What lb bow do you use for Elk?

What lb bow do you use for Elk?

  • 30-39

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40-49

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 50-59

    Votes: 13 6.8%
  • 60-69

    Votes: 70 36.8%
  • 70-79

    Votes: 95 50.0%
  • 80-89

    Votes: 13 6.8%
  • Some other range

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    190
  • Poll closed .
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,398
Location
oregon coast
Completely agree.. My friends wife killed a MASSIVE bull elk a few months back using mechanical broadheads 27" draw and 42#...... It was 20 yards but she did it.... I killed my first 4 deer with a 60# bow. It was not a high FOC arrow either.. I know that probably deflates the sails of a lot of folks but its proof that all of us waaay over think it

Everyone says long draws have the advantage but I speculate the sweet spot between arrow speed, arrow weight, draw length, and high FOC is probably 29-30" draw
My first 60# bow was a rytera alien x I got in 09’ it was a new bow and high demand, and I could only find one in 60#

Back then I shot 380gr arrows and muzzy 3 blades, and my tuning consisted of sighting in for broadheads in August and only shooting them, and changing blades before season… makes me cringe now, but I had 7 years that I didn’t blood trail a single bull, either watched or heard them die, and I used that bow for 5 of those years.

Shot a blacktail every year I used it too, and a couple huge bear, and never had any sort of marginal results, it killed the heck out of everything

I have spent time in the weeds with arrow builds, really heavy, over 25% foc, etc but have circled back to the middle ground, 475-550gr arrow depending on the bow, and don’t care about foc, whatever it is will be enough, I always have at least 175gr up front, and don’t worry about it

Shooting over 50# for elk, arrow builds don’t need much thought, make sure you have good arrow flight, and it will work fine on the biggest Roosevelt bull in the woods.. whatever makes sense to the hunter will be fine, from light and fast to heavy and slow and everything between, and I can confidently say that because I used to use a horrible setup with zero drama… light arrow, under 65# draw, and an untuned bow, I didn’t know better, and the big coast bulls never knew any better.

I think you would almost have to try to build a problematic arrow these days… modern bows are awesome, and there are a ton of tuning resources, no reason to have poor arrow flight, and it doesn’t take much to kill an elk very handily

My other sis in law, probably 10 yrs ago killed a big roosie bull with an old Hoyt cybertec at 25” draw right at 50#, super slow bow, 410gr arrow with a montec, that bull literally took 2 steps and tipped over dead, probably not great arrow flight relatively

We archery hunters have a way of figuring out solutions for problems that don’t exist. In reality, it’s caveman stuff with modern tools

I gave my original alien x to my father in law, and that bow is dialed back to 50# and is still killing stuff every year, he killed another elk with it this year, with no name bimart broadheads 😂 he shot the elk twice and both heads shed blades… I was like why in the heck are you using these damn things!!?? I gave him 2 dozen good broadheads last year, mostly kudus, he said he was saving them, haha

I pointed out why you don’t use junk heads and that night he was showing me his quiver full of sharp kudus… just goes to show what you can get away with… hard to get worse than that
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 22, 2016
Messages
43
Location
British Columbia
70# for the last couple years (and one elk down) I just switched to 75# mods (73 on the scale) for this season to get better flight out of my 560gr arrows. I'll never go heavier, and with age I suspect I'll probably creep down to 65lb eventually.
 

Matt5266

WKR
Joined
Sep 19, 2021
Messages
684
Location
SW Idaho
My 70# mathews limbs maxed out actually come out to #72 lbs. Killed quite a few bulld with it. Plenty of weight. That being said my first and biggest bull when I was 15 was killed with a 50 lb bow.
 

Elk97

WKR
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
799
Location
NW WA & SW MT
63 and 29". Might have to drop down 5lbs due to shoulder problem but not worried about being able to kill and elk at that.
 
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
1,693
Location
Buffalo, NY
Pulling 60#, but my 32.5" draw length can still fling a 540gr arrow about 280fps. It's been deadly for me on elk and deer.
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
10,115
Location
ID
50ish on recurve, 60 on compound. 31.5" DL, don't have a need for anything more

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Feb 10, 2024
Messages
18
75# and the two bulls I have been fortunate enough to drop have ran less than 40yds. Pass through on both.
 

Clayt

FNG
Joined
Apr 23, 2023
Messages
28
70#. I like to use the heaviest weight I can draw awkwardly and hold for at least 60 seconds.
 

Elkhntr08

WKR
Joined
Nov 3, 2016
Messages
1,151
Always thought more poundage was a good thing. Used to shot about 89 pounds. Last few years it’s been 70. This spring I realized that a few years ago I shot best with a 65 bow maxed out. Dropped both bows to 66 and back to shooting better.
With age comes wisdom.
 

Douglasr

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 23, 2023
Messages
191
I would never shoot anything less than 90lbs on an elk.
The animal deserves the respect and you need to be willing to put in the work to show it to him.
Period.
 

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