MThuntr
Well-known member
I might be the odd man out but I shoot Muzzy 100gr broadheads...I've never shot them at an elk so some of those already mentioned would have more street cred.
Best type of Broadhead for Elk?
- Thread starter windymtnman
- Start date
Dan O
Well-known member
Magnus Stingers are a good cut on contact blade that has a warranty if it breaks or bends they will replace it. I switched to the Slick Trick as it is a good solid accurate broadhead with 4 cutting blades. There are others but you have to tune your bow and as the speed increases any flaws in your shooting form is magnified even if the bow is perfectly tuned. Spin test each arrow with the broadhead in place, if it won't spin perfectly it will not fly consistently with those that spin perfect.
Also if you can have a experienced shooter watch you shoot and give you insight as to any issues with your form. If you have a video camera use it as it is a great teaching tool and can give you a great bit of information of what your doing right and wrong.
Good luck and keep it fun.
Dan
Also if you can have a experienced shooter watch you shoot and give you insight as to any issues with your form. If you have a video camera use it as it is a great teaching tool and can give you a great bit of information of what your doing right and wrong.
Good luck and keep it fun.
Dan
MontanaWild
New member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2012
- Messages
- 299
Killed two bulls with fixed and one with a Grim Reaper expandable in 125 last year. All had the same results. Most definitely prefer a fixed blade but have no worries with a quality expandable. Find a head your confident in. You put any broadhead behind the shoulder blade and through both lungs and it's a dead elk.
cascadehunter
Member
Thunder head 100!! I took a 325, 6x6 bull in Idaho. Blades held together, bull dropped 40yds from the shot. I think I could reuse the broad head if I wanted, but it's mounted with the antlers!!
MT.PERCHMAN
Active member
SHUTTLE T LOCK for me ....deer ..bears and elk so far ....with no problem .
I hunted in Canada for bears and the guide told me fixed broad heads only !!!
Best of luck ! Glad to hear you are back at it .
MT.PERCHMAN
I hunted in Canada for bears and the guide told me fixed broad heads only !!!
Best of luck ! Glad to hear you are back at it .
MT.PERCHMAN
StrutNut
New member
Maybe I missed something but how old is your bow? If it is an older bow, it will work just fine but forget about speed and stick with your aluminum shafts. Your going to want to be heavy and keep your shots close. Play by traditional rules! Heavy arrows and heavy broadheads and you will be just fine. I wouldnt use any mechanicals or anything thats not cut on contact with a good heavy head. Snuffers would be great. If you did get a newer bow than yes, carbon arrows, 100-125 gr heads and mechanicals can work well. Dont get sucked into the speed game. Heavy arrows with a good sharp head will get the job done.
TimeOnTarget
Well-known member
I'm following closely, also searching for the perfect elk head. I've read plenty about guys who like the COC head with more swept back blades. Some say heads such as slick tricks have to great of an angle on the blades, causing penetration issues.
Nothing wrong with your aluminum arrows. You want weight for shooting critters. IMHO, The only thing speed does is stroke your ego when you are telling your buddies about your new bow.
I learned this the hard way on big Midwest whitetails when I was a little younger. I can't imagine trying to stick a lightweight arrow through an elk. Sounds like a bad day in the making.
Nothing wrong with your aluminum arrows. You want weight for shooting critters. IMHO, The only thing speed does is stroke your ego when you are telling your buddies about your new bow.
I learned this the hard way on big Midwest whitetails when I was a little younger. I can't imagine trying to stick a lightweight arrow through an elk. Sounds like a bad day in the making.
StrutNut
New member
Honesty the reason I brought that up was the one and only elk hunt I was on we had a guy using an old Martin bow that was talked into light arrows and head for speed. He had no penetration what so ever but insisted that his archery shop guy said it was better so he could shoot further than a heavier arrow. He got so little penetration that he missed a bull at 20 yards and I walked right up to the Aspen tree he hit and easily pulled that arrow right out. He did connect the following year on a bull but never recovered. I was not on that trip. I was told most of the arrow was hanging out as the bull took off up the mountain and they lost blood after 200 yards. Also, heavier arrows seem to be a lot quieter out of my rig than lighter arrows.
TimeOnTarget
Well-known member
I shot a whitetail once with a light arrow (8.4gpi 100grn muzzy fixed head IIRC) out of a modern day 70lb bow. he was a giant bodied buck, standing perfectly broadside at 20yds. Somehow I ended up hitting him a little farther forward than I wanted and got the shoulder blade. I only got about 2-3" of penetration. He ended up being taken during rifle season a month later. My broadhead had only made it about half way through the shoulder blade.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
Not to dumb it down too much, but you need to use a head that flies well and is sharp as hell - that's it. On a calm day these ones will group right with my field points at over 100 yards, better than any others I've tried.
www.wacemarchery.com/#!3-blade/c1rii
www.wacemarchery.com/#!3-blade/c1rii
StrutNut
New member
If you look at this photo you can see the shot was a little forward. The elk was broadside but started the turn upon release so the shot ended up hitting slightly quartering to me. The 100 gr 3 blade Muzzy went right through the shoulder blade, through the top of the heart, got the lungs and passed through to the other side. I was using Beman ICS 400 at 28.5 inches with a Hoyt Cybertech at 65 pounds for 278 fps. Bad to the Bone was an accurate statement with this particular shot placement. Had I used a mechanical, not sure what the outcome would have been. This was an 18 yard shot, the cow went an additional 20 yards before tipping over. This gets better. She was less than 200 feet from a dirt road, 800 feet from camp. It was also down hill to the road. We got her out of there MN style by gutting her out and dragging her to the road than dragging her via vehicle to camp. It was self guided on public ground.
Attachments
Joe Hulburt
Well-known member
I've killed a number of elk with Slick Trick Magnums and penetration has been good if shot placement is perfect on the side of the rib cage. I do not believe they will penetrate as well as a cut on contact head though.
I used to shoot super heavy aluminum arrows and penetration was never an issue then I slowly evolved to lightweight carbon and found they shoot really fast and that any flaw in my form upon release is exaggerated plus less than ideal placement results in poor penetration. I've sense switched to heavier Full Metal Jackets to balance out the speed to forgiveness.
The OP said that arrow selection was easy but I think it is as complicated as broadhead selection. I want hunting arrows that fly out of my bow at 275 FPS and are as heavy as possible.
TimeOnTarget
Well-known member
I've also went to fmj arrows at 11.3gpi. Been a few years now that I havent had a clean pass through on whitetails.
cowboystl1
New member
dirtnapgear.com just sayin best i have found so far
There are so many great heads out there these days! We've elk hunted for many years now & have taken many elk, we've to date never had a broadhead fail, we've failed but the heads haven't! (grin) With this said we like heads that are tough & must be razor sharp, this is a MUST! My sons & I last 8 bulls have been taken with the Viper Tricks by Slick Trick, great tough head! 7 were pass throughs, the one that wasn't was a head on frontal shot at 14 yards that completely buried the arrow in the animal. We'll be using them again this year!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
johnp
Well-known member
Haven't experimented with a lot of different broadheads after finding that 125 gr thunderheads shoot best for my setup ,keep a good straight trajectory after a hit . I still use aluminum arrows and shoot fingers . One thing that always concerns me about expandables other than loss of penetration , possible deflection from ribs, is premature opening from tall grass, leaves or small twigs that a heavier fixed blade can keep sailing straight through.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
I once shot an expandable - rocket steelhead- into a big bull elk strongly quartering to me. It went in front of the left shoulder blade and the tip almost poked out of the hide on the meaty part of his right hind quarter. All the way through him front to back. Didn't hit a bone- which can flat out stop even a Magnus on a 700 grain arrow.
I should qualify my last post & mention we've never shot or have used an expandable in the past on any animal so have no real world experience with them. We've only used COC (cut on contact) heads or fixed bladed heads. We've taken bulls with recurve, longbow & compounds. Trad gear arrow weights were in the 500 grain range 55#-=60# bows & compounds are in the 425 grain range at 66#-70#.
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
mtlion
Well-known member
Shuttle t's 125 grain. I haven't shot every head but I have shot s lot of them
These are my favorites and fly the truest for me. Many dead critters from turkey to elk.
These are my favorites and fly the truest for me. Many dead critters from turkey to elk.
