Moose Arrows for a 50# Bow...

[unregistered]

Well I am certainly getting good advise from both sides of the fence here.
I can understand Mr Stokes frustration but if you please remember sir that I am new to archery and as such have no experience of the "good ol' days". All I know is what is shown to me and at this point the only evidence that is constantly being put forth are Mr Ashby's findings which I have read here and in TBM. I am not looking at carbon arrows because I want to go high tech, I am doing so because I want to kill a Moose and be ethical doing it.
If you have had good experiences with wood arrows on very large game please tell them. I shoot cedar arrows predominantly and any advice advocating them will be taken seriously since I have no desire to spend my hard earned money if I don't have to.
And thank you Mr Warren for your first hand account. But I have one question for you. Any pics of you Moose? It sure would be cool to see a picture of it after hearing so much about in this topic.
And since this keeps coming up I just want to assure everyone that a sharp head will be used and the arrows shall be tuned properly, and I shall practice and become as accurate with them as I am with me cedars. I owe that much to the swamp donkey.
Thanx again everyone for your advice, keep it coming.

[30coupe]

Here are the stats on my 46# Kanati and the arrow setup I used this fall.
            
FOC   ARROW   length   30   
   shaft+feathers+nock wt      245   Beman ICS Bowhunter 500
   separate insert weight?      30 Beman standard insert   
   adapter weight?      100   steel insert
   point weight      135   Zwickey Delta
   total arrow weight      510   
   balance length      22.38   
      FOC %   24.60   
            
GPP   
draw wt   46
arrow wt  510   
GPP  11.09

I have never shot a moose, but this combo put an arrow through a whitetail buck at 22 yards so fast I could hardly believe it. While it was not a moose, I think an arrow of similar FOC and GPP equipped with a scary sharp two blade broadhead, should do the trick from your 50 pound bow.

[David Mitchell]

Justin, you mentioned the articles in TBM by Dr. Ashby.  I did read them all.....I have also noted that the staff of TBM, T. J., G. Fred Asbell, Don Thomas, all seem to be carrying wood arrows in their quivers after all the Ashby data.  They must think they work just fine, as I do.  Hope you have a great experience in your quest for a moose.  I want very much to try that myself.  You'll find that there are as many opinions here as there are participants.  That's all part of the fun.....seeing what works best for you.  Enjoy   :D

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Two years ago I shot this bull moose in Northwest Ontario. My arrow weighed 499 grains on my digital scale. It was an unweighted Beman ICS Camo Hunter 340 with a 20-grain Flightmate (glue-in/glue-on) adapter and a 125-grain Ace Standard 2-blade head. My FOC was 13% (traditionally considered normal). Through my homemade recurve, those arrows shoot 194 fps through my chronograph. The arrow took out both lungs, split a rib vertically on the off side, and exited the animal, flying off into the cutover.

It took us longer to find the arrow than the moose.

 

[unregistered]

Well you can't argue with that. 499 grains eh? Maybe I won't feel so bad about shooting that swamp donkey with my cedars after all.

[Craig Warren]

Justin,

Do a search for "Saga of the moose bow." It is a post started on about June 19.  I was asking similar questions that you have and the great folks here on trad gang had some great advice for me.  The pictures of the moose are about in the middle of the thread starting around October 5 or 6.

[Craig Warren]

Jason was one of those good guys that had some advice for me.  Thanks Jason.  Great picture of your fantastic bull too.

[Gordon martiniuk]

Justin don'let those fellows that think carbon is no good ,, they forgot to tell you the very best wood arrows are hard to find,, you also have to learn how to build wood arrows and keep them straight ,, I have shot wood but  if you slip and fall on your wood arrows your hunt is over, why bother ,when carbon will give you high FOC and you never have to straighten them and they all will fly the same,, and they will outlast any wood arrow , oh yea if you need more no problem the next lot will spline the same as last so once your arrows are tuned to your bow your done!! with wood every dozen is a new adventure

[Richie Nell]

Jason, that is a great harvest you have there.  That moose looks small in the picture.  Is it the picture or is it a certain type of moose that is smaller than others?  I know nothing about moose but the picture looks like the size of an elk.

[unregistered]

Thanks for the info Mr Warren. That was one beautiful Moose. And thanx to everyone who posted here with info and advice, it was much appreciated. I am going to go ahead and get a set of FMJs. However thanks to all the woodie fans out there I'll aim for an arrow weight of 600 grains instead of in the 700s. I'll post some pics in another post in the near future if anyone interested in seeing how they came out.
Thanx again everyone.

[30coupe]

With a 550 to 600 grain arrow and 20-25% FOC, you should have no problem. The FMJs should be tough as nails, more than adequate in that regard. Keep us posted on how you do with them.

[Don Stokes]

Justin, I didn't mean to put down your choice of arrows. I just wanted to make the point that you can get the performance you need without going to extremes. The most important thing to remember is that you must have properly matched and tuned equipment and know how to shoot it, whatever your choice of shafts and broadheads.

Good hunting, and be sure to show us the pictures when you put him down!

[T-Bone]

Justin, you should check out peteward.com, if you click on traditional reviews and find rodney wright archery, there is a great story on how Shannon Kuzik took a very nice bull moose with a 40# recurve.  His arrow weight was 500 grains. At that weight I believe his arrow was flying at 145 fps.  He got good penatraion and the two blad magnus he was using bent when it struck the offside shoulder.  I shoot a 50# Montana and a 630 grain arrow for elk with no worries.  My arrow setup flies perfect and hits hard.

29 1/2" 2016 easton shaft
5 grain per inch 3 rivers weight tube
125 grain 2 blade stinger broadhead
3 wraps of scotch tape to secure the weight tube

A 600+ grain arrow tuned well and a scary sharp two blade head will work for moose with your bow

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by Richie Nell:
Jason, that is a great harvest you have there.  That moose looks small in the picture.  Is it the picture or is it a certain type of moose that is smaller than others?  I know nothing about moose but the picture looks like the size of an elk.

The moose went down in a ditch, which made rolling him over a real delight. The camera angle didn't do him any favors either. Here's another picture that shows the body size a little better. He was a half-ton in weight, give to take a few pounds.

 

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by Craig Warren:
Jason was one of those good guys that had some advice for me.  Thanks Jason.  Great picture of your fantastic bull too.

Craig,

I'm not sure how I missed your moose story the first time around, but I just checked it out. Wow, what a rack on that thing! Congrats. That would be a huge set of headgear for an Alaska/Yukon bull. But on a Canada moose? That's world class.

[Bill Carlsen]

For Richie Nell: In regards to arrow weight....I have nothing against heavy arrows or light ones for that matter. A straight shooting arrow trumps weight, IMO.....that is all I was trying to say. I didn't want the poster to think that extra weight, in and of itself, would assure better penetration. Where the  weight is, however, can make a big difference. I killed a 600# cow two years ago with a 60# bow and a 600 grain arrow. The head I used was a Razorcap, 225 grains up front. It took the large knuckle over the heart and took a large chunk out of it, did the same on a rib, centered the heart, sliced open the bottom of the lungs, hit the offside leg and came back out. The moose took 3 steps and died. I could have used a heavier arrow but at 35 yards that arrow would shoot straight in the target without feathers. The weight of the arrow was not a goal I was shooting for but straight flight was. I think a lot of guys think weight solves a lot of problems....and it can but only if the arrow is flying perfectly.

[Richie Nell]

"I think a lot of guys think weight solves a lot of problems....and it can but only if the arrow is flying perfectly."

Correctamundo....I totally agree but I thought surely bow holders don't hunt with there arrows not flying straight.  I thought that was a given...like a very sharp broadhead.

IMO, this heavy arrow, high FOC issue is simply about addressing the negative result of a "not so perfect" shot.  IF a hunter comes to grip with the fact that it IS gonna to happen and WANTS to increase the chances of recovery then there are two great ways to do that.  

But both setups (light/heavy) can be shot with the same accuracy and well tuned arrows...and I think a lot of guys don't think that either.

[onewhohasfun]

Please, no disrespect to anyone who has has posted here. But according to Dr. Ed as long as your shaft diameter is smaller than your ferrule no significant loss of penetration will occur from excessive drag. That is way different than saying shaft diameter has no bearing on penetration,when that diam. exceeds ferrule size.I beleive in testing parameters that was number 3 or 4 in importance. If you say testing has been done to prove otherwise, I would like to read it. Also the effect of EFOC (all other things being equal) cannot be denied. For those who have not read Ashby, having your BH arrow combination hold up without damage is number 2 after a perfectly tuned arrow. Yes many a moose has gone down to a 10% FOC cedar shaft, but I think I will go with the good doc and his 20 yrs. and hundreds of animals and test results

[Ricker]

Justin,
Don Stokes has the right idea as has many others here that posted.  The many big animals that were taken with cedars on regular average heads, sharpened do the job, were very effective.  The fella's just tuned their stuff and shot at effective distances.  Get accurate, get razor sharp and go hunting with confidence your equipment is fine.

 Jason!!! what an awesome harvest.  I'd be so "jacked up" I think I could carry that monster out on my back running!!!!  

[Chuck Hoopes]

50lb bow, balanced sharp arrow is all you need.  Sure wouldn't want one in me,from that set up.  I think the compound mentally finds its way in to trad. archery a little bit w/ all this obessive concern w/ penetration,--created by marketers of super sonic bows and kyrponite broadheads or whatever.  Personally, having stuck dozens of deer -  my assessment is that pass thrus are overrated-- more blood to be sure-- but my experience tells me that an arrow embedded in a running deer w/ a portion of the shaft still projecting is more leathal.  The projecting shaft is slamming against trees and just grinding and slicing that broadhead around inside the deer. Length of internal cuts can easily exceed the normal size of the cut by 2-3 times.  Sometimes, and in this case, most times, Less is More. Ask yourself -- if you had to run thru the brush after being struck, which senerio would you choose.  the pass thru, or the projecting shaft--just saying.