Lack of penetration

[pockets380]

Has anybody ever had an elk rib stop their arrow? I took a shot on a spike a couple nights ago at 60 yards. I shoot a 70lb bow with a 456 grain arrow. He was completely broadside. After the shot he trotted off and hearded up with about 30 other elk. My arrow wasn't sticking out like it should be it was hanging down. I watched them until it got dark and I couldn't see anymore. I decided to let them be and come back in the morning. I went out in the field where I last saw them. No blood, no arrow. The elk were only about 200 yards from the spot just heading into the tree line. I made my way over and saw the spike. He was pretty unique and unmistakeable. His spikes made a 90 degree turn and followed his ears. No arrow in him and just a little ruffled spot in the hide. The shot was in the lung area. I couldn't get another shot. The only thing I can figure happened is my arrow center punched a rib and just stopped. Any thoughts?

 

[buzz4me2]

Sorry to hear the bad news. I shoot a 690 grain arrow for just this reason. Even at 60 yards that sucker will go thru that rib bone. Most folks say I'm crazy for shooting such a heavy arrow. It's to compensate for when a shot doesn't always work out the way we hope it does.

 

[pockets380]

Wow! That is heavy! What kind of arrow do you shoot and how do you get it soo heavy!

 

[buzz4me2]

I shoot the Axis 260 arrow, Helix 225 grain BH, and a 75 grain insert. Set up is most optimum at 65lb draw wt but I'm currently shooting it at 61lbs. Arrows fly like darts and carry a TON of momentum.

You need your yardage right or you will miss. The arrow is slow but extremely quiet and accurate.

 

[pockets380]

That is awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[BrentM]

Hmmm no. I shoot at 430 grain arrow with G5 100 grain heads at 270 FPS. I shot a bull Tuesday and the head was sticking through the off side rib and under the hide. It was right at 55 yards. I didn't bother to check to see if the ribs were broke or not. I have shot several other good bulls with similar results, however, 1x a bunch of years ago I shot a large 6x6 at 30 yards and had no penetration. Found out my knocks were loose from a bad batch I guess. I discovered this by shooting at another bull on the same trip and saw my knock go flying through the air. Bizarre.

 

[pockets380]

That is crazy! Sounds like had similar setups. I'm just beginning to think it was one those times everything went exactly wrong!

 

[dragman]

That is crazy! Sounds like had similar setups. I'm just beginning to think it was one those times everything went exactly wrong!

What bow? what speed. the lbs your draw don't always mean the same when relating to speed. if you shooting an older 70lbs bow and that arrow is only going 200FPS he has a LOT LOT more KE.

 

[ATH]

What broadhead are you using?

When I upgrade my bow circa 2004, I went to lighter carbon arrows and expandable heads. Despite shooting 70lbs and almost 300fps, I lost 3 deer that season due to lack of penetration...including the biggest buck I have shot at. He was a bit closer than I thought and I hit him in the shoulder blade, the arrow did not penetrate at all. He snapped it off at the head and months later was spotted doing just fine.

I felt sick about it and learned my lesson. I went to Cabelas and asked for the heaviest carbon shaft they sold and went back to 100gr Thunderheads. I ended up with only a slightly flatter trajectory than what I'd had with my old 1994 wheel bow. I think the velocity is in the 260s. But now I can shoot through one shoulder blade of a deer and lodge it in the other one. I shot a nice mature bull elk at 30 yards, the first arrow caught him in a vertebrae and punched clean through and was coming out the other side, paralyzing his back legs. The second one punched through his shoulder blade and through both lungs. The third caught at least 1 rib but still went fully through and landed at least 10 yards past.

I'm a heavy arrow, fixed head guy and always will be.

 

[pockets380]

I was using a toxic broadhead. I shot over a chrono and am getting 260fps. According to the ke calculator I should have enough ke for the heaviest of game. The toxics have a lot of cutting surface. So maybe at that distance it was just to much and didn't penetrate.

 

[JakeL]

I suspect your toxic broadhead was the issue. Elk ribs are no joke, and trying to push one of those heads with 6 big curvy blades through one is no small feat. I bet the head hit rib, and then the insert and the forward end of the arrow shaft broke. Did you recover the arrow?

 

[BrentM]

I am a 2 and 3 fixed blade guy. 400 plus arrow weights. Elk are no joke. Deer are way more fragile. Speaking of the wolf certainly was no match for my combo! He he

 

[ATH]

I was using a toxic broadhead. I shot over a chrono and am getting 260fps. According to the ke calculator I should have enough ke for the heaviest of game. The toxics have a lot of cutting surface. So maybe at that distance it was just to much and didn't penetrate.

That is the same broadhead I commented somewhere else that I would never shoot at anything. Hit a bone, especially a shoulder blade, with that thing, and that arrow will not punch through anything.

IMHO a conventional 3-blade design is superior to a 2-blade, but anything more gains you nothing and costs you penetration. A 3-blade creates one heck of a wound channel yet can still penetrate bone. Expandable broadheads are for use in bows shooting too high FPS to handle fixed blades and nothing else. In moderate speed bows I've tried several expandable designs, they do nothing additional for you and only add liabilities.