I made an Osage bow. 47#. Without hitting a rib ,would you think it would kill an elk from 30 yards?

Yes.

Tell me how you are not gonna hit a rib. I assume that you believe if you hit a rib you will only wound a elk. Why risk that? How well do you shoot that bow 9 out of 10 in a six inch circle. Why not get closer if hunting with a self bow and use a heavier bow

#47 pounds will kill an elk even if you hit a rib. Sharp well built broadhead is the key.

Shoot it! A 32 pound bow will kill an elk!

A few years ago Primitive Archer magazine featured a fella killing a huge bull with a 42# osage bow and cane arrows. He talked about his concerns in the article, in the end it was a breeze and he has a great memory.

Chances are pretty good it has been done before!

Placement is the thing, so 30 might be pushing the useful limits of your trajectory; that would depend on you and the bow in question.... I guess I’m assuming that you’d be using a pretty beefy wooden arrow with a solid head up front.

Everybody says “Aw, well, Elk are BIG targets”, but JME, picking a spot is just as important and can actually be more difficult. IOW, just because the target is twice as big doesn’t automatically double my effective shooting distance on the 3D course at the club. The moose and the buffalo are even worse!

So take that FWIW... My only shot on an Elk so far was at probably 5-7 yards - walking past me at broadside - I swung with him, loosed the arrow a few milliseconds too late, and managed to skip one blade of my BH off the side of a 2” lodgepole.

Agree 100% with tradmt. It's more about the arrow broadhead combination.

That is a very marginal setup at best. I would say yes, go for it with these caveats: 1) Use a perfectly tuned arrow of at least 600 grains and preferably 650 grains 2) a razor sharp cut on contact head with very low resistance, a tuffhead, meathead, stos, zwickey eskimo, cutthroat, or grizzly sharpened all the way to the tip 3) Standing broadside ground level (no treestand shots with something that light), perfect shot placement tight behind the shoulder lower 1/3 of body 3) Inside of 20 yards, which is not too tough in most elk hunting situations.

I killed me last elk (Lead Cow) with a 60# osage selfbow at more than 30 steps, uphill steeply, quartering away. It entered just in front of the hip penetrating to the fletch and lodging the broadhead in the off side shoulder. 680 grain tapered douglas fir with a tuffhead. That bow shot that arrow at 161 fps. My current osage selfbow is same dimensions and shoots the same arrow 166 fps (over 11 grains wt/per # of draw weight.

Osage selfbows become more effcient the heavier the arrow. Tuning is the make or break factor here. Perfectly tuned/arrow flight it will do the job no doubt, poorly tuned/other than perfect arrow flight= failure.

Shoot it if it's legal.

Congrats!

Like stated above , make sure it's a legal bow for elk, Wyoming has a draw weight limit at 50# min for elk.

It will go right through an elk's rib though. I don't know of any GW that carries a draw weight scale though and they will just read the weight listed on your bow.

Thx for all the info. I'll need to beef up the set about another 125 grams or so. I haven't figured feet per second yet, shooting 475g now. Exciting to think about it. Also need to get the elk in that close. Been on 2 bow hunts but none close enough yet. Still learning. Great pics! What state? Thanks again y'all.

Of course not- all the leatherwall experts will tell you that a 60 pound bow and a 600 grain Arrow is minimal for penetration !;) Jk

Toyota will tell you a Tundra will pull a space shuttle. Would not want to try that going over loveland pass on I70.

I had 2 different tundras, neither would pull my 16" steel gooseneck stock trailer loaded safely over 35 MPH. I traded the second one for a F250 6.0 powerstroke 4x4 and could pass cars coming off the on ramp at 75 mph loaded.

I KNOW 70# works with 600 grain arrows and snuffers I know 62# works with 680 grain arrows and tuffheads I do not know about 47#

Some here will say 30# is plenty.

I once made a 52# selfbow for a buddy before the 2015 hunt when I shot that cow. Would not have hesitated one minute to use that bow and my 680 grain arrows for elk hunting, it shot them like darts.

No replacement for displacement

I don’t shoot self bows but I believe some native Americans already proved that it will work. RonL

its not the poundage, its the performance of the bow that matters. Can you provide your arrow weight and speed? without that information, one can't tell you either way. Performance in self bows can vary by a great deal. For instance, I shot a #45 hickory self bow one time that had some string follow and it was slow...so slow in fact that a #35 osage self bow shot the same arrow faster. So, without performance numbers, no one can say with any kind of certainty.

47 lbs will do the job. Tune those arrows, make sure they are scary sharp, and as heavy as possible. 30 is pushing it for most of us, but it is doable.

Wasn't trying to be negative. I didnt/dont understand the not hitting the rib part of the equation. Also I saw no point in taking a shot that far on a elk. They aren't that hard to get close to a elk. Go in the field with your bow have fun and do what feels right. All the info on arrows is on point.

I didn't take it negative at all. I'm new to the self bow. Could have asked the ? Differently. What I think I have found out is this bow may have some string follow which I don't quite understand yet. This was my first bow built. Im going to the Tennessee classic this weekend. Im following Gary Davis's way to build a bow. I think all went well but maybe I didn't get enough moisture out. I plan to ask some of the great guys there their opinion and I think Gary will be there. So it's all good. Thank you for your input.

Great you will get help there. The thing with self bows is never be in a hurry it takes time. I mean all of it building tuning it shooting it and get one to hunt with. You can do it. I am a self bow moron still to this day. Which is good because I like Strunks and others have a great vine maple bow. Gonna try another soon the last one I built was dog wood shot really fast till the bottom limb folded.

47@26 with 550 gr. will get it done. But I would not shoot at elk over 25 yds. Arvin

Don't know what weight shot this stone head, but it's pretty impressive in a buffalo vertebra.

RonL beat me to it. Plains natives lived on buffalo. Anybody think they were drawing heavy weights? With razor sharp steel broadheads?

Legal draw weight and shot placement...winner-winner!

Have you ever taken a big elk apart ? The ribs are big and thick if you do manage to get through one how much farther is you arrow going to travel ? Through both lungs,probably not ! Having an ultra heavy arrow is not going to help either it just decreases your velocity . I shot a nice buck once and when the arrow stuck I though I had made a perfect shot but it looked like the arrow was sticking way out with very little penetration as it fled. I followed up a fair blood trail and he had gone about 75 yards . It was a perfect hit low and very close to the front shoulder. When I autopsied him I seen that the broadhead had centered a rib vertically split the rib and wedged the wood arrow to a stop. I got 4 inches of penetration and that included the 2 blade Zwickey ,on only a whitetails rib, with a 57# takedown recurve. To me you should have at least 50#s on a glass bow and 60 on a self bow minimum, elk are big animals .

maybe try it at 15 yards and see how she does, then extend your range depending on the results,, I killed a large bufflo with an osage self bow, that shot pretty slow for its weight,, so with a heavy arrow the bows are pretty deadly,, I guess I would just try for a closer shot,, good luck with your hunt,,,,

Tim Finley, I've shot through whitetail ribs many times with a 45# bow, both sides and out the other. Whitetail ribs are the size of a carpenter's pencil, so not sure what you're hunting, but it was something other than an arrow flying perfectly straight into a whitetail rib.

Janet George has killed lots of elk with a mid 40's bow. Ken Beck has as well. So it has everything to do with good flying arrows, sharp heads, and no interference to the flight. By the way, over fifty percent of my whitetail kills have been pass through shots.

George...I agree with but one caveat. I shot wood for years, tipped with Zwickey Deltas, out of a Black Widow MAII...65lb.

While it was rare I didn't have two holes, woodies seldom were stuck in the ground. Most were sticking out both sides, subsequently breaking off during the death run.

A couple clean pass throughs, but not many. Those with an entry wound only were quartering away shots, with the head buried in the far side shoulder. They didn't go far.

Those were Kustom King shafts spined for 70lb. Fairly large diameter and "plastic coated". I felt those two combined added up to some serious drag and resistance on critter contact. But they flew great and quiet...my brother- in-law shot em out of his 70lb compound.

I should add that I'm also shooting Grizzly single bevel 2 blade...smaller cut than the Deltas. But, I've broken ribs on both sides, with both setups.

I've since dropped to 53lb and aluminum, and have most pass through and stick in the ground.

Hmmm...switch the last 2 paragraphs...dunno how I did that?!

why chance it, it isn't worth the grief if something goes wrong.

Something can go wrong with anything, self bow, long bow, recurve and compound. Justice go huntin and enjoy it.

Grizz, you are correct and I agree. I would guess there are a good number of guys on this site that have been hunting a long time and don’t kill much. By the time they analyze everything it never is just right for that shot they approve of taking.

I read an article about two decades ago about from a guy who claimed anyone who hunted elk with less than 55# was unethical. Yep, he said that. He was rebuffed the next issue of the magazine by many, including one lady who has killed as many elk as just about anyone using a 45/46 pound traditional bow drawn to about 27". This BS comes up every now and then and the sad thing is that it has been rebuffed many times. Maybe those fat wood arrows snag in bone, but carbon and aluminum usually go on through. You don't even need pass through shots to get good double lung shots either.

So don't be so foolish as to throw history out the window, or just ignore it in favor of opinion.

I had the same result as Allison. My carbons afe usually on the ground on the other side

The odds of center punching a rib is relatively small...most rib hits are glances and you will still get enough penetration. If we all thought about the "what ifs" we would never go hunting.

Go hunting and enjoy the hunt.

Indians did so I can. You can if you become a incredible horseman. A incredible hunter. And don't mind seeing a buffalo standing there like a pin cushion. They had to feed a tribe so they did what had be done.

Type "arrow kinetic energy calculator" in Google. Its informative and enlightening.

Here's proof .

Proof of what ?lets hear about the shot and the tackle.

Ok 567gr. Ace broadhead 47@26. 15-17 yard. Bad shot ! Spined him. The next shot 15" penetration in shoulder. Vidal high on African game. One breath and expired. PH said I like the way you kill wildebeest. That's good enough for me. Arvin

Oh and a take down selfbow.

Lol...Pretty hard to argue that. Well done

Aaaaaaaanddd.....cut!!!

Check the state’s regs. If you would be hunting in Oregon has a 50# minimum for elk. I don’t know about other states.

15-17 yard is a lot different than 30 and a full grown male wildebeest is 500-600# male bull elk 700+ up to 1000 averages 20 percent bigger. Good work Arvid for sure but not the same as what the poster was saying.

The average male Elk in North America actually weighs in the 600-700 pound range. A 1,000lb. Elk is as rare as a 500lb. wild hog.

So, there is actually very little difference in the 2.

If the braodheads are sharp, the arrows are flying true, and the shot is wher it's supposed to be...dead Elk.

In the event none of those things come together, who knows. Same results as a bad shot with a .338 Win. Mag..

Okay if you can keep 9 out of ten in a six inch circle at 30 yards have a 45# self bow that has good cast and a sharp Broadhead have at it. Arvid made a successful kill with a unsuccessful shot. So who knows maybe can count on hitting something in there anatomy that is lethal with out hitting our spot. I like to take my self bow out with a 10 yard effective range. I am not questioning the lethality of 47 on elk or moose for that matter. The distance is extreme for a 47# self bow on that animal in my opinion. My point was elk are 20percent bigger and Arvid didn't shoot at 30 yards with the first self bow he made.

Sir first off my 50# bows shoot 500gr. Between 165-180 fps. As fast as most glass bows. How fast is your 60 pound bow with a 500 gr. arrow. Speed is not everything . A quiet heavy slow arrow gets more penetration than a fast light arrow. Just facts of life. What's easier to stop a train or a VW. The longest shot on a elk for me would be about 20yds unless I felt real comfy with a longer one. No matter what the bow.an yes I know how big an elk is.

Wish I could say that was with a selfbow but it was killed with a 7 mag 180 gr at 220yds. Long before I started building selfbows or shooting Longbows. But I know how big they get . That one was probably closer to 800#. You see success on here all the time with big game. I also shot a Nyala about 300# arrow went thru both lungs. Animal ran about 60yds with arrow sticking out both sides and blood pumping streams out both sides. Think what you want . Shoot what makes you feel confident. Arvin

When you have to start picking off physical differences between a dang wildebeest and an elk in regards to bow performance, you need to take a break and shut your mind off. That is going way too far and breaking something so simple down so far that its silly and slightly embarrassing to read. You need no further proof, and if you do? Go see a head doctor. 6-8 visits should help.

I say,,,,get your bow of choice set up and put together proper hunting arrows Become effective with them at a comfy distance and go find out. ; )

George I have shot through lots of ribs probably more than you . I have killed elk I know how big some are and I have shot self bows some shoot good but I would hesitate to even use a 47 lb. glass bow on elk. Why take the chance ? If your deer ribs are the size of a pencil I would just have to say I don't shoot fawns .

for years my magic Lbs # was 64 @28. Shooting Bighorns as nothing else during that time I was aware of. Coming from Maryland and wanting to go on a elk hunt Fred Asbell recommended a outfit in Salida Colorado. Every body in camp was shooting Bighorns including the guides. All very heavy with the lightest being 61lbs. One bull was killed with a complete pass through. since then I have killed more then my fair share of elk of wihich I never saw a pass thru again. I only take quatering away shots so lots to go through. I am now dropping to 55Lbs for elk and moving to single bevel Carbons coming in at 580-600 grains. Back then no carbon shats or FF strings so the 9lbs is negated by advancements. I could not see dropping below that to much. confidence thing.

Little Horse, I wouldn’t hesitate hunting elk with that bow. Penetration isn’t going to be much different at 30 yards vs 20. I don’t know a lot about self bows but most of my boo back bows were as fast as my widows.

I’ve killed a couple elk with a 45# modern longbow and penetrated ribs with a pass through on both, one adult bull and one adult cow. I don’t know your experience level with elk but 90% of my encounters have been less than 25 yards.

One thing I’ve learned over the years of hunting elk is that the same shot that doesn’t penetrate with a long bow won’t with wheels either. Same goes for a 45# vs a 60 # bow. If you hit that big shoulder bone the game is over.no where else in the area that you should be shooting for will stop a well tuned arrow with a sharp head.

I have not shot an elk with my selfbows however have taken several deer. 52 to 56 all work great. However a couple years back I took a couple does with a 49# selfbow and was not happy with the shots. Both failed to give an exit. 560 gr arrow with a scary sharp 2 blade head. I know dozens of stories of game taken with less but I decided for me I would rather have the extra umpf just in case. No sense in that extra risk.

I haven't kill anything with a self bow.. But I have been eating delicious elk meat for a number of years, from elk that I killed with 45-47lb bows under 30 ish yards. A full freezer is a great thing, these debates are silly. I'm not trying to sound over confident, but elk are not made of kevlar.

The cow elk I killed in the above pic was killed with a 62# @ 28" bow that shot a 675 grain (11 gppd)arrow 165 fps, which is above average/excellent performance for a straight limbed. I have been making these bows continually since 1991 and learned a ton along the way to make them perform better. IN a recent post an owner of a centaur triple carbon drawing 50# shot a slightly lighter arrow (638 grains) slightly faster 170 some fps. That means that high performance hybrid is nearly as much energy delivered as a hig performance straight limb selfbow 12# draw more. The OP stated his FIRST selfbow, never stating an arrow weight or chrony results would by comparison likely be like hunting elk with a 30 to 35 lb draw weight hybrid. Now, who here would recommend that for elk at 30 yards??? I have hunted and shot many elk. I could not recommend that scenario for anyone. It may kill one laying unconcious in his bed at 5 yards, but not under hunting conditions in the field at 30 yards

Good elk medicine at 30 yards and in,... good luck with a great bowhunting challenge and hunting the hard way. True bowhunting at it's best.

You know what a carpenter's pencil is Tim? I guess not.

Yeah, the response "I've shot through more ribs than you" is the typical ego response. You don't live and hunt only in Pa., or you likely wouldn't have. There is plenty of proof as to what works, whether you acknowledge it or not...it doesn't matter.

Oh hell, nothing but a modern scoped 150lb crossbow will kill an elk, especially at 30 yards. Everything else is unethical to some liberals.

Now you guys know how we got where we are, the low point of American bowhunting. Real bowhunting,...... a VERY RAPIDLY declining hunting method in America.

An observation. On threads like these, I've never read an instance of where a 45#, or often lighter, bow has failed to kill the intended quarry.

Go forth knowing that you'll always kill anything you hit (most often with a complete pass through) at as long as you're shooting a 40-45# bow. They're apparently infallible. :>)

On a more serious note, I believe you indicated this is your first self-bow and that you've only been hunting a few times. Will a 47# self bow kill an elk. Sure, if everything goes right, but the odds are stacked against you.

Hey guys. Learned a lot here. This bow unfortunately has gotten a crack in the lower limb. Back to the drawing board and I am currently working on a new one. I never got to chrono but the arrow set up was 528. I'll go with a better built bow and take into consideration what all on here have said. I have several other bows that will fit into the perameters listed here that I feel would be acceptable for my hunting situation. I do not plan to take a shot more than 30 yards depending on the circumstances. As most have mentioned, most shots are around 20 yds. Anxious for the moment I will get to make the decision!!!

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here