I shoot a 45# straight limbed longbow with 575 grain arrows. I'm getting about 120-125 fps with that set up. Is that enough to hunt deer or elk with? Any help would be great.
Yes it is enough....but you will probably find trajectory troublesome beyond about 20 yards.
I hate to say it but it wouldn't be enough for me.
I think it is great a fellow Coloradan replied. Canon isn't all that far off.
BUY a Recurve of 48 to 50 lbs and keep the long bow for fun as for me it is too light why set yourself up for failure mabe your bow is enough but mabe not you owe it to the game to take them cleanly not make them suffer
I wouldn't try that on elk.
BWallace...Can you pull more weight. Are you physically able?
arrow speed is a litle slow
your arrow seems heavy for that poundage
if you want to shoot that heavy of a arrow go to a heavier bow
I would look into a bow w/ better performance at your weight or work at moving up in weight.
If you are a ware of your limitations w/ your setup,by all means but you must be disapline.
For me I like to keep my arrows at 9-11 grs. of total weight per pound of draw weight.Your at almost 12.8 grs. per pound.I think that gives optimum around performance and efficency.Are you drawing 28"?
I use a 51#Palmer for moose so a 45# would be okay for whitetails but marginal for elk. To improve things you might ditch the telephone poles and use arrows!
That's pretty slow; many self bows do better than that (although with fewer grains per pound). Do you have a very short draw or something maybe? I would think you'd want an arrow that weight going 170 or better for elk, but I think it would kill deer with no problem. Good luck, Paul.
If everything goes exactly right, you're fine. But if it doesn't and you have this question up front, can you live with a crippled and lost animal? When you shoot at an elk, you're taking on a critter that will go forever with one lung.
I would get more. The elk deserves it.
With a sharp grizz up front could this be one of those either it bounces off or kills the animal? I have a 42 lb. reduced weight Hill that is much faster than that with a 500 grain arrow @26''. Something doesn't add up here.
You either got a very short draw or that is a selfbow with a lot of set in it. :)It would not be something I would hunt with myself. jmo
I shoot 45# near 29" with my longbow which has only very mild reflex and I get into around 160 fps with almost that exact arrow weight. If your draw is so short that you get that kind of performance, you've got to up the lbs.
You might try lowering the brace height and see if this gives you any more performance. It will give you string slap though.
-Brett
QuoteOriginally posted by BWallace10327:
I shoot a 45# straight limbed longbow with 575 grain arrows. I'm getting about 120-125 fps with that set up. Is that enough to hunt deer or elk with? Any help would be great.
IMHO, that's marginal for deer let alone elk. With that setup, I'd wanna be launching at 150-160 fps minimum. One reason I traded/sold all my Hill style straight/reflex longbows for fast hybrids.
Looking back at the post I made nearly two years ago makes me laugh a little bit. I realized when I wrote this I was shooting a kit bow i finished and tillered (poorly). The arrows were a cheap off brand with STIFF vanes(no feathers). My form was inconsistant and I was drawing to 25". I still have that bow, its not my #1, but i have properly spined arrows and improved form. My draw leagnth is actaully 27.5" when a draw everything in line. Numbers and statistics aside, i would not hesitate to hunt deer with that bow. Now elk, I think i know a little bit better.
Its always nice to learn ;)
That would be a carp bow for me.Much too slow for me to hunt with.No way I would be shooting that much arrow from a 45lb. jmo
you must have read my original post from two years ago. "...but i have properly spined arrows and improved form..." Thats from 2010
there are a lot more variables I would have to know about before I shot it at anything. for instance, FOC would be a biggie. The speed is not terrible, I know folks that shoot 40# bows slower than that at deer. I have killed a whitetail with a 40# curve that probably doesnt top 140, I dont know for sure though. Question though, have you conographed it anytime in the last two years?
BWallace,
Isn't it fun to learn? It is a priviledge to have so many of these guys share information and answer questions that we haven't even thought of yet.
I get 145 fps with a 435 grain arrow. I have far better hunting set ups, but that bow is capable of downing a deer with a good shot within 20 yards. I love learning and improving my skills and knowledge, that a big part of the appeal of this stuff. Now I take my white wolf longbow hunting. It moves a 575 grain arrow 175 fps. Thats plenty for me and anything i would want to shoot with it.
I agree to most of what has been said I would like a better setup for me not that you could not kill a deer with it. I would be a little worried about anything bigger. Widow
imo, the bottom line for any trad bowhunter ...
1. use as much bow holding weight as you can *master*
2. get yer arrows to fly straight and true
3. use razor shaving sharp cut-on-contact broadheads
4. be consistently accurate at your hunting distances
there now, that was easy, eh! :)
the rest of the stuff - gpp, foc, efoc, skinny strings, arrow speed, etc - are peripheral and not required.
A recent article in Trad Bowhunter Mag commented that experience and research has shown that bow weight is marginal for penetration. Arrow weight makes ALL the difference. Let me first say I have NEVER hunted Elk (but Oh Lord do I want to!), but from all the reading I've done (Asheby, Conrads, Peterson, etc...) I would say this:
1. Go with a heavy, EFOC arrow (I shoot 740 gr arrows out of 60# recurve with 300 grs up front)
2. Make the bow super super quiet and natural sounding
3. Arrow speed is never a concern with penetration its all weight and EFOC
4. If the animal jumps the string, it would have happened anyway b/c there is no bow made faster than the speed of sound
5. SO ultimately, shoot a weight you are comfortable and accurate with, get as heavy an arrow with a heavy, scary-razor sharp BH (single bevel IMHO) and, according to the experts I've read, you should be fine.
Cheers!
QuoteOriginally posted by ArrowAtomik:
I shoot 45# near 29" with my longbow which has only very mild reflex and I get into around 160 fps with almost that exact arrow weight. If your draw is so short that you get that kind of performance, you've got to up the lbs.
You may want to run that through the chronograph again
You must not be coming to a full draw and a anchor point. It sounds as if you are snap shooting the bow at a very short draw. That being said I would redo the chrono and try to come to a full draw find that anchor point and fire away and see what you come up with. As for as killing deer that is marginal for any medium size animal just because of the reaction time.
Possum
you came to the right place for some good advice,If it were me,I'd get a little more bow.
I would not attempt it. I doubt you would get enough penitration unless you were less than 15 yards. Try your speeds with a 475 grain arrow and maybe if you can get up to around 170 you would be ok.
It seems that I am getting more replys to my OLD post than my recent ones. I dont believe that my point has come across to everyone.
Yes it has. :thumbsup: :campfire: