I have put in for the Elk hunt here in KY, I know first I have to get drawn. I currently am shooting a Griffin 46@28 drawing a tad over 26". I have great arrow flight with a 455 gr. arrow w/ Magnus 2 blade BH weighing about 170 w/ adapter. I can probably bump my arrow weight up 25-50 gr and still maintain good fight with a steel adapter. I have not hunted Elk or have any friends that have hunted them with traditional tackle. Am I in the acceptable parameter for a bull? I appreciate any input from you guys who hunt Elk. Thanks....Dave
So you will only be pulling around 40 lbs.
You could prob get it done with a very close shot and good shot placement, but 40 lbs seems a bit on the light side.
That said, my father has taken elk with a 48 lb bow in the past and I know his arrows were less than 455 grains.
Check with the regs in the state you plan to hunt, they may have a min. on bow or arrow wt. If it were me, 50# with a 500 gr arrow, Single blade of good quality, 145gr +, and be sure you limit your range to a 12" group, even better 6", and only broadside. With a quarter shot, you will likely hit a rib. No rear or frontal shots.
A steep downhill shot, high in the chest, probably will not exit, and bleeding will be internal, and limit tracking. Good luck
You asked our opinion....here's mine, not enough horse power. Elk are big animals. CAN you do it with that rig? Maybe, but I wouldn't try it under any circumstances myself. There are always the stories of how somebody did it, but for elk I never go with anything under 55#@28" draw.
+1 what David said. Gary
Yep just not enough bow for the job at hand. You need to get it through both sides of the critter and thats a long way for an elk. I have a restriction from the dr. and shoot 52 at my draw and 600+ gr arrows with either a woodsman or Abowyer head.
Oh I have a 30 1/2 draw too.
Mike
Your setup will do the job, only broadside-slightly quartered shots should be considered. I'd limit myself to shots under 20 yards too.
KY has no minimum on bow or arrow weights, you cannot however have field points or blunts/judos while hunting elk..
I would say it's on the light side. I would have to agree with Dave. I would go with at least 50-55# min for elk.
I would have to agree that if you draw your tag you would be better to increase your poundage and arrow weight. I've killed elk with recurves and a longbow that were all between 56-64# and arrows from 490gr-625gr. and feel I have needed pretty much all of it. Good luck....Shawn
Your shorter draw length is going to set you back some from the start. I would want more for sure if it was me.
Low draw weight and short power stroke, not enough ponies under the hood.
More power, heavier arrow.....
I told my 12 yr old son, no elk till you can draw #50 and he's good with it.
First off can you comfortable shoot more weight if so do so
More power, and forget the propaganda about super heavy arrows.
I know Tred Barta will not hunt elk with less then 50 pounds.
more power needed! big boned, big muscled, fast animals.
I shoot a 52lb with 550 gr and I know some would, but I'd wouldn't hunt Elk with that. Any time I'm hunting animals Elk or Moose size I make sure I holding 55+.
IMO arrow speed and weight mean more than lbs pull but with that being said. I hunted last year with some guys and two of them killed elk both quatering towards them shots. Both shot 630gr arrows with two blade heads and the one was shooting 41 lbs and if I remember 143fps got 22inches of penetration. The second guy was shooting 49@28 I know he was not drawing 28" and his arrow stopped in the back leg not easy to find but both dead and found tasted good also. Widow
Arrow speed is directly related to draw weight. We hear stories of guys killing them with light gear....what we don't hear about are all the ones that were wounded and got away....that won't taste too good--bad after taste. :( I think we have a responsibility to use adequate equipment for the job at hand--no matter how badly we may want to do with less, for whatever reason, we owe it to those magnificent animals we hunt.
The most important part of the equation has been explained in the simplest terms by Rod Jenkins "hit them in the soft part" a poor shot with 40 LBS or 80 LBS is still a poor shot.
Thanks for all the info, I can comfortably shoot 50 on a recurve and my draw length on most recurves is right at 28". I may try an find a 50-55# recurve, great excuse to buy a bow LOL. Thanks
Don't quote me, but I believe KY has a min of #45 for whitetails. At least on Ft. Campbell I know they do. That being said. I would think the min for elk would be higher.
Ky actually does not have a minimum, weight out in the state. The wife looked it up and did not find any min. weights. My biggest problem is finding the bow I want w/o the 1 1/2 year wait.
I agree with working into a heavier bow... Personally I don't take after Elk with less then 60# and I have a 30" draw with my "Elk" bow which is actually 70# at my draw and my arrow is 590 grains...
What bow are you looking for?
"a poor shot with 40 LBS or 80 LBS is still a poor shot."
I hate to say people are wrong on this site, but this just isn't true. You hit an ElK in the shoulder with 40lbs and there's a good chance you watch a wounded Elk run away with your arrow, and maybe die of infection. You hit an Elk with 60-80lbs in the same shoulder and it will most likely blast right through the heart. It is a fact, with light gear you have a much greater chance of wounding an animal. Use a much as you can shoot accurately, the animals we hunt deserve the effort.
Sharp arrow and good shot placement. Keep the shots close. I have a short draw like yourself.
Personally when I'm hunting elk size game I use my "MAGNUM BOWS" 70@28 I draw 29.5 and have killed several elk.If you can pull and control more weight I would strongly suggest it.Elk are thick skinned and tough critters and require a good bit of penatration for a solid double lung shot.
If you deside to stay with the lighter setup try and implement Dr Ashbys arrow enhancing tips they can be found in the Ashby Reports.
The national shot average for elk is around 27 yards,this is another reason I like heavier bows they are a bit more tolerent of slight yardage miscalculation.
But according to Saxton Pope in his book Hunting with the bow and arrow, Ishi's bow was about 46lbs at his 26 in draw and he used it to kill bear elk deer and i think he said his arrows were in the mid 300 grain. That is if my CRS is not hitting me at the moment.
Would not use 3 blades and sharpen with a file not honed. He said in there experiments that a more jagged edge cut flesh better than razor honed.
Get close and shoot straight. :-)
Read the "ELK TRAINING THRED" about physical fitness, train hard and work into a higher poundage before your season starts. Good luck.
Jagged edges cause blood vessel walls to close up faster than cleanly cut edges. Not what you want when you want blood on the ground.
I would work on more accuracy and maybe bump the weight a little, but not out of your "totally in control" zone.
What has been said about shot placement and the hunters ability to hold off on shots that do not assure penetration, is at least as important as anything else.
A lot of elk are taken by accurate, careful archers using bows that are pretty light.
In the end, it comes down to the archer, not the tackle. I read about guys losing animals using the bigger weights, so the argument of how many are lost to light bows is not without its flaws. I think most animals are lost by shots that were in poor judgment- pushing the limits of the archers ability, not because of bow weight etc.
Sure fine tune your tackle and go as heavy as you can shoot well, but don't think its the tackle that is going to kill that animal.
You are, with a shot you can make.
Joshua
I would rather have an accurate arrow from a 42 pound bow than a strained one from a 60 pound bow.
A shoulder hit is bad, regardless of bow weight..
No minimum draw weight for bows and arrows in KY.
The drawing is supposed ot be Friday, good luck!
Some folks here are missing the point. It is possible to kill elk with a bow that light. Just not recommended. Those who think light is ok, how many elk have you killed with the light setup? Animals don't always stand there and let you shoot them broadside. They often turn when you shoot. You may not hit where you intend. That is when you need the extra power. How are you going to feel if you draw that tag and go through all the work and excitement to get ready and then you hit an animal and watch it run off? Then you track it for hours and hours and finally lose it. This is all my two cents. Gary
P.S. Yes I have killed elk with a bow and know what it takes. (16 so far)
Sagebrush is on the money with his response. Just because elk have been killed with sub 50# bows doesn't mean it's a good idea.
As stated, there are more factors involved than just hitting the right spot.
Some say you owe to the animal, but I say you owe it too yourself.