Going to Hunt Elk need some advice

[ToddRvs]

#4359

Hello All
I am going to be heading out west later this year to hunt Elk. I will be using traditional equipment which consists of the following. I have a self bow with a draw weight of 41 pounds at 28 inches. I will be using ceder arrows with 5 inch turkey feathers and obsidian hand chipped broadheads. I am sure my equipment can get it done as I have killed several deer and hog with this setup and ne ver had any problem with penetration or kills. I am just a little apprehensive about my choice of equipment. Has anyone used a simular setup for Elk? Any feedback is welcomed.

[David Petersen]

#29902

Hi again, Todd — IMHO you are WAY under-bowed for elk. 41 pounds of selfbow with light arrows is a disaster waiting to happen. Elk are not deer or even hogs. And I think if you check with the CDOW you’ll find that stone points are illegal here. My personal, well-meaning advice is not to risk it. Dave

[ToddRvs]

#29969

Thanks for the feedback Dave I kinda thought I might be a little lite on the draw weight. I think I can make it work if I get my shot just right. I will check on the flint broadhead issue as well. Thanks for the feedback

[Steertalker]

#30095

Dave is right about the obsidian point….if you are planning on hunting in Colorado. It is illegal in Colorado:

Excerpt from CDOW hunting brochure….

4.HAND-HELD BOWS: A long bow, recurve bow or compound bow on
which the string is not drawn mechanically or held mechanically under
tension. String or mechanical releases are legal if they are hand-drawn or
hand-held with no other attachments or connections to bow (except
bowstring).
a.Hand-held bows, including compound bows, must use arrows with a
broadhead having a min. 7/8-inch outside diameter or width and
min. 2 steel cutting edges. Each cutting edge must be in same planefor entire length of cutting surface.
b.Only legal, hand-held bows allowed during archery seasons.
c.Min. draw weight of 35 lbs. required. Let-off max. of 80 percent.
d.No part of bow’s riser (handle) or track, trough, channel, arrow rest or
other device (excluding cables and bowstring) that attaches to riser
can contact, support and/or guide the arrow from a point rearward of
the bow’s brace height behind the undrawn string.
e. Bows can propel only a single arrow at a time. No mechanisms for automatically
loading arrows allowed.
f. Scopes, electronic or battery-powered devices cannot be incorporated
into or attached to bow or arrow.
g.Hydraulic or pneumatic technology cannot be used to derive or store
energy to propel arrows. Explosive arrows prohibited.

As far as the 41 lb draw weight….well I just don’t have enough experience. However..I do agree with Dave in that I think it is much too light. I would have zero confidence in such a rig.

Brett

[T Downing]

#30242

In my opinion, 41 lbs is way to light for elk, please reconsider your set up. I posted this comment back in January on a previous thread and I believe it to be true.

“I have bowhunted elk for the past 27 years. A lot of time with trial and error. What has always worked for me is 55lbs and up. I think that 46lbs is too light for elk. Now I know that there have been bowhunters like Connie Renfro who have taken elk with 45 lbs bows. That said, elk are extremely tough animals when that shot is not perfect. You have a 50% chance of hitting bone every time you shoot at an elk. I have seen wounded elk do some incredible feats of strength. I respect the accuracy argument yet I take it a step further with big game like elk. Accuracy is paramount, add in 55+lbs, heavy arrows (650g+), and single bladed broadheads. That will get the job done especially when that shot is just not right.”
T Downing

[3blades]

#30270

Not to beat a dead horse but I agree that your set up is much to light for Elk. Personally in my humble opinion I would not hunt elk with anything lighter then 55# and a good machine made steal broad-head. 😉

[MontanaFord]

#33831

I’ll beat the dead horse…you’re underbowed at 41#. I’m sure that the Indians of old didn’t care if they had 30 pounds or 130 pounds, as long as the animal died. But in this day and age, where ethics is so high on the priority list, you really have to take into consideration what is and is not ethical. I’ve talked to guys that shot elk with large caliber (300 win mag and up) rifles, and watched an elk soak up anywhere from 3 to 6 or 8 bullets. A friend several years ago shot a raghorn bull 3 times with a .338 win mag under 100 yards, 2 of them in the vitals, and it still wanted to keep going. They’re tough animals.

Michael.

[Buzzard]

#35737

While your beaten the dead horse, i’ll start kickin it. 41#, NO WAY!!!!!!! Minimum for a selfbow? 55#s!!! Arrow weight? 550gr.and up!!! Good cut on contact broadhead. Besides being hard to kill, the tracking conditions in those pine forests are horrible. I’ve killed 5 now and there’s all lot of guys here who have many,many more. Coming home without an elk will make you want to go back again. Leaving one dying in a thicket will haunt you forever!!!! Nuff said.

[Str8arrow]

#36200

Okay, I’ll buck the trend here. The quickest kill on a big game animal that I ever made, was on a mature elk with a 45 lb draw cheap recurve from 1968. I did not use arrows optimized for penetration either. I will say, that you’ll have to be close, accurate and using a very heavy, extreme FOC arrow to up your odds. If you limit your shots and build your arrows correctly, I think you can do it with confidence. I do not believe you will have difficulty fully penetrating the rib cage with the correct arrow if you’re limiting your shots to close range.

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