Elk Hunting

[txbowhunter72]

I am going Elk hunting for the first time this year in Colorado and I have heard that it is better to have a helical on your vanes for better penetration. Is this true?

[kpk]

Being novice, my understanding of helicals is that the purpose is stabilization. They create stabilzation by exerting more drag which slows down the arrow, but a stabil arrow will penetrate easier because it does not have to straighten itself out before proceeding thru. I really noticed this when I started bare shaft tuning. When I started to get my setup dialed in the shafts penetrated 2" deeper.

[383bull]

The most important thing is to have your bow tuned so it shoots well and accurately, helical may make it a bit more accurate, but its not going to make much of a difference with penetration, are you shooting a drop away rest? if so you can go with a more aggressive helical, if not you may have vane clearance problems with too much helical, for penetration you need to look at your kenetic energy, and use a good sharp head that flys well, to calculate kenetic energy you need to know the speed and weight of your arrow, then multply your velocity x velocity x arrow weight divded by450/240 and that will give you your kinetic energy, my opinion is you need at least 55 lbs of energy for an elk. example, 270 fps 400 grain arrow = 64.77 ft lbs.
270x270x400divided by 450240.

[TMan]

Helical won't make an inch of difference in penetration, but if you're getting adequate clearance it will keep a broadhead pointed in the right direction a bit more often.

Elk hunting is pretty demanding for both equipment and the guy hauling it around. You'll need more arrow mass than you would for any of the smaller deer species, and I never feel good about mechanical heads. Take a look at NAP Quick Spins fletched 1 Degree RH offset, on a Carbon Express Terminator, or Beman 340/300.

[bub]

Paper tune you set up If it gets a perfect tear you will get the best penatration.