As long as you're confident with them (Rage), then by all means have fun. Some obviously have success with them which is awesome. However, elk are big and heavy boned animals that require as much penetration as you can get, IMO. Use the heaviest bow you can with adequate arrow weight......60 lbs is not enough, IMO.
I know four different friends that have lost elk using Rage due to lack of adequate penetration. Luckily one was recovered the next morning after a follow-up shot was completed. The original arrow failed to penetrate enough after hitting a rib squarely. All have been doing this bowhunting stuff for well over 30 years a piece...........using heavier weight bows (65-70) with heavy arrows. Lastly, there are FAR too many heads that fly just as well and are much more reliable.
Here's a response on the Rage expandables that really puts it in perspective. Again, just my opinion, but that's what was asked for here.
"I bet Randy Ulmer would love to take back his 100 yard shot challenge with a rage at the ATA a few years back. You know the one where the rage deployed mid flight, sailed 25 yards, and buried into the carpet. It only cost him $5,000. Understand when one shoots and expandable there greater inherent risks than shooting a fixed blade. Expandables have killed tons of game, but they don't work 100% time and so I will stay with a fixed blade and work on my bow tune. Today there are plenty of solid, well built, fixed blade broadheads (far superior in quality and strength) that fly like darts. My tune has me dialed into 80 yards, no need to change. Then it just becomes a matter of placement.
The worst thing Chuck Adams could have said on TV was "It's like hitting an animal with an Axe!" It made novice archers believe that wound channel was superior than penetration, when we all the know the inverse is true: Penetration should always be put before wound channel. Many medium to light poundage set ups do not perform with the Rage. I know they came out with a "Low KE" version, but many would have still been better served with better performing fixed than the "Low KE" version.
Expandables are not for novices, but those who understand the inherent risks of shooting with them. When a rage does perform as intended with sufficient KE and poundage, it is devastating. But don't fool yourself that there are no risks involved. There is no free lunch when one opts for an expandable. The risk of early deployment is too great for me and since I now mainly elk hunt that throws a whole new set of variables (thick brush, dead fall climbing, small window of opportunity) into the mix. (The chance of a pre-deployed expandable in my quiver is almost absolute under those conditions) A Fully deployed, fixed blade is really the only logical option for the situation and game I am hunting.
Expandables are for those who understand their equipment and the game they are hunting. It is a decision that has to be weighed carefully, and definitely not in a 30 second commercial."
