All of these were the same set up, Hoy pro defiant 34 set at 29" draw and 66 pounds (limbs max out at 65). 100 grain sevr 1.75, Easton sonic 6.0 340 spine, total arrow weight with 50 grain brass insert is 417 grains shooting 282 fps.
2024 early archery elk, northern AZ (the elk in my avatar picture) - the evening of opening day I shot a bull at 79 yards. I have a lot I can say about this that I can elaborate more on if you guys really want to hear it/talk about it but I'll keep it to arrow/broadhead performance for now. I did not see arrow impact but I clearly heard it. Picture 1 (with the bow in it) is the blood pile about 80 yards from where I shot him at, my guess is bed #1. Picture 2 (only blood), if I remember correctly was not too far from picture 1, I'd say within 150 yards. Picture 3 (blood with my boot in it during daylight) was the next morning about 1.25 miles away from where I shot him. My guess is, I hit him in one lung due to the bubbles in the blood piles. Picture 4 is my arrow that I want to say I found around pictures 1 location with about 8-10 inches of penetration. I backed out for the night after finding the second pile of blood thinking I'm an idiot and already bumped this bull twice. I found that last pile of blood the next day after grid searching due to blood drying up after about 3/4 of a mile. Here is what I think happened short and sweet version. I shot him at 79 yards and single lunged him. He bedded about 80 yards from where I shot him and I spooked him when I went to check out the scene of the shot. He then bedded again 150 yards away and I spooked him again as I went in about 1 hour after spooking him out of the first bed. The next day, when I found the third bed with zero blood trail going away from that bed, the wound clogged and he walked off and very likely tipped over and died do to internal bleeding. Who knows where and when. I'm not blaming the broadhead because I made some bone head decisions that night and again, I can go into detail if you guys really want. He bled like crazy and had a decent blood trail for that below average penetration. Fast forward 10 days to the evening of day 11, I shoot a bull at 51 yards. I see arrow impact about center line and an inch or two back but he was slightly quartering away. I wait forever to go investigate after the opening day disaster. Very little blood in the first 100 yards so I back out just to not make the same mistake twice. The next morning, I'm on my hands and knees finding the tiniest drops of blood for the first 300ish yards. I hear crows ahead so I mark last blood and go up to check it out and there is my dead bull. 430 yards from the kill site. The broadhead is barely poking through the off side and this bull bleed less in that whole 430 yards than the bull I lost bled in the first 100 yards. Feel free to ask questions...
January 2025, southern AZ javelina and deer - exact same set up as elk. Full pass through on a javelina at 25 yards over 2" entrance and exit wounds. Full pass through on a slightly quartering too coues deer at 66 yards with about the same 2"ish entrance and exit wounds. The javelina went 15 yards and died, double lung. The coues, I watched run off and tip over about 50 yards from where I shot him if I had to guess. Double lung but I don't know how quickly he died. I waited 30 minuets to go look for him and would have waited a full hour but coyotes were sounding off in close range so I just went to the spot I saw him tip over at and he was there.
Whenever I get drawn again for elk, I'll go fixed blade. I'm not saying the broadhead cost me that first elk. I learned a lot about what not to do after shooting an elk with an arrow, but I do want the penetration. I would 100% keep using the 1.75 sevr's on javelina, coues and mule deer.
