Enough bow for elk
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: jeffb
15-Feb-18
Hi everyone, looking for some advise/ opinion on bow for elk. I'm looking for something that will shoot consistently out to 50 yards without a huge rainbow. Most of the bows that I find in the price range that I need to be in shoot around 320 ibo. I don't have a problem with drawing 65-70 Lbs. Will this speed be enough to do the trick? I haven't shot a compound for about 15 years, so i'm a little out of the loop on new tech. Thanks
From: Brotsky
15-Feb-18
Jeff, you have plenty of bow. Use a heavy arrow with a good COC head and you will have no trouble passing through an elk.
From: jeffb
15-Feb-18
My budget is around $500. I've shot PSE in the past but not set on a brand. My main concern is the speed. Like I said above, most of the bows in that price range are in the 320 fps range. Will that be enough or should I try to step up my price to reach 50 yrds?
From: 12yards
15-Feb-18
Just so you know, you won't be shooting a 400 grain arrow that fast (320 fps). And yes, it will still be plenty fast to kill an elk. In fact, I'd probably bump the arrow weight up to around 450 grains. If you don't have a really short draw length, you should be fine. I used to shoot a bow that had an ibo of around 320 and my 400 grain arrows were going about 270 fps with my 29" draw length.
From: GLP
15-Feb-18
My last bull I shoot with a Hoyt alpha max 32 (320 Ibo ) @ 57 lbs, 29 in draw 425 grains with 100 3 blade muzzy . Complete pass thru . People kill them with 45 lb recurves . You will be fine. Greg
From: Windwalker
15-Feb-18
I took a big bull shooting a Mathews Drendlin @57 lbs, 28.5 in draw 385 grains with 100 grain 3 blade Montec. Complete pass thru from 43 yards. Bull only went 30 yards.
From: wyobullshooter
15-Feb-18
"My main concern is the speed."
There's so much more that comes into play rather than the rated IBO speed of a bow. As 12yards points out, your hunting arrow won't come close to that rated speed. My DL is 26". At 63#, my 340 IBO rated bow spits my 430gr arrow out at a mind-boggling 252fps. Elk have never cared that they died because someone with T-Rex arms shot them at such a relatively slow speed. ;-)
From: APauls
15-Feb-18
Holy cow. Your options are literally limitless with that budget and those criteria. Anything 320 IBO has more than enough juice to get the job done. As others have said though, that would be the least on my list of criteria when buying a used bow.
From: creed
15-Feb-18
60 lbs, 425 grain arrow, 270 fps, 50 yards through both shoulders.
From: fisherick
15-Feb-18
Thousands of elk have died using 500-600 grain arrows shot from 45-60# recurve/longbows, traveling at 160-190 fps. Or old school compounds at 200-250 fps. Don't worry about speed, use a heavy arrow, c.o.c. broadheads and a RANGEFINDER.
From: IdyllwildArcher
15-Feb-18
People kill elk with stickbows. You don't need anything special when it comes to a modern compound to kill an elk. Just about every modern compound that will kill a white tail will kill an elk.
From: Treeline
15-Feb-18
Have killed elk just fine with 175 FPS bows for years... Must be doing something wrong?
From: Treeline
15-Feb-18
Get a compound that you are comfortable shooting, with a good arrow-broad head combination, keep it simple and just go hunting. 50 yards is a very long shot for elk.
From: jeffb
15-Feb-18
Thank you everyone. I'm from Ohio and hunt whitetail with a recurve. This is a whole new adventure and just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. Dropping $700 on a tag and $500 on a bow to fill it is a big investment. I don't want to leave anything on the table. I know I could kill and elk with my 55# recurve but don't want to limit my range to 20 yards like I do whitetail. 50 yards is the end of my comfort zone so I want a bow that will perform as well. Back in the old days I shot a PSE Polaris comfortable to 30 yards. It sounds like I'm on the right course .. Thanks again
From: Timbrhuntr
15-Feb-18
I just bought an APA mamba 32 tf for 900 cdn. I have it lowered as far as it will go to 43 pounds to practice with since its left hand and I shot right forever. My arrow is 28.5 inches and 454 gr and its going 273 fps. I am sure if I can get it up to 50 it will likely be around 320 and at 60 at least 360. My draw is 28.5 inches. Its amazing how fast these new bows are. I could barely get 290 out of my old bow set at 60 pounds
From: Shawn
15-Feb-18
A recurve shooting 180 fps with a 500 grain arrow is more then enough even less will do. Most any modern compound will launch a hunting weight arrow at 250 fps or more and be more then adequate for Elk. Shawn
From: SlipShot
15-Feb-18
Elk for the most part do not jump the string. You need to find a bow that you are comfortable shooting and go from there. With that said I bought into the hype and bought a fast IBO bow that I can shoot out accurately out to 80 yards. (no I don't shoot at animals at that range, other than a followup shot.) It is fast and accurate and very unforgiving.
From: HDE
15-Feb-18
As has been said, a lot of options for a bow with a price sticker of $500 and most will all have a posted rating of 320 fps.
However, just any $500 bow may draw and feel horrible to you so keep that in mind. (The same can be said about a $1200 bow as well.)
Check out G5 Quest. I was shooting a bow rated at 330 fps, using a 405 gr arrow with a 29" draw set at 72#'s and they chrono'd at 305 fps fwiw.
From: deerslayer
15-Feb-18
Speed is not as essential as a hard hitting arrow and a quiet bow. Lots of good advice here, the one thing I would recommend, is a heavier arrow, like 450 grains on up. I would also go with 125 grain broadhead. If you can have a 450-500 grain arrow going around 275 fps you should be golden. That's really not much of a rainbow out to 50 yards, but will help push through an elk. Also as Slipshot alluded to, the faster your bow the more unforgiving it is. I shoot around 290 fps and am very happy with the results on elk.
From: joehunter
15-Feb-18
Pick up a couple year old bow. Save some money. Get set up and go hunt. Any bow from any of the major manufactures will blow away that boat anchor Polaris. Even the so called low end bows.
From: tradmt
15-Feb-18
30.06 puts out decent speed.
From: HDE
15-Feb-18
^^^ 150 gr or 200 gr Spitzer?
From: Bake
15-Feb-18
I haven’t shot a bunch of bows, but my Heli-M at 70 lbs, with a 27 1/2 inch draw, and 520 grain arrows has plenty of pop at 50 yards, and not a bad trajectory. I can’t imagine I’m shooting much more than 270 FPS or so. I’ve never chrono’ed it though.
My elk last year was shot at 52 yards, with the above setup, a 100 grain mechanical (gasp!) broad head, and had a clean pass through.
I wouldn’t worry so much about speed, personally. My bow is not super fast with my setup, but it has killed plenty of stuff cleanly, including bigger stuff like elk and kudu
From: tradmt
15-Feb-18
150 and 130 make nice loads. :)
From: MichaelArnette
16-Feb-18
You should take you recurve and have more fun!
From: LesWelch
16-Feb-18
"50 yards is the end of my comfort zone "
If you've only been shooting 20 yards how do you know 50 is your comfort zone???
I'm still trying to decipher if this is a legit thread or not?
From: Pigsticker
16-Feb-18
Jeffb, what is your draw length?
From: DB999
16-Feb-18
With today's technology and the specs you gave, shoot a 125g broadhead regardless of expandable or not and you will be okay.
From: JLeMieux
16-Feb-18
You can find a great bow in the $3-400 range. Accessories and arrows can add up quick so I would leave yourself some room to manuever.
From: buc i 313
16-Feb-18
My old hunting buddy of 35 + years lost vision in his right eye in his late 50's. He switched to shooting left handed (compound) with a draw weight of 50 lbs. He killed 4 elk and several whitetails after that change.
He has been gone many years now but I still miss him. A true friend and the best woodsman I ever met.
Hope his hunts now are mild, with gentle hills and peaceful walks.
From: APauls
16-Feb-18
PSE Polaris! Killed my first big game animal with one of those.
