I have hunted whitetail and muleys for years here in western Canada and have had great success with my current setup but this year I am going up north to hunt Moose and I am wondering if my setup is heavy enough. I shoot a 49# Caribow Silver fox with 490 grain carbon arrows that have a 100gr insert and 125 grain head and I get about 189fps. I have a lot of convidence in this setup for deer but have just finished building a set of laminated pine arrows that run 630 gr with a 200gr broadhead they shoot really well at 20 yards but they fall off really fast at 30 so what do you all think? should I stay with the lighter ones that I shoot really well or go with the heavier setup?
I would say go with the heavier setup. That should give you more KE. I shoot 785 Gr Hickorys out of my 58# longbow
Stay with the lighter, faster arrows that you are familiar with the trajectory.
Moose are BIG, and many miss low thinking they are closer then they are.
Your set up in the lungs is going right thru.
490-grain arrow going 189 fps? Well tuned, good 2-blade head? I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
This bull died from a full-length Beman ICS 340 with a 20-some-grain flightmate insert and a 125-grain Ace Standard going no more than 194 fps (I'm pretty sure I short-stroked it a bit). In reality, the arrow was probably only going mid-180's. It weighed exactly 499 grains and blew completely through the bull. It took me longer to find the arrow than the moose.
P.S. Steve's right about moose being deceptive with respect to distance. They can look a lot closer than they really are, especially if you're used to hunting whitetails.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/wesbrock/Moose2.jpg)
as long as that poundage is legal, have at it for said reasons above
What Jason said!!
If you shoot him in the ass, no bow is heavy enough for a kill: if you get a double lung hit, your set-up is fine. Moose seem to give up the ghost without much of a fight. The problem is that they can get into some ugly country before they bleed out from a not-so-great hit(this is especially true when hit just before dark). Have a good hunt and know your equipment will not be the problem.
Hit a moose in the ass once and killed him. Got lucky and hit the femoral! Terrible shot. Anyway, 40 plus lbs and 400gr. plus will do the job if the shot is on target."Accuracy" will always out perform speed and weight. Stick with what works best on target! Good luck, Bill