bigbulls

Personally I would use a medium weight carbon arrow that will give you a good blend of speed and weight.

A 30" Carbon Express terminator 60-75 black with a 100 grain head & three 4" feathers will put you right about 450 grains and give you just over 9% FOC.

A 30" Beman ICS 400 camo with the same stuff will put you right about 410 grains and give you about 11.5% FOC

A 30" aluminum XX75 2315 with 125 grain head and three 4" feathers will put you at about 550 grains with about 10.5% FOC.


Of course there are many more options than this but here is a starting point.


Stay away from the mechanicals on elk. They would be fine on antelope but you need a lot pf energy and momentum to get them to penetrate reliably. Your having problems with a fixed blade and a mechanical will only make it worse.

Len in Maryland

Quote:

....but I don't recall tuning it with Broadheads. Now that I think of it, I can remember the arrow fishtailing a bit on the way to the elk.

Based on this statement, I would strongly suggest that you get your bow "broadhead tuned". A "fishtailing" arrow looses a lot of energy on the way to the target.

idahoelkinstructor

When I baught my last bow in 1997, I was stupid and got caught in the speed craze that was being pushed at the time. I baught a Martin Fury, 65-80 pound 30" draw. A very fast, but unforgiving and noisy bow. I tried to shoot 430 gr. carbons, but the bow was too noisy and vibrated badly. I also quickly found out how hard it is to stabalize a broadhead at 300 fps. I asked olympic shooter Dee Wilde for some advice. He suggested to try a heavy arrow. I went to his pro shop and he handed me a 2219 (30" nock to insert) with a 100 gr. field point, total weight 580 gr. My bow was set at 75# and was shooting 270 fps. My bow was a lot quiteter and didn't vibrate. I have since installed 2 sets of limb savers. I still use this set up with the Thunderhead with great results. I admit I want a new bow (Mattews) but with the cost of a horse, medical bills (my son has had a lot of surgeries and other physical problems) and trying to start a new business, it hasn't left much money for a new bow. But I can't complain, because my old bow has served me well. I also like the fact that I am able to shoot a heavier arrow with relatively good speed. I do not know my KE off the top of my head. But my arrows have no problem making a passthrough on elk. Provided the arrow is tuned properly.

shed33

Cut on Contact 2 blade heads .... I have had great success with the Steelforce on elk, bear and whitetails. I purposely shoot a lot of KE, 89lbs. This may make a difference on a big ole mudded up bull elk hide.

Wolf killer

I only bow hunt elk. I shoot a heavy arrow with 125-grain Muzzy broadheads. I prefer to give up speed for weight. I also seem to shoot a heavy arrow better.

Good luck,

WK