Question for huntingal

welcome to the site LA

LA, welcome to the site. Huntingal is off and on here at MM. I hope she returns soon to help ya out.

Lookin' forward to your posts.

welcome to the sit la . have you thought about asking for help from the guys at sportsmans wharehouse . harry there used to own cheroke archery and is very knowledgeable when it comes to archery .

::wel to Muley Madness, LA. My wife also hunts. For now she hunts with a rifle but down the road when the children are raised and we can spend more time hunting, she'll bow hunt with me.

Thanks for the welcome guys! I feel confident in my equipment, I was just hoping to get some real-life info from someone who also has a shorter draw. I'm the opposite of your wife Hiker in that I have archery hunted for several years and this year I'm going to try rifle for a cow elk in unit 511. I could never give up archery hunting though. I love it too much. We also have a young daughter so my husband and I take turns hunting while the other one stays in camp. Heading back out tonight for the final weekend. Wish me luck! And luck to those of you who still haven't taken anything!

LA welcome; My wife hunts with a bow and has not had much experiance with deer size animals but has had good luck with javelinas. She shoots less # than you. She did get a shot at a muley but missed this fall. I let my thougths rub off on her setup (since I do most of it for her).

Let me tell you what I use, I think you wil find it very simular to yours. Sounds funny but hear me out.

I shoot a LongBow 52# at 28 inch (I have a 28 inch draw, odd for trad). I belive in heavy arrows, the arrows are 725gr (wood (I concider a 550gr arrow light)) and a shoot a cut on impact broadhead (magnus). As you can tell not too far from yours, except the arrow weight.

I hunt whitetail mostly, and have complete pass through on 99% of my shots. Granted Mule deer are bigger but... I shot a big cow elk about 6 years ago and got complete pass through. I get the animals close average shot 12 yards.

What I am trying to say is:
Good quality cut on contact BH (sharp),
Good arrow weight,
Get them close,
Hit them in the lungs, 1/4 away shot,

You will get that pass through. :thumb you want with your setup.

Good luck

I appreciate the reply Kerwin. Our setup does sound similar except for the arrow weight. My shot on the buck was around 25 yds. and was quartering to very slightly and downhill. I had shot a doe a few years earlier using the same bow, but with carbon arrows and a 3 blade muzzy. Extremely little penetration on that one so that is why I went to heavier arrows and a cut on contact two blade. Sounds like I made a move in the right direction for me anyway. I also limit my shots to 30 yds max although I am accurate out to 50.

Kerwin has given some good advice. 53 pounds is plenty for deer and should produce complete pass-throughs. Traditional style heads (cut-on-contact) are the key here. Heavy arrows will definately give you more stored energy downrange, however, depending on the velocity your bow you may not need to go super heavy.

The newer cams (single and dual) will produce far more energy than round wheels or energy wheels. My wife shoots 48 pounds out of her Hoyt ProTec with cam-n-half, Radial X-Weave carbon shafts, and 100 grain Stingers. She's had complete pass-throughs on both deer and wild hogs (which have thick hides). Good broadside shots are also encouraged if possible. hope it helps.

Welcome LA
Sorry in taking so long to reply but I was out hunting for a few days! Had to give the elk one last go.
It looks like you have already had some good feedback on your question and I'm not sure I can be of much more help. Last year I was shooting a Browning bow set at about 45# using sonic 100 gr broadheads. I have a 21" draw length. The bull I shot last year at about 20 yards I never recoverd. The arrow did exit (extensive bleeding from the off side) but I never found it (the arow) so I don't know if it was a complete pass though.
This year I am shooting a Martin set at 50# using the same arrows (carbon not sure of weight) and Muzzy 100 gr broadheads. I was not impressed by the Sonic broadheads preformace on my bull or the one my husband killed. He has had very good luck with the Muzzy. I didn't manage to get anything this year (elk season is over but I may get to hunt antelope later) so I can't attest to my new setups preformance. I keep my shots to 40 yards and under on the elk.

Thanks for taking the time to reply huntingal. Sorry to hear that you didn't get your elk this year. My husband also uses Muzzys and has had lots of success with them. The three blade 100's just didn't seem to work out for me. I'm eating tag soup this season too! I've never belly crawled so much during archery season in 7 yrs of hunting. I also got busted by the swirling wind thing several times despite the fact that I was hugging the ground at the time. #-o

I don't have a landowner rifle cow tag, but I'm hoping that my second season pubic land cow tag will be close enough. It's nice to talk with another lady hunter! Good luck and thanks!