the accuracy argument,however, if things don't go as planned, you want a heavy arrow/broadhead combo for penetration. Elk are extremely tough animals and I want an arrow packing a heavy punch. T

[Orion]

60# longbow and 650 grain cedar arrows with either HH, STOS, Zwickey or Magnus two-blade heads.

[Matty]

59#  32" GT 5575 100 gr inserts 125 gr. magnus
long and heavy...

[cotradbow]

I have had pass throughs on Elk with my old setup, 68 pound Bighorn,  AFA forgewoods with 165 grain snuffers, 975 grains total. Dropping down to 64 pounds this year with the same arrows, why change what works.

[Jesse Minish]

You can do it with a 45# bow with a heavy arrow tipped with a sharp broad head at a reasonable distance and not have a thing to worry abot. They are tough animals but I think you can kill all most any thing with that set up.