How much change in my setup will I need to make from hunting whitetail to hunting elk. AS far as arrow/shaft etc, broadhead. What is average pull/lbs for elk? any other answers to questions a firstimer should of asked, are appreciated as well. Thanks

I'm going elk hunting for the first time also.I've talked to other people who has gone before and told me that if my set up for deer is just as good for elk. My set up is my bow is set at 65# and my arrows are the Beman camo ics hunters/400 grain.Broadhead is a 125gr.steelforce sabertooth w/bleeder blades.I've been told once you go for elk,YOU ARE HOOKED FOR LIFE!And hunting for deer just isn't the same as before.Good luck and enjoy the hunt.

well i'll tell you what i know.Arrows...the Rino works good.Its got more kinetic energy for more knockdown power.Beman makes very good arrows for bigger game. Broadheads...125-140+grain,good mechanical broadheads work good.60+lbs on your bow is good.I've heard of them killed with less but not alot.Your kill zone just got bigger.Its harder to penetrate ther skin so go with a cut on impact tip for your broadhead.Get a good call or two.primus makes good calls so does knight-n-hale.Good sole boots.Rocky makes good ones,make sure they are waterproof.well thats about it.good luck

I've taken 15 elk with bow in Oregon. Here are few of my opinions. Your bow arrow combo will be fine. Most important for elk is shot placement and SHARP broadheads. The elk I killed 20 years ago with "high tec" 200 fps bows and sharp broadheads, died just as fast as my recent elk with 280fps. Elk are tough animals and are hard to impossible to find with a marginal hit. You have a larger kill zone, make sure you have the skill and confidence to hit it. They have large shoulder bones, never take a quartering towards you shot. You should be able to get pass throughs with any broadhead with todays bows and a heart-lung hit but we only use cut on impact broadheads for the not so perfect shots that might happen. I feel they penetrate better. A friends 13 year old son took a spike elk his first day of hunting this year shooting 55lbs 450 gr arrow. Complete pass through both lungs, elk dropped inside of 70 yds. We can hunt deer and elk at the same time in Oregon. We elk hunt and go after deer if we happen to see a nice one or after we tag an elk. GO! you'll be hooked. PS Once you find an elk glass all around him. Elk are herd animals and 90% of the time it's the cow you don't see that will bust you. Good luck

My first elk was taken with a 45# recurve shooting way, way under 200 fps. I was shooting logs with 2 blade cut on impact heads. It only went 20 yards before going down. It doesn't take much to kill one, just good shot placement.

mitchmedic - What is your setup ?

Elk are big, and tough. With a whitetail, a poorly hit animal will run a couple of hundred yards, in areas you are use to hunting. A poorly hit elk will run forever, in country you don't know, at altitudes and up steep hillsides that you cannot imagine. Because of that, my advice is to go with a somewhat heavy setup (500 grains is a good target), and a darn good broadhead. I shot 30" 2315 XX78's with a 125 Thunderhead for elk with a compound, out of a 63 pound bow. That would be about 540 grains, probably going 240 fps or so out of my old setup.

rpdbry and others have given good advice. I havn't hunted Elk but I have hunted high altitude Mulies and if you are hunting in the west and high altitude is going to be involved along with a lot of hiking, get yourself in shape. The higher you go, the faster you're gonna run out of gas unless your body is in excellent condition. I'd also recommend a heavier arrow, say in the 450+g range with a razor sharp cut on impact broadhead. As far as the weight of the bow is concerned, I'm sure that the heavier the better, but if I'm not mistaken, Dwight Schuh used to hunt them with a 50# compound and may still. Take a variety of clothes for hot, cold and wet weather and a good pair of broken-in and comfortable boots. Forgot to mention something that danged near ruined a hunt for me when I first started out. Don't wear cotton socks. Your feet will love ya for it.


Edited by - wahya on 02/11/2002 10:11:39

Last year was my second season hunting elk so I am not the greatest expert. But I do have a few opinions when it come to equipment.

1) Don't use mechanical heads. Get a good, sharp fixed blade head and make sure you tune it for your setup.

2) Almost any modern compound bow will generate enough kinetic energy to provide killing penetration on elk. Broadside shots are the best. Don't shoot when the elk quarters toward you. Even quartering away shots can be risky since they are so big and the arrow must pass through a lot of tissue for a double lung hit.

For the recourd, my setup last season was 29" draw at 65lbs, 29" Cabelas Stalker Extremes tipped with a 100gr trocar tipped broadhead.
The Mouse

Edited by - The Mouse on 02/12/2002 22:31:27