Elk Hunting Arrow Set Up

[MoeJoe517]

I am a Midwest Whitetail hunter looking to come out west this year. I am considering these 3 options for Elk. There is so much polarization (like everything else these days) with FPS, Heavy Arrows and FOC. They all shoot well from my bow so, of the options below, which would you choose?

Arrow	Spine	Arrow Length	GPI	Base Arrow Weight	Insert Weight	Broadhead Weight	Broadhead	Blades	Cutting Diameter	FOC	FPS	Total Weight
Victory RIP TKO	250	28.5	8.9	253.65	100	160	Simmons Land Shark	2	1 5/8	15.8%	260	575.65
Victory RIP TKO	300	28.5	8.8	250.8	50	160	Simmons Land Shark	2	1 5/8	13.1%	275	519.8
Easton Axis	300	28.5	10.7	304.95	50	100	Iron Will Wide	2 w/bleeders	1 3/8	7.9%	277	513.95

 

[Wrench]

Those will all work. I'm 100fps slower than you at the same 575gr arrow and it works.

 

[wapitibob]

13% foc

 

[MoeJoe517]

The first one in the table is my current set up for Whitetail and it no doubt packs a punch but I am definitely lobbing them out there once I get out to 60 yards. I was aiming for a little flatter trajectory without sacrificing too much in the way of energy. Those last two options intrigue me because of the common speed numbers. Then it comes down to which is more important FOC or GPI

 

[5MilesBack]

I'd just use your current arrow, but with a 100gr BH. That would put you right around 277fps and 515gr. You must have some heavy fletching or a heavy nock to be at the weight you listed for your first arrow. That's 61gr just for nock and vanes. My RIP TKO 250's come in right at 500gr at 30" with 75gr HIT's and 125gr BH's. I also think your FOC's are a little off. But all that weight on the backend is probably affecting those numbers too. My RIP TKO's are 17% FOC with 60gr less on the front than yours, and mine are 1.5" longer.......which if I'm not mistaken lowers FOC.

 

[MoeJoe517]

I'd just use your current arrow, but with a 100gr BH. That would put you right around 277fps and 515gr. You must have some heavy fletching or a heavy nock to be at the weight you listed for your first arrow. That's 61gr just for nock and vanes. My RIP TKO 250's come in right at 500gr at 30" with 75gr HIT's and 125gr BH's. I also think your FOC's are a little off. But all that weight on the backend is probably affecting those numbers too. My RIP TKO's are 17% FOC with 60gr less on the front than yours, and mine are 1.5" longer.......which if I'm not mistaken lowers FOC.

Yeah, I run 4 fletch with a wrap. I also run lighted nocks. I’m going to ditch all that and go back to a good 3 fletch with a good helical. I noticed I was getting too much steering from the back of the arrow

 

[BigLou]

Moe, some food for thought. I think any of those setups would work well, but I would respectfully suggest you do some testing on those landshark broadheads before taking them elk hunting. I am not familiar with them but if the steel is not at the higher end of a hardness scale (58-60), those long tips are going to curl if you hit bone and that will ruin any chance of deep penetration. I had this happen with the grizzly stik overkill broadheads and it cost me an animal. The benefit of heavy arrows is penetration through bones. This gets completely eliminated if you use a long broadhead where the tip is far away from the ferrule and not supported.

I switched to iron will and problem solved. very heavy, thick, short and highest steel hardness I could find. Punches bone!

hope this helps..

Lou

 

[JoeDirt]

Rip, Ethics Hit inserts, Non wide Iron will

Axis, Hit with IW collar, non wide Iron will

Ive personally used both, I cant see any difference with more FOC. Whatever tunes Ill shoot...lol

The wide makes me a little nervous, lots of thicker bone with an Elk vs Whitetail

 

[wapitibob]

If I hit bone bigger than a rib I hope the arrow bounces off.

 

[MoeJoe517]

Moe, some food for thought. I think any of those setups would work well, but I would respectfully suggest you do some testing on those landshark broadheads before taking them elk hunting. I am not familiar with them but if the steel is not at the higher end of a hardness scale (58-60), those long tips are going to curl if you hit bone and that will ruin any chance of deep penetration. I had this happen with the grizzly stik overkill broadheads and it cost me an animal. The benefit of heavy arrows is penetration through bones. This gets completely eliminated if you use a long broadhead where the tip is far away from the ferrule and not supported.

I switched to iron will and problem solved. very heavy, thick, short and highest steel hardness I could find. Punches bone!

hope this helps..

Lou

Really appreciate the feedback.

 

[MoeJoe517]

Rip, Ethics Hit inserts, Non wide Iron will

Axis, Hit with IW collar, non wide Iron will

Ive personally used both, I cant see any difference with more FOC. Whatever tunes Ill shoot...lol

The wide makes me a little nervous, lots of thicker bone with an Elk vs Whitetail

Appreciate the feedback…

 

[JBivens]

might be worth looking at Valkyrie if you decide to go heavy…

 

[FlyGuy]

Same here, I’d at least consider a Valkyrie set up in your decision…. Give him a call and y’all can talk thru a set up and he’ll send you a test kit to try out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[MoeJoe517]

Same here, I’d at least consider a Valkyrie set up in your decision…. Give him a call and y’all can talk thru a set up and he’ll send you a test kit to try out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks…I will definitely give that a look.

 

[SuspiciousFish]

Moe, some food for thought. I think any of those setups would work well, but I would respectfully suggest you do some testing on those landshark broadheads before taking them elk hunting. I am not familiar with them but if the steel is not at the higher end of a hardness scale (58-60), those long tips are going to curl if you hit bone and that will ruin any chance of deep penetration. I had this happen with the grizzly stik overkill broadheads and it cost me an animal. The benefit of heavy arrows is penetration through bones. This gets completely eliminated if you use a long broadhead where the tip is far away from the ferrule and not supported.

I switched to iron will and problem solved. very heavy, thick, short and highest steel hardness I could find. Punches bone!

hope this helps..

Lou

This is some good info. Would the curling issue be a factor for broadheads like these? I was looking at them specifically because they seem to have an aggressive angle and single plane to bounce off bone.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/magnus-stinger-fixed-blade-broadheads?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop%7CGeneric%7CAllProducts%7CHigh%7CSSCCatchAll&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriIt-nlRVzksxHw1ZLK9SYDD2KKbVHnxREHw3LZSiu9lzngteN4SoX0aAkxFEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[A-Brakke]

I am a Midwest Whitetail hunter looking to come out west this year. I am considering these 3 options for Elk. There is so much polarization (like everything else these days) with FPS, Heavy Arrows and FOC. They all shoot well from my bow so, of the options below, which would you choose?

Arrow	Spine	Arrow Length	GPI	Base Arrow Weight	Insert Weight	Broadhead Weight	Broadhead	Blades	Cutting Diameter	FOC	FPS	Total Weight
Victory RIP TKO	250	28.5	8.9	253.65	100	160	Simmons Land Shark	2	1 5/8	15.8%	260	575.65
Victory RIP TKO	300	28.5	8.8	250.8	50	160	Simmons Land Shark	2	1 5/8	13.1%	275	519.8
Easton Axis	300	28.5	10.7	304.95	50	100	Iron Will Wide	2 w/bleeders	1 3/8	7.9%	277	513.95

All those shafts are a great choice. I typically like a stiff arrow with high FOC for elk. I would go with the Victory Rip TKO in 250 spine. That said my preference is to try to be between 275-280fps while having an arrow around or above 500g. I’d throw a 100g Iron will on that arrow and hit the trail.

Note: I shot the exact arrows build I just refrenced which was a slight tweak to your build with the change of the head….phenomenal. Another great shaft is the Black Eagle X Impact in 250 spine with their FOCUS insert outsert. Arrows are tough as nails.

 

[JoeDirt]

This is some good info. Would the curling issue be a factor for broadheads like these? I was looking at them specifically because they seem to have an aggressive angle and single plane to bounce off bone.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/magnus-stinger-fixed-blade-broadheads?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop%7CGeneric%7CAllProducts%7CHigh%7CSSCCatchAll&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriIt-nlRVzksxHw1ZLK9SYDD2KKbVHnxREHw3LZSiu9lzngteN4SoX0aAkxFEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

View attachment 415042

Magnus makes a great broadhead. My hunting partners shoot the exclusively. While the blade is a cheap razor blade its sharp and does the job! We have had clean pass throughs.

In one instance my cousin shot an elk broadside, it was a high shoulder hit. We couldn't find the elk it was in that area where it just missed the vitals. I know this because I shot the elk days later. The magnus penetrated the scapula and stopped just before the second scapula. The tip was perfect!

Hard bone hit the magnus has no chance, softer bone and ribs I think it works great!

 

[BigLou]

I have no experience with the Magnus but the long tip design is enough to make me want to test it before hunting with it. I also didnt see a published hardness of the blade which would give me pause. In Texas, we "test" broadheads by going hog hunting and aiming for shoulder...

 

[ja4wheel6]

I personally think these all would be slightly underspined. I would run the 250 spine arrow with row two of components. 272-275fps at a little over 520 grains. Will blow through anything in north America,

 

[Slugz]

Yeah, I run 4 fletch with a wrap. I also run lighted nocks. I’m going to ditch all that and go back to a good 3 fletch with a good helical. I noticed I was getting too much steering from the back of the arrow

Keep the lighted knocks if you can.