I am shooting a 520 grain arrow at 257 feet per second. This setup generates 76 foot pounds of energy. I could shoot my other set-up which is a 404 grain arrow at 287 ft per second, which generates 74 foot pounds.

The reason I choose to shoot the heavier arrow for elkis not only because of higher energy, but also because I like to stay in the 250 fps range so that I get the most forgiveness out of my set up and pretty much eliminate any chance of planing. When I am shooting from kneeling positions, sitting or bending, while trying to take a bull, I want my equipment to be the least critical it can be. Most of the elk are taken under 20 yards so a flat shooting setup for me is not in high demand.

Broadhead selection to me is far more important than arrow weight. A 400 grain arrow with a COC will out penetrate a 520 grain arrow without COC.

I opt to go with the heavier arrow for both forgiveness, and higher KE,and tipped with a COC broadhead for maximum penetration. This year I went to the razorcaps 3 blade COC so I can get an extra wound channel to maximize the bloodtrail after the hit. I will sacrifice a little penetration, but it shouldn't show when producing such a high KE

I shoot a different setup for white-tail and skittish antelope that is faster and flatter, because of my experience with string jump. But with elk, I will pick the slower forgiving setup every time.

Trying to reduce the arrow length IMO is counter productive. As the arrow shortens, the FOC will be placed further back on the shaft. I like to keep my arrows at around the 12-14 mark for broadhead flight. I also like to keep the broadhead in front of my hand. So going with a slightly longer arrow, will help keep my FOC up and also keep my hand safely behind the broadhead.

I have a range finder with me all the time, when setting up on an elk, I will range certain objects.I have a 20 and a 30 yard pin and can stack pins for 40 which is my absolute maximum range shot. I have yet to do it, but could with great success if the situation would arise. With a range finder the speed of a setup should not matter.

In the instance that my range finder craps the bed on a hunt. I am still practiced enough at yardage judging from competitive 3-D, that I can still guess within a yard all the way to my max of 40 yards. I still will use the range finder though as confindence is 1/3 of making the shot and I like elk meat.

Manboy, I would like to point out that that record was not shot with broadheads, which throws a whole new light on the subject. Also, not everyone is Chris White. If you want to talk about records, lets look at Randy Ulmer, Tery Ragsdale, Dave Cousins, and Micheal Braden. They all shoot long ATA bows and long brace height bows. Yes it can be done with shorter faster ATA bows, but we all don't shoot like a machine either.

I will stick with my slower setups for both hunting and 3-D. Going with more forgiving setups has improved my shooting greatly. I switched to a longer ATA and longer brace height this year, and won more tournaments this year than the last 5 combined. No one will every convince me that faster and shorter is the way to go for me.