sureshot Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 today I went out to a friends who has elk on his ranch who is gettign out of them, he wanted to kill 6, he wanted em to use my bow becouse the gun will scare the rest of the herd!I am shootign a bear "one" at just under 250 fps,I had 4 different broadheads to try thinking it would be like shootign cattle at a feeder but it was different, they were just liek wild elk, could not bring them in with feed or anythign, had to sit in the trees and wait for them to coem into the feeder, took 5 hours to get 6 in a 100 acre fenced off area! first elk was a 2,5 year old who came by at 30 and offered a perfect shotI sunk the arrow right in and out the other side abotu 4" behind the shoulder,I thought perfect shot but she milled around with the herd for nearly 10 minutes before she dropped,[ Zwicky fixed blad]the next one was a big cow dressed at nearly 400 pounds[mine] I decided to try the thunderheads I always shoot,she was abotu 30 yards also and I shot but a gust of wind hit me and I caught her right square in the middle of the shoulder blade,watched the arrow sink in and seen her run fro prob 3 minutes and then high step and drop, next one was a 2.5 year old cow[bout240 dressed] she was at 20 yards with a spitfire right in the breadbasket and she went for nearly 15 minutes before dropping, next one was with a blade made by hunters specialty I believe, it was a 2 blade with 2 bleeders,it was a 30 yard shot and it did not fully penetrate but the bleeders really cut up and she was down in a few minutes,the next 2 were about 35 with thunderheads and both were solid shots and they were down within a few minutes, What I found out was the 3 blades blades cut alot cleaner and penetrated better than the 2 bladed fixed or the two bladed with the 2 cutter blades,The spitfire took longer to bleed otu but I think it was just the animal was tougher couse the cut was as nice as the thunderheads,what amazed me abotu these animals is how tough they are,it seemed like forever for soem of these animals to go down even with perfect shots,I know I was in the back part of the lung on most couse I did not want to hit the shoulder blades and ruin meat for the guys buying them but still any deer I ever shot in the chest was down within a minute with a double lung shot!Whether it was that they were a bit stressed and the adrenilyn runnign from the tractor in and out or whether it is just elk are that much stronger I do not know but I do know if a big animal like a elk is shot bad they will go foreever!I just thought I would share my finds on the different broadheads I tried,I do not class this as huntign it is called killing and I do not enjoy it at all but it had to be done and for doing it I got 400 pounds of free elk meat and got to experement with the bow a bit I found out that a "slow" 250 pound bow has lots of ko to drop a elk with proper broadheads out to at least 35 yards, also leant that the thicker the blades and the more blades [bleeders] will cause more damage when enterign but will not penetrate as far,I prefer the ones that go through giving me a super blood trail! To me I am a even stronger believer in the thunderheads,did awsome , never broke up even on a rib and all were sharp enough to penetrate and give super blood trails!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] Wow, i am surprised it took that long for them to bleed out. Must be some special diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] You were nto tha only one sureprized I was amazed,I think them being stressed had a bit to do with it, I know if you jump a deer they can go a long ways on there adrenilyn, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] Geesh, if I had of know you were going to turn this into a broadhead test, I would have sent you one of my Montec G5's to try out Bret. Sounds like you'll have lots of BBQ fixins for the summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonhunter Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] [ QUOTE ] You were nto tha only one sureprized I was amazed,I think them being stressed had a bit to do with it, I know if you jump a deer they can go a long ways on there adrenilyn, [/ QUOTE ] have to agree with this. I've seen whitetails do amazing things on amino acid alone. The power of adren. is huge. I watched a large whitetail buck get hit with three arrows two years ago. One from my hunting partner that went right through the briskit, onhe from me that cut the windpipe, and one from our third hunting bud that went through the shoulder and hit the heart....the deer went almost 300 yards before hitting the deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] i guess it's just me but this post is kind of disturbing to me. For just killing I would think there would be a better way to put them down. I know when hunting you're going to get shoulder shots and other "not perfect" arrow placement but when just killing I would think there would be a more humane way to euthenize the elk. Interesting finds on the broadheads though. todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig mack Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] [ QUOTE ] i guess it's just me but this post is kind of disturbing to me. For just killing I would think there would be a better way to put them down. I know when hunting you're going to get shoulder shots and other "not perfect" arrow placement but when just killing I would think there would be a more humane way to euthenize the elk. Interesting finds on the broadheads though. todd [/ QUOTE ] I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] 400 lbs of elk, awesome Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] why is it disturbing?? no way to use a rifle couse the heads have to be sent in for CWD testing, 50 elk in a fenced enclosure and if you even drive a vehicle in they will go crazy and soem will die from stress,[lost 2 yearlings in one day last tiem they butchered]Rememebr these are wild animals and in no way should be in a fenced enclosure[my opinion]They can not handle the stress,The bow is the only way to kill them quetly wihtout stressign the whole herd compleatly,Trust me I would of much rather used a rifle in the head but that was not a option at all!![plus the new owner has cattle all over and I am sure he owuld not want gunshots all day! These elk were dead as soon as the arrow hit them, Doc all these shots were perfect, every one of these shots were the kind you dream of making every time on deer, I do not aim at the shoulders on a deer whan I shoot it i usually, why waist the meat!!If this is disturbing them maybe all bowhuntign should be to couse all I did was do somethign that had to be done and did it with good shootign and as fast as possable! truthfully if they were shot in chest with a smaller caliber rifle I think they would of been up just as long, these "new" broadheads cut perfect holes, it was the adrnilyn thta kept them going so long! Am I proud I killed these elk, no way it actually bothers me but it was either me do it wiht the shootign abilityI have or let the owner try with a bow he just bought last year and never shot hardly,plus it put alot of meat in my freezer for free, Plus I am sorry I even posted this if it is "disturbing" to soem but I thouhgt it may teach one person out there about how tough elk are and how a animal changes when it is stresses and the adrenilyn is running,will possaby stop a person from tryign to get up to a great hit animal without lettign it bleed out,[even a good double lung like all mine yesterday] plus I thought peopel will be interested in the different broadheads I tried and what they did ! This was not huntign it was killing but it was doen in the most humane way possable, if peopel do not think so leave your bow at home or sell it couse what i did is exactly what you do when you shoot a deer!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted May 1, 2005 Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] I wasn't critisizing you in any way--that wasn't the intent. Maybe disturbing was to harsh maybe I should have said it was a little sad. I know the meat will get eaten so it was not just a wasteful kill and since it was just killing it is just too bad it couldn't have been done in a quicker method---fifteen minutes to die just seems like a long time but I understand if there was no other way to do it. Please don't take it personally I just found it a little sad--maybe b/c of the line of work I am in when I deal with killing (not hunting) animals that are sick and when I give them a shot they are dead within 15 seconds. Trust me, I didn't mean to upset you or try to make you feel bad it's just too bad there couldn't have been a quicker way to euthanize these animals. todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot Posted May 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] no big deal doc, It bothers me to se them also but what most bowhunters do not see is that it takes alot of deer that long to,the only thing is they did not know they were hit on the most part,only one ran for a bit the rest just wandered away with the herd and drop as if it jsut died of a heart attack!I am sure they never knew they were hit,I am sure they never suffered at all,they just got weaker and weaker as they lost blood,Trust me no one loves animals more than me and if they seemed liek they were suffering at any time the 7mm would of been out of the truck, It was as if they werenot even shot on all but 1 that ran around for a bit, she was down faster than the others though!! What makes me sad is that a wild animal is fenced up, it is not right and shoudl be banned, it was untill a few years ago here in sask untill the bloody goverment seen alot of money in it they made it legal not the farms are all over and with the CWD prices are down to nothign so peopel are gettign out of it,I woudl rather use a rifle in the head or even neck[in chest would be no different that the bow] but it is not possable, he asked abotu doing his last 14 in 2 weeks and I said if he can move them away from the cattle and seperate them from the ones he is keeping I will go and use the 7mm in the chest,I have soem bullets that will explode bad inside and they will go down quick[hopefully],he offered me 2 more elk for another days work with a buddy, again I will say i do not enjoy this one bit it bothers me to kill tame animals but it has to be done by soemone and if it feeds me and my family and the animals do not suffer I will do it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straight Shooter Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] Hammer down and Git R Done, Sureshot! I'd love to have the oppertunity you've got on the elk. My question is, why not video tape the culling of the elk? It would be some great footage to watch and learn from the hits and actions of the elk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sureshot Posted May 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Re: 6 elk today!! [broadhead experement] SS mybuddy brought a new camera and got the first elk on vidio till tha battey went dead! filmed the herd for about 10 minutes till one came in and gave a shot opertunity, and we have the arrow goign right through behind the shoulder and then it went dead! actually it was one that went and milled with the rest of the herd for a few minutes so we went into the shop and rewatched the vidio to see what happend and then seen the perfect shot and when we came out in a coupel minutes the elk was down,the vidio is zoomed right in and you can see the fletchigns disappear!was like the shots you see on tv lol!!I was hoping to get all the shots on film to watch the different reactions to different shots,I knwo the one I talked abotu did not even buckle, just took a few steps then continued with the herd, the big cow I took through both shoulders did a high buck like a deer shot in the heart, one more I hit high just below the spine but still at tthe top of the lungs did a hunch up right after the shot,was cool to see the different reactions to different shot placements!the ones shot right behind the shoulders [3] never hunched up buckled or jumped after the shots,actually only one ran for a few yards, they never even knew they were hit[never hit a rib either though]don't know how that happened !only one rib was hit and it was with the swivel with the 2 bleeder blades!I learned alot yesterdya with those elk that will make me alot better hunter and a better hunter in all knowing a bit more about the reactions and how tough they can be if pushed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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