Flawed thinking?

[Coveyleader]

You hear alot about carrying expandable broadheads for long follow up shots (saw it today on my favorite youtube channel) on elk. The more I think about this, its pretty flawed thinking. Lets say you shoot an elk, it runs out to 40-50-60 yds and is looking back, or is walking slowly away but at a hard angle. At severe angles, do you think you can maximize your penetration using an expandable head? You will most likely being shooting at a hard quartering animal at best. If I know it's a bad shot, I will try to get an arrow into the elk at any angle possible and hopefully drive the arrow deep which seems counterproductive with a mechanical.

I'm batting 1 for 4 on follow up shots where the elk actually gave me a good broadside shot after an initial bad hit. All the rest were quartering to me, or hard away. One I jumped 3-4 times, and never had a good follow up shot angle and he was always 80-100 yds ahead of me. When I finally caught him in his last bed, it ended up being a close shot, but very hard angled. I don't see the logic in this thought process. Internet hype?

Thoughts?

 

[WI in the west]

I guess i always thought people do that for the accuracy/forgiveness of bad form at long range. I know i cant shoot a broad had very great at 80 but an expandable i would feel a lot better about hitting where i aimed for example.
that being siad id be more worried about actually hitting it then worrying about penetration but that ls how i always looked at it i guess.

 

[Oldffemt]

They’re not small, get close and shoot them in the vitals with the first shot. I wait for as close to broadside shots as possible. Off angle shots are asking for trouble. Being patient and waiting for a better shot may not result in a dead elk every time but at least you’re not wounding them.

 

[5MilesBack]

I sent a second arrow on a decent 6x6, and it was an Ulmer Edge. That head and arrow blew through that bull quartering away right side, then blew right through the humerus bone landing about 20 yards further. That was from only 54 yards though. On another big 6 I shot a 125gr Spitfire (1.5" 3-blade cut) through that bull hard quartering away from 59 yards, on a first shot. No issues. But yes, I do have that 32.5" draw though.

My moose I shot with an Exodus first shot at 54 yards, then a followup shot with a GR Fatal Steel broadside at 38 after he stood back up. He never took another step, fell over dead face first. That arrow buried up to the fletching on my 30" arrows, and the BH stuck in an offside rib.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I think any hit with a mechanical is better the. A miss with fixed.
I don’t consider it far until 70 plus.
I shoot a mechanical with a bleeder to it should do at least some damage.

I think it also depends on your setup.

I think my setup is plenty heavy to get adequate penetration.

But if you’re short and low poundage that could be a factor.

 

[Marble]

I dont think its flawed thinking. I shoot a good mechanical that is accurate. If it is a bad angle or shot, i dont shoot. That simple.

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

 

[Coveyleader]

I sent a second arrow on a decent 6x6, and it was an Ulmer Edge. That head and arrow blew through that bull quartering away right side, then blew right through the humerus bone landing about 20 yards further. That was from only 54 yards though. On another big 6 I shot a 125gr Spitfire (1.5" 3-blade cut) through that bull hard quartering away from 59 yards, on a first shot. No issues. But yes, I do have that 32.5" draw though.

My moose I shot with an Exodus first shot at 54 yards, then a followup shot with a GR Fatal Steel broadside at 38 after he stood back up. He never took another step, fell over dead face first. That arrow buried up to the fletching on my 30" arrows, and the BH stuck in an offside rib.

You don’t count!

 

[Coveyleader]

They’re not small, get close and shoot them in the vitals with the first shot. I wait for as close to broadside shots as possible. Off angle shots are asking for trouble. Being patient and waiting for a better shot may not result in a dead elk every time but at least you’re not wounding them.

No doubt about that!

 

[HunterGatherer]

Not sure there is any benefit to shooting a mech if your first choice is a fixed head and your hypothetical follow up is only 40-60 yds ( in the example you gave). Now if your follow up shots are 70-120 yds then yes, you may benefit from the forgiveness/accuracy of a mech but then you may also be running out of juice at those distances (depending on your specific setup) and penetration might be an issue. I would definitely choose a small diameter mech over a larger one if this is the scenario I’m preparing for. BUT at long distances the mechs will likely have a different POI due to the reduced drag vs a fixed. There are a lot of variables…
For me, it’s simpler just to shoot the same head and practice long distance shooting until you’re good enough to consistently hit those long follow ups with your first choice head.

Hard quartering away shots are super tough. The one follow up I have taken in that scenario was a bull I had hit a little low with my first shot. He trotted out to 92 and stopped, looking back over his shoulder. My second arrow caught him in the ham and opened the femoral. He went down real fast after that. The first shot would have been fatal but it’s nice to get another one in them, even if it’s not the best placement, just to speed things up.

 

[Jbehredt]

No, it checks out. I use a grim reaper for that exact scenario. It’s also my canine target of opportunity arrow.