Elk Archery Hunting

[archeranthony]

Hello all,
Wanted to pick your brain a little. Ive been archery hunting for 15 years or so. However ive never hunted anything bigger than a wild boar or WT deer. I am using a Mathews Vertix 70lb 30" draw. I have a couple questions.

1st. I have used rage hypodermic for the past 4 years and love them. Even shot through bone. However i want to be as ethical as possible. I currently picked up some magnus stinger and thinking about switching to them just want to see how they fly. Any thoughts on expandables for elk?

2nd. Im comfortable shooting to 60 yds. Whats the right distance? Is 60 too far for elk?

Any input is welcome.

Thanks,
ArcherAnthony

 

[87TT]

Can't use expandables in Idaho. Elk are a lot more tough than deer or hogs. You need penetration in the right spot so at 60 yards you better be very accurate with a heavy arrow. IMO

 

[Hilltop]

Many differing opinions on expandables for elk. I have harvested several elk with them without issue - my longest shot was 55 yards 20 years ago. Elk don't die any tougher than deer imo- put a hole through both lungs and they go down very quickly. The real difference is in marginal shots- if you only get one lung they can go a long ways. Your maximum distance should be controlled by your personal ethics and knowledge of your particular setups capability. My bow still has more than the recommended kinetic energy at 100 yards but I currently limit myself to 50 yards because I am not comfortable with my ability beyond that right now.

 

[Maxhunter]

I've taken a lot of elk over he years and I prefer a cut on contact head. I have friends who have shot elk with expandables but didn't like the penetration they got, and switched heads. Elk can be taken with expandables with no problem as long as the shot is in the vitals.

Personality I use Magnus Stingers and Buzzcuts at 125grns.

The farthest shot on an elk I've ever taken was at 64yds. This in 35yrs of bowhunting. I'll only shoot this far if the conditions are right. Most of the elk I've have been taken at 40yds or less. IMO it's up to each individual to know there limits. Like stated elk are bigger animals and a poor shot usually ends up with a unrecovered animal.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Tried expandable,don't trust them.The ones I used tended to fall apart on impact.I use solid 4 blade 125gr,
they tend to go through bone better and have greater penetration..

 

[kidoggy]

I don't archery hunt anymore but used to use wasp three blades. never had any elk survive to complain.

 

[ontarget7]

IMO, with your specs you will not have any issues with penetration with the Rage Hypos. I?d feel completely confident with your current selection. Have had some amazing blood trails on elk with the Hypos.

Out to 60 yards I don?t see any issues either as long as you are doing your part. To many IMO hold to tight to an elks front leg. Go for double lungs and you will get the most penetration and they won?t go far without air, even on adrenaline.


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[Elkhunter96]

Im not a rage fan, but they have killed lots of elk. I prefer a nice fixed blade like a slick trick, waccum, QAD, etc.. Find one that flies right with your set up. If you do shoot an expandable, make sure its legal in the state you are hunting and one tough enough to penetrate thicker meat and possibly bones. I have a few buddies who like the grim reapers.

 

[mallardsx2]

You spent all year long researching , practicing, scouting, and perfecting every piece of gear for that 1 moment on the mountain or in the tree..

Are you willing to risk it all by shooting something that is mechanically operated on the end of your arrow?
Your arrow being the one thing that you should have 0 worries about during the entire process. Never even a second thought.

My thought and theory has always been is that an expandable that makes it into an animal (Anywhere) on the way in will do damage (in some circumstances HUGE wound channels) but then when/if it retracts while inside the animal does virtually no damage to the animal when the animal is running.

Personally, I want a fixed 3 or 4 blade that makes a good hole on its way into an animal and then the entire time it stays in the animal (If it does) I want it making a mess of things.

Marginal shots happen, especially in the heat of the moment. Some people say that the huge cutting diameter is the only thing that saves you on a marginal shot. I have a hard time disagreeing with that. I revert back to the what iff's.

Its personal preference.

Personally I prefer a fixed 4 blade muzzy or if I was to switch to something short and stout with razor sharp blades for hunting big game.

I tested the theory of penetration last year and found my 4 blades penetrated further than the 2 blade. So I sold the 2 blades on ebay.

No matter how good they shoot you'll never see me hunt with an expandable because its just like a 1 pin sight. During the heat of battle its the last thing I want to have on my mind. My bow and my arrow/broadhead combination I can have 0 doubts in.

There are people out there who have killed hundreds of deer and elk with expandables who will 100% disagree with what I have said and thats cool too.

On a side note:
I know a guy who shot an elk broadside with a steelforce broadhead and when the broadhead hit a rib it bent 45 degrees and ended up coming out by the elks pecker...It went a long ways before we found it. It did in fact die but we were very fortunate to find that bull.

 

[Fink]

I don't have near the experience on shooting elk that most others have.. But I've shot 2 with expandables - Ulmer Edges. Neither head made it through the other side, both were wedged into the offside front shoulder. Neither bull bled very much, but I watched both die within 75 yards of where I shot them.

My thoughts have always been to put the most accurate arrow in the animal that you can, the head will do the rest. For me, a good expandable is much more accurate out to 40+ than a fixed blade head is. After shooting a bull at 50 yards last fall, I'm still kinda shocked at just how much bigger than whitetails they are, so I may end up switching to a fixed blade, I'm still undecided.

 

[Eastfork]

Lots or really good advice here. With that being said, I'll throw out my 2 cents for what it's worth. In the years that I've been archery hunting, I have seen many fads, from broadheads to camo. But a few things remain constant, sharp arrow, any flavor, put in the vitals, dead elk. I have used muzzys for close to 30 years with over 60 big game kills, know where u hit, hit em good and they die. No need for 60 yard shots. Hunt the wind smart, and get em.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Mallard is Spot On.Put em' down now ...Not maybe.

 

[mallardsx2]

I would like to add that once upon a time I was walking up to a wounded 1200# bull moose flopping in the water and I tired to finish him off with a broad-head depicted below. (It was my buddies arrows...I had already expended all of mine...long story...)

Short version he tried to shoot the wounded bull and bounced his second to last arrow of of the bulls back and then I tried to shoot the bull with his last arrow (expandable) and the arrow bounced off of the bulls side and went somewhere into the Canadian bush never to be seen by man again.

So there we stood, like 2 idiots, with no arrows.

Thats the main reason I will NEVER go to an expandable after seeing what happened that day.

Yes, I made several bad shots on the bull that I am not very proud of. But the ONLY reason the bull died and we found him was because I had buried a muzzy 4 blade into the bull and it was chewing a hole the entire time.

Ya..I know....it was a bit of a rodeo...

Thankfully that situation never played out again in the years since then.

 

[Bonecollector]

You?re killing me Smalls! The Grim Reaper?s were designed for big game hunting. [emoji23]


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[Kodiak]

In my opinion any broad dead cram fail. I have experience with hyperdermics and magnus buzzcuts and either one can fail. Center punching a bone on an elk is a bad deal no matter what is on the tip of your arrow. Personally I shoot fixed blades for elk but I did have a buzz cut buckle on me when I hit bone on an elk. Luckily we recovered the bull but it wasn’t a fun and a second shot was required.