Bowhunting ELEPHANT Best Setup

[Devin Twitty]

Rinehart has some of the best targets. The 18:1 or their block with the replaceable insert. Even a block would stop your rig as long as you don't drill out a spot. If your shooting field points get a hurricane target they will stop the arrows very quick and when the bag gets shot out you can order a new bag and stuff the old target material in it and it's like new.

O and be warned the Rinehart hart's are hard to pull arrows out of tell they are shot a few times.

 

[mrpoindexter]

What targets do you guys use for practice? I'm looking at buying/building a portable target after I buy my new bow, but I'm concerned about overpenetration and shredding up targets quickly if I'm shooting a 90 lb bow with heavy arrows. How would something like a Rinehart 18-1 hold up?

If you are practicing with field tips, you should be fine even with a normal compressed foam target. I use my 85lb bow on an American Whitetail round target and also on the compressed layers of open cell foam on my home target. When you use a heavy arrow, you don't get better penetration on a foam target because they do a better job slowing the arrow than an animal would. If anything, you may end up even getting less penetration on a foam target for a multitude of reasons I don't want to get into.

As for broadhead practice, I will let somebody else answer if the 18-1 will hold up.

 

[mrpoindexter]

Well, the Rineharts are hard to pull the arrows from when new, but if you are using Easton FMJ DG's, they are easy to pull. It is the carbon fiber arrows that are super hard to pull out of the Rinehart targets, in my experience.

 

[eugeneb]

I'll be the jerk here for comedic effect:

It seems an awful lot of cost and aggravation to go to Africa to watch a PH kill an elephant with a 458 after you've knicked it with a toothpick.

But seriously here. I know several Africa bowhunters for DG and every one of their "trophies" seems a rather embarrassing display to me. Nothing DG died from the arrow, it died from the PH. This is with 1000gr arrows and 100# bows. (on buffalo specifically) Not that anyone cares, but it don't impress me much.

What would impress me a lot: An archer working the jess silently and methodically all day every day doing spot and stalk with a bow on Bushbuck, Nyala and Duiker. That would be an incredible feat and much more impressive than making jumbo mad with a toothpick and then watching him get pounding in the head by a 416 rigby in the hands of the PH.

I'll now hide from your angry arrows.

Rookhawk

Lol

I have been around +80 aus water buff bowkills and i guess 70% were one arrow kills ... They do not go far ... Around 50 yards if you double lung them with proper archery gear i.e. +70lbs bow with +800 grain arrow ... We only do walk and stalk

Further i lived in africa for 40 years before immigrating to aus ... So have bit of an idea about african game ... Also Had a chat with rassie erasmus (jeromes link) about his elephant and actually had the arrow in my hands ... Was a member of archery africa at the time ... No rifle shots fired ... Hav footage of the hunt

If you use the right gear and hit the spot ... One arrow is all that is required

Cheers
Eugene

 

[Tam Dl]

I totally disagree with that statement. A guided hunt doesn't mean you shooting and not hunting. I discuss the next days hunting with the client and trackers, we work as a team. If it was only shooting, then guides would have 100% success.

I think a higher standard than "Discuss" is whether the "Team" would be unable to complete it's task, couldn't put game in the bag, if it didn't have the sport along. He makes it a business, but other than that is hardly indispensable. I would take the point that sometimes it doesn't even come down to his shooting.

 

[Tam Dl]

I hate to break it to you, but you don't need to go to an expensive multi-day archery class to determine if you are over-bowed... Sit on the ground with your legs folded "Indian style" and draw your bow... If you have to struggle or contort your upper body to get drawn, then you are over-bowed.... I hope you didn't pay hundreds of dollars for that information?

I have done all sorts of bizarre contortions recommended by various people, some actually well known. I never had a problem doing any of them, but the laser video method was a different mater. Now that these products are cheap, it is too bad more people don't do them.

TMS beat me to it... Case is not closed...! You are entitled to your opinion, but this is completely ridiculous and kind of insulting to anyone who has been on a guided hunt. Have you actually been on a guided hunt yourself, or are you speculating on the experience as you are with DG archery hunting in Africa?

Been guided before, used to have a job where it was part of business to take clients. Never paid a guide to hunt myself though. If I came to Africa I would expect a PH to be top drawer. In NA there are many great guides, but there is little in the way of a barrier to entry.

The guide does not accompany me on the final stalk nor does he sit in my stand with me. He doesn't determine when I draw my bow or where I place the arrow.

Well you have me there. Bowhunting does require a quiet approach. It is so thick around here we mostly stand hunt. I would far rather hunt in open ground, and it can happen around fields, though it is rarely the best option. Are you actually describing a DG situation when you say you are leaving the guide behind.

If a completely DIY hunt is your personal preference,that's fine, but it's arrogant to put down a guided hunt option. I think it would serve you well to consider that the rewards and challenges of hunting are very subjective to each individual. Not every hunt has to be an iron man challenge to be fun or rewarding in its own right.... We also need to respect all forms of legal hunting methods even though they may not be our particular preference personally.

You are kind preaching to the choir. I think it is just a different way of looking at it. I see it as a division of labour/function, you see it as a team. I haven't been on a guided anything since the 90s, so it is probably all new attitudes.

 

[Tam Dl]

I must say once again, WTF are you talking about?? Paper tuning is the most definitive way of determining near perfect arrow flight. Wobble in and out of tune? I would love to hear how an arrow can be in and out of tune flight? Either it is in tune or not..... Higher up? Do you mean in elevation or spine stiffness? I'm almost afraid to ask for a clarification

Well obviously an arrow can be in and out of tune in many situations, as you make adjustments to perfect arrow flight. So if you have a very weak spined arrow, for the set-up you are using it will be in or out of tune given any of the following:

Change point weight
Adjust draw weight
Change release conditions
Use loop or not
Change launcher characteristics or tension
Nocking point position
Accessories on the bow
Play with string additions or silencers.

If we are taking about a stick:

Tab change
release inconsistencies
point weight
Button tension
Button offset/Sideplate hardness
Nocking point
String walk.

The list of things that have an effect on dynamic spine is long. If you have a weak shaft that is just at the threshold of possibility then any of these changes may cause it to go in or out of tune: Be in tune or out of it. The same is true with fingers and stiff spine. But on shoot through release aid rigs, you can actually shoot any stiffness you want as long as it is above the minimum.

That has always seemed like good news to me. I can build as rugged an arrow as I want and not worry about it being too stiff. With my longbows I have to come up with a combo that works well for strength an weight, and also has correct spine to shoot straight given archer's paradox.

 

[firehuntfish]

FYI... There is a new product worth checking out if anyone is planning a bow hunt for any of the large African dangerous game such as elephant, hippo, or rhino. Bishop Archery now manufactures a 600 grain, 2-blade, solid steel, single bevel broadhead.

One of the biggest challenges in hunting the extra-large DG animals is the ability of the hunter to build a heavy enough arrow that will generate enough momentum. The second biggest challenge is to find a broadhead that will perform under these extreme demands. This broadhead offers the ability to build a truly heavy arrow in excess of 1100 grains with an extremely high FOC distribution. I have not personally shot the 600 grain version, but I can attest to the quality and performance of the 315 grain they also manufacture. I took a Cape buffalo and my wife took a giraffe with the 315 gr. version on our most recent African bow hunt, and I was extremely impressed with the performance of the broadhead on both animals.

This is a small company based in California, and the owner is a very nice guy. He will go out of his way to provide you with the best advice and customer service possible to meet your needs. Best of all, you won't need to take out a bank loan to purchase these heads.

 

[mrpoindexter]

If you are hunting elephants with a bow, the cost of the broadhead is less than a rounding error on the entire experience.

I have shot 315 grain heads with 450+ grain inserts. I still have not gotten to shoot an elephant with them. The 600 grain broadheads look exactly like a scaled up 315 grain Ashby.

 

[firehuntfish]

If you are hunting elephants with a bow, the cost of the broadhead is less than a rounding error on the entire experience.

I have shot 315 grain heads with 450+ grain inserts. I still have not gotten to shoot an elephant with them. The 600 grain broadheads look exactly like a scaled up 315 grain Ashby.

I agree that cost is not the determining factor one should use when gearing up for a hunt of that magnitude... My point in mentioning that the Bishops are offered at a better value is that I do not regard them as OVER-PRICED like the Ashby style heads offered by other retailers. Furthermore, these Bishops are offered in both tool grade steel and a super-hardened steel that will not put the hunter at risk of failure like some of the unfortunate experiences that I had discovered in my pre-hunt research in regard to the Ashby heads offered by ABS.... That is the main reason I went with the Bishop over the Ashby heads when testing a half-dozen other broadheads before my Cape buffalo hunt....

These are anything but a cheap Ashby knock-off. In fact, I found them to be manufactured the way the original Ashby heads should have been in the first place. I chipped the Nanook 315 style head and broke the threaded ferrule on the Ashby 315 shooting them through a 55 gallon steel drum in my practice tests.... Not a mark on the Bishops...