Moose weight

[Arctic Hunter]

Planning to hunt moose in Alaska in 2017. I just sent my limbs back to have the weight reduced to 56#@30.5". I kind of wish i had left them alone now that we are planning this trip. I don't have any experience hunting moose with a trad bow, and I'm trying to decide if I want to get a set of limbs around [email protected].

Those who have killed moose in AK, what was your set up and how was the penetration?

And to avoid the "I've never hunted moose, but your set up sounds good...or, so and so did it with a 49# bow....or, just use a quality scary sharp two blade broadhead and wait for the perfect broadside shot at less than __ yards...or, shoot as much weight as you can".....guys I want to hear from people who have actually done it, what they used, and the penetration they had. So I can take their experience and make a better decision. I can handle more weight, but shoulder issues keep me from cranking out 50-60 arrows the way I used to. I'm trying do decide if I need to just eat the pain for a few months and bump the weight up.

Thanks

[wingnut]

John took a big bull in Alaska a couple of years ago with 51 @ 30 and would have shot clear through had he not hit the shoulder bone on the far side.

He was shooting Tuffheads and a pretty heavy arrow.

I hope to put one down this year and my setup will be 51 @ 30 1/2 with a 560 gr arrow and two blade heads.

Mike

[Arctic Hunter]

I'm going to try to keep my arrows between 10 and 11 grains per pound with 210-250 grains on the front. Shooting cutthroats or helix broadheads. I've not used tuffheads. It's hard for me to put that much weight on the front of the arrow as keep it in spine with such a long draw and shooting skinny axis shafts. May have to look into the meathead.

[wingnut]

The cutthroat looks like a very good choice.  I'll be using Solid Broadheads this year for the first time.  They are along the line of the German Kinetics.

I like about 11 gpp if I can get it.  I'll tell John about this thread and he can share the arrow setup he shoots.

Mike

[Birdbow]

The bull in my avatar was a 1200 lb Canada moose with 53" spread - not an Alaska Yukon sub but large nevertheless.
 Shot him at 6 yds. with a 54# LB pushing a 750gr arrow with a SB broadhead. Got complete penetration.
IMO a heavy, good flying arrow with a 2 blade head would do it for you at that poundage.

[John Havard]

Arctic Hunter,

If you use a full-length shaft with a deflection of .280" at your draw weight and draw length you can hang 300 grains on the front, no problem.  The above is especially true if you have an elevated rest where you can play with center shot just a bit.  

Below is the bull Mike mentioned.  You can just barely see the fletching protruding from his right chest.  About half of the fletching was inside the moose.  That's a 32"-long shaft with a 3"-long broadhead on the front.  Alaska-Yukon moose are very large.  Like Mike said, it would have been a through-and-through had the arrow not buried in the off-side shoulder socket.  Total arrow weight was right at 675 grains.
   

[Orion]

You have enough if you use a good heavy weight forward arrow as John did, above. I think you should try to get your arrow in the 650 grain range with a fair amount of FOC. I killed an Alaskan Yukon moose quite a few years ago with a 66# longbow at 28 inches.  Used 725 grain birch shafts and Zwickey Delta head.  Your long draw gives you the equivalent of several extra pounds of bow weight.

[elkken]

I have not killed moose in AK but I have killed moose in BC Canada ... your set up will be fine at the reduced weight. I was shooting a 55# Bill Stewart LB with cedar arrows in the 600 grn range and my two hunting partners were both shooting 55# Bill Stewart recurves ... not sure of their arrow weight as they were carbons, but neither had extreme FOC I'm sure of that. All our kills were pass through double lung shots. Two of us were shooting two blade BH's and one was shooting three blade Thunderheads. I truly believe you do not "need" to shoot 60-61#'s to kill a moose efficiently  ...

[DXH]

Not to high jack ... But when y'all are giving your arrow weight is that including the point as well?
Someone mentioned they're shooting a 660 grain arrow.... Is that total or 660 plus the point

[Walt Francis]

I killed my AK moose with a 58# @ 29" Osage selfbow, 625 grain arrow tipped with a 145 grain Eclipse (625 total weight with broadhead).  4 yard shot shot.  The broadhead went through a near side rib and the tip was protruding 1/2" out of an off side rib.  Penetration was hampered because the arrow was still in archers paradox.

[Arctic Hunter]

Originally posted by DXH:
Not to high jack ... But when y'all are giving your arrow weight is that including the point as well?
Someone mentioned they're shooting a 660 grain arrow.... Is that total or 660 plus the point

I believe they are referring to the total arrow weight. This is good information. I had considered my [email protected] with a 597 gr arrow to be slightly over borderline until I heard from some of you. I draw an honest 30-30 1/2", so I should be looking at around 55-56 lbs. That is assuming that the widow guys don't take off too much wood. I consider 56 lbs to be pretty much the ideal weight for me.

[Arctic Hunter]

Anybody else?

[BWallace10327]

I doubt your set up will work if you have so little confidence in it.

[Walt Francis]

BW,
I believe,  as with most everything, it isn't a matter of confidence in one's setup, it is a matter of ones confidence in themself.

[BWallace10327]

Originally posted by Walt Francis:
BW,
The broadhead used, regardless of how sharp, is nowhere as important as being able to place it in the correct spot.

That is very appropriate.

[Arctic Hunter]

Originally posted by BWallace10327:
I doubt your set up will work if you have so little confidence in it.

So I should already know what my set up will do even though I've never killed a moose with it? Why on earth do you think I posted this? The ability to get on a forum where I can call upon the experiences of others is, in large part, what gives me confidence to do something I have not yet done.

I'm not new to this, but I'm far from being someone who even pretends to know everything. Everybody at some point hit the wood with a bow in their hand for the first time with confidence that they had enough umph to get it done, which was most likely gained from somebody else with experience telling them that they did.

I have gotten some good feed back though, and will likely stick with my set up.

[Possum Head]

Don't let ole BW raise your hackle. Your questions were legit and your set up will do just fine. Be sure to send moose pics when you pile him up!

[Rudy Cariello]

51# Bamboo backed Maple longbow.
625gr total weight Forgewood shafts with Journeyman 2 blade broadheads.

2 dead moose. Shot in Newfoundland
1 shot at 18 yards with penetration to the fletching. 1 shot at over 30 yards with complete penetration.

[wingnut]

Don't you just love the keyboard haters.  You're doing the exact thing you should be doing this time of year. Testing your equipment against the expected challenges of the coming year.  

Your setup will be fine as everyone that has taken a moose has said, so go forward with step 2 and get your arrow and broadheads setup when your bow comes back.

Mike

[BWallace10327]

I don't know what I "hated".  I just pointed out an obvious, unnecessary insecurity in a bow that can take anything on this continent.  I didn't know it when I originally typed it, but it's good to have a little criticism to balance out all of the coddling.