I know this is been asked before but just wanted to get opinions only from those who have used snuffers 160gr for elk.
Please list your draw weight arrow weight and draw length if possible.
I'm shooting a 61 pound TallTines at a solid 29 inches draw and 600 grain arrows. They are by far my favorite broadhead and I would love to use them but only if it's not going to be an issue.
Your set-up would probably get the job done, but I would go with a smaller diameter head for better penetration.
Hhm maybe a VPA head? Hehe ...they look like great heads! :thumbsup:
I agree. I'm betting that it would work, but I'm also betting a 160 VPA would work better.
If only we had actual, rigorous, scientific research on broadhead lethality and large game...
Oh wait--we do!
I've said this before recently, but they will work fine--if everything goes as planned. When things aren't perfect, a single bevel 2-blade will kill all the elk you could have killed with the Snuffer, and then some. Pick you up a pack of Cutthroats and be done with it!
Ha Ha ya a VPA would get it done too! Maybe even a little better! LOL :D
Didn't seem to hamper Roger. He may have shot a couple more pounds, but I think you are close, and have fast flight, and carbons. I seem to remember 2216 involved with many of his Snuffer kills. Maybe Ryan will see this but I think you are fine.
Well Roger couldn't exactly shoot a VPA or Cutthroat now could he? Hehe
I am no expert, but if you want a good hole with lots of blood I think the Snuffer would give that to you. And the VPA 175 gr I have here flies very well at longer distances. You have to tune them and know that you are good at the yardage you want to shoot. If you are going screw in then I would go with the VPA.
You have great plenty to push a snuffer through an elk. Don't worry about it.
Elk will be no match for your equipment if you do your job!
Good luck. :)
160gr Snuffers,[Elk it's whats for dinner]! :thumbsup:
3 blade 175 vpa.
I think you will be fine.
ChuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Arnette:
Well Roger couldn't exactly shoot a VPA or Cutthroat now could he? Hehe
Ha! he didn't need to. Plenty moose killed with big Snuffers out of reasonable bow weights, why not elk? Both my bulls were with 160's, one average bull, 58lb Widow, 2216, thru the chest, into the ground, one very large bodied bull, 65lb Jack Howard, 2217, into the fletch thru the chest, buddy said the entry high on the ribs from a tree stand looked like a 7mm mag hole. My BC moose and Muskox were with 65lb recurve and carbonwoods - into the fletch on both. The Old Man killed a handful of bulls, a couple big AK moose, and a bull bison with 160's out of mid 60's bows. With a 60 lb recurve I'd hunt anything in North America with a 160. But then we've just DONE IT over the years, not THEORIZED about it....
:goldtooth:
R
Shoot it!
Ryan,gave all the desired answers. I ain't ever used a Snuffer for elk but I am been elk hunting with other successful trad guys that were using them and put down P&Y bulls.
I wouldn't, I know they can work but I don't know a single person here in Colorado that shoots them at elk, do know some that shoot the VPAs. I agree with the other guy, get some Cutthroats, guarantee you will like them and they are so easy to get ultra sharp!
Its tough to beat the old woodsman for anything.I never shot an elk but have shot big boars and I bet there aint a nickels worth difference in penetration. RC
Old Goat, Well now you know one. Bought a few dozen from Roger when he was making them and still have some and use them. Wood arrows and 160 grain Snuffers still get the job done.
Thanks guys, you definitely boosted my confidence in them for elk. Ryan, tell your dad that he invented the best traditional broadhead known to mankind! I should probably order a lifetime supply.
Any others?
Michael,
5 weeks my man and hopefully I will get to see first hand how well your arrow kills an elk!
Gabe
Chris Cox of Habu uses snuffers for everything I believe...he's killed a good amount of big game animals including Elk and Moose.
Personally I'm a two blade guy, but it has been proven a Snuffer will do the trick!
I have taken two elk with 160's. 52 lbs 28"
I hunt elk with them and so does my son.
David you need to meet more people than the ones that go to RMSG.
Always hope for more post from people that have actually shot elk with the broadhead in question, then listing the times that they were successful, when they weren't, and potential reasons why. The rest is really just conjecture. Of course, one of the problems with that is that people are much more up front about their success rather than their failures. In no way do I mean to suggest that Snuffers won't get the job done. I personally have no experience with shooting elk with snuffers.
"They all work and they all don't work." Guys should work more on their shooting and quit trying to find a broadhead that is cure all for every thing that could happen. A bad hit is a bad hit no matter what BH you are using. Use what you have confidence in and don't worry about what everybody else is using. Up until about five years ago I and a lot of other guys were having a good time hunting and killing things and then we found out per the internet that we were doing everything wrong.(Wrong string, wrong bow, wrong arrow, wrong brace height, wrong quiver, wrong rest etc. and WRONG BROADHEAD)
QuoteOriginally posted by Bob Gulliksen:
"They all work and they all don't work." Guys should work more on their shooting and quit trying to find a broadhead that is cure all for every thing that could happen. A bad hit is a bad hit no matter what BH you are using. Use what you have confidence in and don't worry about what everybody else is using. Up until about five years ago I and a lot of other guys were having a good time hunting and killing things and then we found out per the internet that we were doing everything wrong.(Wrong string, wrong bow, wrong arrow, wrong brace height, wrong quiver, wrong rest etc. and WRONG BROADHEAD)
You are right on, there, Bob. Lots of folks should read your post there, twice.
And Pat, to reply to your question - over the years I have lost exactly 1 animal with a Snuffer wherein increased penetration (what all the "experts" say Snuffers lack)- might have made the difference - that was an antelope buck I shot in the upper leg/shoulder joint with minimal penetration. My buddy in Montana hit an antelope similarly with a grizzly 190 the year before and didn't get his goat either, but a broadhead with a curl on the end like an elf shoe and minimal penetration. Of course that is a "one off" - well both cases are - and maybe the exception would prove the rule.
I've hit several whitetails high over the years - non-fatally above the spine through the "fins" of the backbone - probably 4 or 5 - penetration was not the issue, but hitting in a non-vital place was the issue. I have lost 1 animal that was gut shot with a Snuffer, small buck in Ohio, found him next spring.
The bigger game (elk sized and up) I mentioned in the first post are the sum-total of my experience with large game and Snuffers. That said, I'm not afraid to post an opinion about my several larger game shot with these heads (as well as the Old Man's), they don't number in the hundreds, but lots of guys like to post thier experience and expertise that have never even been there or done that.
I admit my mistakes, but also figure that over 30 years of serious bowhunting I'm not doing too bad.
R
Your good to go! You're hunting elk not cape buffalo, there are a bunch of guys shooting snuffers with way less then what your pushing. Theres also guys piling up the elk with light arrows in the 425 (ish) grain total weight.
I don't get how some of these threads turn out, why does someone always comment "you just hear about the good never the bad". Like guys hunting their butts off every year in the mountains for weeks on end, carrying gear they "hope" will kill an elk???
The biggest thing for shooting elk, stay away from the shoulder area!
No need to get offended. I don't normally use snuffers, but haven't lost anything that I have shot with them. I like Ryan's posts the best, because he has actual experience with them in the scenario in question. People posting that haven't shot Elk or tougher game are just guessing whether they are adequate or not. I wouldn't tell someone they need more or less without the experience to justify it. For example, your post says that he is good to go because others use them. That doesn't give any real information to make a decision, does it? I know that you have killed elk with lighter weight bows using 2 blades, but if you have experiencce shooting elk with snuffers, it might be more helpful.
Ok guys now simmer down lol it looks like no bad experiences so far with snuffers on elk...that's all I wanted to know. Thanks everyone for your responses! Any more insite would be appreciated.
Sorry Michael. I hope you have gotten, or will get, the info you need.
No problem I think everyone was implying things with the wrong tone
Razorcaps, pretty similar head, 65 ish saluki if I remember right. Complete pass through.
(http://http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/purist1/elk/IMG_4285.jpg)
Not offended at all, I've only shot one elk with them. I stopped shooting them when the price jumped. My comment was more with the point of elk aren't super animals, they are just big deer.
Best thing about a big snuffer is, it will put the most blood on the ground no matter what w/ equal penetration and shot placement, when compared to 2 blades. I know because I've spent enough time on my hands and knees w/ 2 blade shot elk but then again. The shortest blood trail was w/ a 2 blade! It's all about shot placement.
I am glad that you are not offended, Adam. I know that you are a successful hunter. I was really just trying to encourage others that have actually shot elk with a snuffer to post, but it came off wrong.
No worries bud, that said this post kinda makes me want to switch back! Overbo said it best, man do they put a hole in critters!
I hope that both you and Michael stick a nice one with a snuffer, and post a nice write-up on it. If I didn't already have my VPA's ready to go, I might try them myself.
VPA's are hard to beat, they really are. I wish they made a large cut one, it would be perfect. I took a large muley last year with my vpa's, it was a compound kill though. I've i wasn't such a tinkerer I'd have more snuffer kills lol. My scouting will be starting next week.
One reason some guys have penetration problems with Snuffers or other 3-blade heads is because they don't know how to properly sharpen them.
How do you sharpen them? Just curious
I do mine (just ordered some because of this thread) on a belt sander, making sure to watch heat.
LOL, nice Adam.
Michael, I bet you get them as sharp as me, but they are pretty sharp for me just using a file and ceramic stick. Come down before your elk hunt and we can try it out. Here are a couple of snuffer kill pics, lol. They will get through some tought critters sharpened that way, and I was shooting about the same poundage as you are.
(http://i.imgur.com/yl88Xfa.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9yuw19i.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/pDlC3oM.jpg)
This one with not recommeded shot placement
(http://i.imgur.com/Gvx5AVo.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YLrWibj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZqxIFj8.jpg)
Nice pics, love the bear. I shot a hog like that last year. He was backed in a brush pile with the dogs circling. He was a mean suck, kept charging. When he stopped, arrows was gone and down he went. That was with a VPA actually.
I got the belt sander thing from on here, once they are nocked down a bit I use a stone for touchups.
you want a big hole get the snuffer if you want a smaller hole get the VPA, simple as that.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bob Gulliksen:
I hunt elk with them and so does my son.
David you need to meet more people than the ones that go to RMSG.
Pretty sure I met you there Bob, guess I do know somebody that uses them but I still wouldn't use them myself!
QuoteOriginally posted by Bob Gulliksen:
"They all work and they all don't work." Guys should work more on their shooting and quit trying to find a broadhead that is cure all for every thing that could happen. A bad hit is a bad hit no matter what BH you are using. Use what you have confidence in and don't worry about what everybody else is using. Up until about five years ago I and a lot of other guys were having a good time hunting and killing things and then we found out per the internet that we were doing everything wrong.(Wrong string, wrong bow, wrong arrow, wrong brace height, wrong quiver, wrong rest etc. and WRONG BROADHEAD)
Exactly my thoughts!
Well said Sir!!!!
I agree!
QuoteOriginally posted by Basinboy:
QuoteOriginally posted by Bob Gulliksen:
"They all work and they all don't work." Guys should work more on their shooting and quit trying to find a broadhead that is cure all for every thing that could happen. A bad hit is a bad hit no matter what BH you are using. Use what you have confidence in and don't worry about what everybody else is using. Up until about five years ago I and a lot of other guys were having a good time hunting and killing things and then we found out per the internet that we were doing everything wrong.(Wrong string, wrong bow, wrong arrow, wrong brace height, wrong quiver, wrong rest etc. and WRONG BROADHEAD)
Exactly my thoughts!
Well said Sir!!!! [/b]
Exactly
175 grain Grizzly Instincts would also be another choice. lol