Average archery shot on elk

[Darrin]

What is everyone's opinion or experience on the average bow shot for bull elk. I'm new to archery elk and trying to decide on my pins and ranges. I currently have a 20 and 50 yd pin. Do most use there first pin for up to 30 yds then do 40, 50, etc. Or do u do 20, 30, 40, 50. Sorry if this has been discussed.

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[elkguide]

I like to think that every shot that I get will be at 20 yards or less but things happen. The farthest that I have shot an elk was 37 yards. I'd have to guess that that is about the average, somewhere around 40 yards if you are spot and stalk hunting and if you are set up on a wallow/water hole, 20 - 30 yards then.

But elk don't always play by the rules!

 

[Gumbo]

I run 5 pins; 20,30,40,50,60. I gap shoot in-between yardages. This isn't elk specific, I'd run the same pin setup anywhere for any game and I'd bet 75% or better of people do the 20 yard first pin and 10-yard increments after that. The whole moveable one or two pin thing seems like a recipe for disaster for me at crunch time (animals move, right?). I did buy (and sell) a 5-pin moveable sight that would be sweet, but I never used the moveable feature so I sold it and went back to the K.I.S.S. philosophy. I also bought a 7-pin sight but the housing was huge and I won't shoot at critters past 50-60 so the 70 and 80-yard pins were useless except to practice longer shots (which I didn't do anyway) and my gaps seemed large enough at 70-80 to make the fudge factor a little difficult to execute.

But that is just me, experiment and find the simplest way for you to quickly get on target out to your maximum comfortable distance.

 

[archer wapiti]

I run 15/30/45/60 yard pins. My shots at elk have been at 4, 6, 30, 41 yards

 

[Darrin]

Prob just stay with my 20, 30, 40, 50 set up

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[bpctcb]

My old setup was shooting ~240fps so I went with 20,30,40,50,60. I'm now shooting 265&282fps (2 bows to pick from) so I run 25,40,50,60,70 now.
Practicing at 70 makes anything less than 40 feel like an easy shot.

BP

 

[IdahoElk]

Due to using Traditional gear and my skill level,25yrds is about it for me,most shots have been 18-25yrds.

 

[ElkNut1]

It's good to be deadly to 50 yards even if it's for a back up shot. My sons & I average is right around 23 yards. The last month prior to season we only shoot broadheads during practice.

ElkNut1

 

[buttekid]

+1 on the 5 pin 20/30/40/50/60 pins. It seems most of my encounters have involved multiple distances as the elk seem to be constantly moving around during the set up. I also agree with Elk Nut on shooting only broadheads during the month leading up to the season. This has helped my shooting tremendously.

 

[KMT]

My pins are 20-60. I practice mostly at 50 and 60. Shots under 40 seem like cheating. Must of my elk shots have been less than 30.

 

[ceng]

If you only have two pins you might set your top pin for 30 and verify that it is within a kill shot from 5 yds to 36 yds or whatever your range ends up being. In other words that as you move forward and backwards your arrow will stay in the kill zone. Then you could set your other at 50 if you like and could gap between 30 and 50 for anything that isn't in your point blank range. This depends on bow speed obviuously, but if your top pin works out to the mid 30s it may be all you need for 90% of your shots. It can reduce confusion and add confidence.

 

[Ross]

This will likely be determined by the country you hunt....the last five archery bulls were between 5-16 yds...I hunt in very dense brush country and am selective on the shot ....and use a slider set at 23 yds...I follow elknut and come August primarily shoot only Broadheads..less than 60 days!

 

[Darrin]

Great info and advice. Going to use pins 4 pins and shoot broadheads more as it gets closer

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[fltlndr]

Elk hunting is tough on a bow; everyone's heard stories of shot's-gone-wrong where a gear malfunction resulted in a missed or poor shot. A friend of mine had his peep fall out resulting in a miss at 15 yards! At the range I'll take a few close shots without sights, aiming down the arrow. It gives me confidence, should I be presented with a 10 yard chip shot and find my pin was knocked loose at full draw.

 

[bz_711]

My limited experience has resulted in 2 bulls, one at 37yds and one at 17yds...so guess my average distance is currently 27yds. I still urge anyone to practice long range as it makes you better, but if you are only comfortable at the usual 20-30yd range...you can still get it done.

Find a setup that makes you confident and use equipment that can take a beating...and always BE READY! Good luck!

 

[yak]

10/20, 30, 40, 50, 60 yard pins on a 5 pin sight. Gap shoot out to 70 and with my in-between increments. I've loosed arrows anywhere from ~10-55 yards on elk. Average is just over 40 yards for ~8 shots.

 

[mod700]

Standard 20,30,40,50,60.. keep it simple and the same for all game, average shot around 27 yds.,.. one thing I would recommend is practice at the odd yardages,.. gapping pins, and practice off both knees, one knee, leaning etc., make it more second nature when it happens in the field.
Mike

 

[Elkangle]

In the open more open country I'd say 40....but chasing roosevelts on the coast I'd say 15....ive considered giving myself a 10 yard pin for this particular area but still haven't....i have 20,30,40,50,70

Might change it to 10,20,30,40,50 tho

 

[elkbowkevin]

elk Ive bow shot have been from ranged at 42-52 yards.

 

[5MilesBack]

I would guess that my average is closer to 45 or even 50 with my longest at 71 (my first bow kill), but I usually hunt by myself and I normally don't "call elk to me", I normally go to them. If I have an open 45 yard shot, I'm taking it. No sense in trying to get closer and screwing it up.