How much poundage does it take to kill an elk? Do you need a super heavy poundage to kill an elk?
Most people think you need 70 pounds to kill an elk, but that is simply not the case. With the right arrow, you could kill an elk with 40 pounds; in fact, that is what most native Americans used to hunt elk and deer.
I would say you want 50 or more pounds to kill an elk. But the key to killing elk with a lower poundage is limiting shot distance and shooting a heavy arrow.
If you are shooting with 50 pounds of draw weight, you want to shoot less than 40 yards. And you would want between a 480 and 550-grain arrow with a cut-on-contact broadhead.
Elk are big animals, often weighing between 500-800 pounds, you can’t shoot a light arrow at them or they will just laugh at you. You need a good arrow setup and a good broadhead. Elk have thick rib bones, if you shoot them with a bad broadhead it will not make it through the ribs, or worse your broadhead will break. Heck, I shoot a 68-pound bow, and at 8 yards when I shot an elk with a 400-grain arrow, the arrow was halfway into the elk, and it only got one lung.
If you shoot a lower poundage, avoid the shoulder of an elk. If you hit the shoulder of an elk with low poundage, your arrow will not get more than a few inches of penetration, and there will be a wounded elk on the mountain.
Kinetic energy is also important. You want the highest kinetic energy possible. Momentum is also very important when hunting. Once you hit the elk, you need momentum to carry the arrow through the elk. If you have low momentum and you shoot an elk, your arrow will not pass through, even with high kinetic energy.
You want at least 55-60 pounds of kinetic energy and .500 slugs of momentum. That is probably the minimum you want; ideally, you have more.
So make sure you have the right setup before elk hunting. Shoot the right arrow and poundage so you don’t wound anything. Make sure you are shooting well before hunting too.
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