What may work for one set up may not for another. Getting the spine right is the most important part. You will not get good results with even the best equipment if the spine is wrong.
VPA's are great broadheads and so are Gold Tip arrows. Both kill lots of elk every year.
There are advantages and disadvantages that apply to specific circumstances. You should analyze ypur own likely circumstances and adjust your selection accordingly.
For instance, if you will be shooting a 70# draw weight modern compound at average or better draw length, you will be shooting with enough energy to use a BH that might require a bit more to get the same expectation of penetration that a smaller head or one with fewer blades might achieve using less energy. That would be trading some of the penetration that you would most likely have in excess, for some extra cut area in the wound channel.
Personally, I prefer a fixed blade head with interchangeable blades and a small and VERY hard tip. I trade off the advantage of the cut-on-contact design to gain the extra hardness of the small tip that can be of a material or heat treatment that would prevent it from being feasible to resharpen along an entire blade length and would be too brittle to use in that function anyway.
In the blade, I like a good quality stainless steel that takes an edge and holds it well, and that can be resharpened fairly quickly to extreme sharpness and re-used.
I think the 3-blade designs give the best compromise between penetration and cut area. They guarantee a hole, as opposed to a slit, in the hide, and some measure of cross-grain cutting through meat, which can both be important pluses in getting a good blood trail.
The disadvantage of the additional blade hindering penetration is pretty minimized by the relatively thin blade in the replaceable blade head as opposed to the third blade of the true COC, where the penetration resistance would be much closer to the easily imagined 50% additional resistance. In actual testing, the additional blade in a replaceable head penetrated very nearly the same as the two-blade version of the same design.
For me, all the above factors and more caused meto go with the NAP Thunderhead. Used them for many years and recently went back to them. There are other very good choices out there, but that's the one that fit my needs best.
I think the flight of any BH that's properly mounted and that spins good, is almost totally a result of the state of tune of your entire setup. If you tune using BH point of impact as close as possible to FP point of impact as your goal, flight characteristics of the head will normally not make a significant difference.
If you were going with a traditional bow and lower poundage, those factors might require some readjustment and could well indicate that a two-blade COC would be a better choice.
But it would probably be a fairly close call in either case. A good quality head of conventional design and good material will work just fine even if not in the precisely best match-up that could be found. The old Bear Razorhead killed trainloads of animals before designs of better quality and design came along, and would do so today in probably 90% of applications.
What you are doing in carefully selecting the best match-up to your gear and the expected circumstances of your hunt is to eliminate as much as you can of the other 10% of the times, when the soft steel of the old Bear might have curled upon hitting that shoulder blade, for instance.
WRT the weight of the arrow, I think there is also good evidence for a rsasonable variety of opinions, and there, too, you'll probably want to select something in the more popular middle rather than from the extreme fringes of the available choices. There is some penetration gain to be had by going heavier, but you pay for it with trajectory, which can complicate shot placement. So there again, your own abilities and preferences on maximum effective range will affect the decision, as will your desire to get close, versus using some of your newly acquired accuracy. Moderation is always a good starting point, with decisions to do things in a more unconventional way better left until after you've tried it the more normal way first. Something in the mid-400 grain range for total arrow weight should probably be the goal, with more leeway to the heavier side than the lighter. You won't regret being 100 grains heavier and giving up some trajectory as often as you would going 100 grains lighter and bouncing an arrow off a shoulder blade at a spot where a heavier one would have likely penetrated made a clean kill. You'll most likely be carrying a rangefinder and verifying your estimates of range at every opportunity anyway, I know I do, so the loss of a little trajectory is probably not going to cause a poor hit. The heavier arrow will shoot quieter as well, which can be an important factor on a quiet mountainside encounter.
Good that you're getting prepared now. Too many guys tend to wait until two weeks before season to get ready, and find themselves up against an unrealistic time frame as it approaches, causing poor decisions made in haste and using gear that is unfamiliar and relatively untested.
Shoot a lot, read a lot, anticipate all you can, and enjoy it....the preparation should be nearly as much fun as what up do up the hill.
Best of luck to you.
I got my one and only elk fifteen years ago in AZ. Got a cow tag for the September hunt, north of the Mogollon rim up in 3. I remember all my western hunts, but I remember that one most often and clearest. Caught the last of the pre-rut chasing and gathering and almost had to shoo some of the bulls away to get to a cow. Didn't even attempt to call. Let the real ones do the talking and I just chased them and plotted interceptions and ambushes. Had an absolute blast up there in some fairly flat ground with juniper bushes dotting the pastures and providing decent stalking cover. Got my cow on the last morning I could be there.
Now to the best; After about 30yrs of elk hunting with a bow I have come to a strong preference.
I want an arrow that makes my bow whisper quiet. I don't want animals flinching on the shot turning my good shot into a poor shot location.
I want it to be forgiving- an arrow clocking 340fps is much less forgiving of minor form errors than one going 280fps.
I want a stiff spined heavy arrow that will reach vital organs, arteries, etc in case of a less than perfect shot- the heavier arrows will do this a little better.
I think somewhere in the 450-550gr range is a real good elk arrow with a fixed tapered coc head- I shoot 495gr. Of course whatever you shoot you HAVE to BH tune it- perfect arrow flight is paramount.
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I would also recommend going somewhere in the middle for best results. I am a fan of an arrow in the low 400's that is still flying fast. The majority on here are against mechanical broadheads of any kind, but with the right bow and proper shot selection they can be great. One thing to keep in mind is that your average shot in AZ will be at a greater distance than many other states. There are of course exceptions to this and yes you want to get the closest shot you can, but alotnof our elk country can be wide open. For this reason, I prefer a flat shooting bow an slightly lighter arrow.
For cut on contact broadheads, I think you would be hard pressed to beat Magnus heads. That's what my boy will be using this year. He will be shooting only 40 pounds and those heads will preform well, based on my experience. Personally, I don't think 2,3, or 4 blades make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. More important than anything is how well your bow is tuned and shot selection.
You really need to start with the bow, shoot the highest poundage you can comfortably and ACCURATELY shoot and then pick a mid range arrow and broadhead combo. The vains you choose will depend on the broadhead you choose to some extent. Personally I like short vains with a slight offset, but if you are going with a large COC broadhead, you may want more on the back end of your arrow.
Like others have said, you will get lots and lots of differing opinions on this. There is no one "best combo" out there. Put simply, they will all kill an elk. I have had great results and zero horror stories using a 400-450 grain arrow and a good quality expandable broadhead combo. Many will tell you this is a bad idea, but they have worked well for me for many years with a setup similar to the one you have now. I actually shot my last bull with a 29 inch PSE Durango set at 70 pounds just like your current bow. Feel free to PM me if you want further info. Good luck on your hunt!
As long as you don't mind sharpening, the VPA 3 blade is an excellent choice. With the above arrow and that head, out of your bow, I'd feel confident taking on anything and everything in North America. Given good shot placement, of course.
