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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: CMR on February 08, 2007, 07:44:00 AM

Title: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: CMR on February 08, 2007, 07:44:00 AM
I'm bored at work.....
If shooting a bow thats 55#@28" and shooting an arrow thats 31", what total arrow weight would be appropriate for elk and moose?
(Using a 145gr Bear broadhead)
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: sagebrush on February 08, 2007, 12:25:00 PM
If it were me I would probably shoot about 650 grains. I don't think I would go under 550. I have shot about 15 elk (I didn't count).
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: shapeshifter on February 08, 2007, 12:41:00 PM
craig, here is what i posted for you on LW

you will get many responses on this subject, many will be from people that have never hunted and arrowed elk and many here have. that being said, i have taken my share of elk and would not use anything less than 600gr (my elk rig is 660gr with a 190 gr grizzly). for moose i would go even heavier but this set up would certainly work. while 500gr will get the job done on an elk on a well placed broadside or slightly quartering away shot, there is always the possibility of us not hitting exactly where we were looking. in a situation like that i want that extra momentum. while i have heard many people using 3 and 4 blade heads with success, i like a good sharp cut on contact 2 blade for these big thick skinned animals (although i may try a woodsman head at some time).
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: CMR on February 08, 2007, 01:55:00 PM
Shapeshifter:
What kind of arrows are you using?
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: shapeshifter on February 08, 2007, 03:50:00 PM
i am using the beman classics with 100 gr brass insert.... they work great! same set up with deer (just so i don't screw up my mental computer) but i have used lighter and multiple blade heads with no problems at all. this set up never slowed down on this year's buck.
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: CMR on February 08, 2007, 08:39:00 PM
Shapeshifter:
Right now, my setup is a 31" Blackhawk Vapor 5000 arrow, feathers, nock, regular insert, arrow wrap and 145gr tip. Total weight 480gr.
Fly like darts.
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: shapeshifter on February 08, 2007, 08:54:00 PM
craig,
 it is all a matter of preference but i figure if i am going to have an arrow going significantly slower than my old compound i sure want it heavier. this is what i posted on the other site;

"like i said above, you are going to get a lot of varying answers. to give you another perspective, back in my compound days i was shooting 485gr carbon arrows (fairly heavy by compound standards) and thunderhead 125 broadheads (those are scary sharp). my rig would chuck those arrows 260+ fps......i never got a single passthrough (half of them never penetrated the off side) and all were broadside shots. that being said, they all died and died as quick as you could expect and elk to. opinions vary as do results but my thinking is never hurts to be "over arrowed"!"
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: Desertman on February 08, 2007, 10:37:00 PM
This is like the old rifle question from years gone by: "what rifle is adequate for elk?"
Sorry to say ,but like the rifle question,there are only guidelines;no hard and fast rules.
Having said that;I can only offer advice from my own experience and that of my partners.That is as follows,nothing less than 10 grains per pound bow weight (11 or 12 is better);two bladed broadheads;and most importantly tons of pratice to place that arrow just right! As in the rifle question-the guy behind the weapon is the greatest variable and his skill with the weapon will weigh the most in a successful hunt!
Title: Re: Arrow weight for elk and moose
Post by: Wudstix on February 08, 2007, 10:45:00 PM
I hunt with a 625/30 grain tapered Cedar arrow out of a 63# MOAB.  Have taken a 150# boar hog from chest to exhaust pipe(not by design).  Had a pass through on three 60# piggies and the arrow went to the fletch on the fourth.  They were feeding and all lined up and crowded together.  Once in a live time.  Four with one arrow.  What a day.  10-11 grains per pound works good for me.