Elk Bow weight??

[cashhere]

I have put in for the Elk hunt here in KY, I know first I have to get drawn. I currently am shooting a Griffin 46@28 drawing a tad over 26". I have great arrow flight with a 455 gr. arrow w/ Magnus 2 blade BH weighing about 170 w/ adapter. I can probably bump my arrow weight up 25-50 gr and still maintain good fight with a steel adapter. I have not hunted Elk or have any friends that have hunted them with traditional tackle. Am I in the acceptable parameter for a bull? I appreciate any input from you guys who hunt Elk.  Thanks....Dave

[Over&Under]

So you will only be pulling around 40 lbs.

You could prob get it done with a very close shot and good shot placement, but 40 lbs seems a bit on the light side.  

That said, my father has taken elk with a 48 lb bow in the past and I know his arrows were less than 455 grains.

[Hud]

Check with the regs in the state you plan to hunt, they may have a min. on bow or arrow wt. If it were me, 50# with a 500 gr arrow, Single blade of good quality, 145gr +, and be sure you limit your range to a 12" group, even better 6", and only broadside.  With a quarter shot, you will likely hit a rib. No rear or frontal shots.
A steep downhill shot, high in the chest, probably will not exit, and bleeding will be internal, and limit tracking. Good luck

[David Mitchell]

You asked our opinion....here's mine, not enough horse power.  Elk are big animals.  CAN you do it with that rig?  Maybe, but I wouldn't try it under any circumstances myself.  There are always the stories of how somebody did it, but for elk I never go with anything under 55#@28" draw.

[sagebrush]

+1 what David said. Gary

[wingnut]

Yep just not enough bow for the job at hand.  You need to get it through both sides of the critter and thats a long way for an elk.  I have a restriction from the dr. and shoot 52 at my draw and 600+ gr arrows with either a woodsman or Abowyer head.

Oh I have a 30 1/2 draw too.

Mike

[wapiti1997]

Your setup will do the job, only broadside-slightly quartered shots should be considered. I'd limit myself to shots under 20 yards too.

KY has no minimum on bow or arrow weights, you cannot however have field points or blunts/judos while hunting elk..

[Keith Zimmerman]

I would say it's on the light side.  I would have to agree with Dave.  I would go with at least 50-55# min for elk.

[scedvm]

I would have to agree that if you draw your tag you would be better to increase your poundage and arrow weight.  I've killed elk with recurves and a longbow that were all between 56-64# and arrows from 490gr-625gr. and feel I have needed pretty much all of it.  Good luck....Shawn

[Ringneck]

Your shorter draw length is going to set you back some from the start. I would want more for sure if it was me.

[David McLendon]

Low draw weight and short power stroke, not enough ponies under the hood.

[Barney]

More power, heavier arrow.....

I told my 12 yr old son, no elk till you can draw #50 and he's good with it.

[JParanee]

First off can you comfortable shoot more weight if so do so

[Bobaru]

More power, and forget the propaganda about super heavy arrows.

[bucksbuouy]

I know Tred Barta will not hunt elk with less then 50 pounds.

[TDHunter]

more power needed!   big boned, big muscled, fast animals.

I shoot a 52lb with 550 gr and I know some would, but I'd wouldn't hunt Elk with that. Any time I'm hunting animals Elk or Moose size I make sure I holding 55+.

[widow sax]

IMO arrow speed and weight mean more than lbs pull but with that being said. I hunted last year with some guys and two of them killed elk both quatering towards them shots. Both shot 630gr arrows with two blade heads and the one was shooting 41 lbs and if I remember 143fps got 22inches of penetration. The second guy was shooting 49@28 I know he was not drawing 28" and his arrow stopped in the back leg not easy to find but both dead and found tasted good also.  Widow

[David Mitchell]

Arrow speed is directly related to draw weight.  We hear stories of guys killing them with light gear....what we don't hear about are all the ones that were wounded and got away....that won't taste too good--bad after taste.   :(   I think we have a responsibility to use adequate equipment for the job at hand--no matter how badly we may want to do with less, for whatever reason, we owe it to those magnificent animals we hunt.

[Fallguy]

The most important part of the equation has been explained in the simplest terms by Rod Jenkins "hit them in the soft part" a poor shot with 40 LBS or 80 LBS is still a poor shot.

[cashhere]

Thanks for all the info, I can comfortably shoot 50 on a recurve and my draw length on most recurves is right at 28". I may try an find a 50-55# recurve, great excuse to buy a bow LOL. Thanks