Category: Bow Sight School

Learn about the different kinds of compound bow sights and how to use them.

Compound Bow Sights For Hunting

Compound bow sights are essential tools for hunters, providing improved accuracy and precision when aiming at their targets. These sights are designed to help hunters align and aim their shots more effectively, increasing the chances of a successful hunt.

With the advancement in technology, compound bow sights have become more advanced and offer a range of features to cater to the needs of different hunters. We will explore the benefits of using compound bow sights for hunting and the importance of choosing the right sight for your hunting adventures.

Benefits of Using Compound Bow Sights for Hunting

Using compound bow sights can significantly enhance a hunter’s accuracy and consistency when shooting. The following are some of the key benefits of using compound bow sights for hunting:

  1. Increased Accuracy: Compound bow sights provide hunters with a visual reference point to aim their shots accurately. With the help of pins or reticles, hunters can align their aim with their target, improving their overall shooting accuracy.
  2. Better Range Estimation: Many compound bow sights feature adjustable pins or reticles that allow hunters to estimate the distance between themselves and their targets. This feature is crucial for making precise and effective shots, especially when hunting long-range targets.
  3. Improved Precision: Compound bow sights offer micro-adjustment features, enabling hunters to fine-tune their aim and ensure the highest level of precision when shooting. This level of adjustability is essential when dealing with different shooting scenarios and environmental conditions.

Importance of Choosing the Right Sight

Choosing the right compound bow sight is crucial for maximizing your hunting experience. Here are some factors to consider when selecting a compound bow sight:

  1. Type of Sight: There are various types of compound bow sights, including fixed pin sights, moveable pin sights, and single pin sights. Each type offers different features and benefits, so it’s essential to choose one that suits your hunting style and preferences.
  2. Adjustability: Look for a compound bow sight that offers a high level of adjustability, allowing you to fine-tune your aim according to various shooting situations. Adjustable brightness settings and windage adjustments are also desirable features to consider.
  3. Durability: Since hunting involves rough outdoor conditions, it’s crucial to choose a compound bow sight that is durable and able to withstand wear and tear. Look for sights made from high-quality materials, such as aluminum, that can endure the rigors of hunting.

By choosing the right compound bow sight and utilizing its features effectively, hunters can significantly enhance their shooting accuracy and increase their chances of a successful hunt. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced hunter, investing in a reliable compound bow sight is a wise decision that will improve your hunting experience.

Single Pin Adjustable Sights

When it comes to hunting with a compound bow, having a reliable sight is crucial for accurate shooting. One popular option for hunters is the single pin adjustable sight. Let’s explore the features and benefits of single pin adjustable sights and highlight some of the top models available for hunting enthusiasts.

Features and Benefits of Single Pin Adjustable Sights

Single pin adjustable sights offer several advantages for hunters. Here are some notable features and benefits:

1. Precision: Single pin adjustable sights allow for precise aiming by providing a clear and uncluttered view of your target. With just a single pin to focus on, it becomes easier to align your shot accurately.

2. Adjustable Yardage: One of the key benefits of single pin adjustable sights is the ability to adjust the yardage with ease. This feature allows hunters to adapt to different shooting distances quickly.

3. Improved Field of View: With a single pin sight, you can enjoy a wider field of view, making it easier to spot targets and assess your surroundings.

4. Light Gathering Properties: Many single pin adjustable sights come with fiber optic technology, which enhances light gathering capabilities. This feature ensures optimal visibility, even in low-light conditions.

Top Single Pin Adjustable Sights for Hunting

Here are some of the top single pin adjustable sights for hunting in 2023:

  1. Trophy Ridge React One Pro: This sight offers tool-less micro-adjustable windage and elevation, making it easy to fine-tune your shot. It also features Trophy Ridge’s React Technology, which automatically adjusts the pin based on the distance.
  2. Spot Hogg Tommy Hogg: The Tommy Hogg sight is known for its durability and precision. It has a micro-adjustable 2nd and 3rd axis and an adjustable yardage knob for quick and precise adjustments.
  3. Black Gold Ascent Verdict: This sight boasts a unique SkyCoil system that gathers light from the sky, maximizing brightness in any lighting condition. It also offers micro-adjustable windage and elevation and a quick-trigger release.
  4. HHA Sports Optimizer King Pin: This sight features HHA’s patented R.D.S. (Range Dial Shoot) Technology, allowing for rapid and precise range adjustment. It also has a solid aluminum construction for durability.
  5. Trophy Ridge Fix Series: The Fix Series sights offer micro-adjustable windage and elevation and a rheostat light to improve visibility. They are available in multiple pin options to cater to different shooting styles.

These are just a few examples of the top single pin adjustable sights available for hunting. When choosing a sight, consider your budget, shooting preferences, and the specific features that matter most to you. Remember, a reliable sight can significantly enhance your hunting experience and improve your accuracy in the field.

Multi-Pin Fixed Sights

Features and Benefits of Multi-Pin Fixed Sights

When it comes to hunting with a compound bow, having the right sight can make all the difference in your accuracy and success. One popular type of sight commonly used by hunters is the multi-pin fixed sight. These sights come with multiple pins set at different yardage distances, allowing for quick and easy adjustments while out in the field.

One key benefit of multi-pin fixed sights is their versatility. With multiple pins, you can accurately aim at targets at different distances without needing to adjust your sights constantly. This makes them ideal for hunting situations where you may encounter game at varying ranges. The pins are typically bright and visible, making it easier to acquire your target and make precise shots.

Another advantage of multi-pin fixed sights is their simplicity. Once you have set the pins to the desired distances, you can trust that they will remain accurate throughout your hunting trip. There is no need for adjustments in the heat of the moment, allowing you to focus on the target and make a clean shot.

Top Multi-Pin Fixed Sights for Hunting

Here are some of the top multi-pin fixed sights for hunting that you should consider:

  1. Trophy Ridge React Pro: This sight features React Technology, which automatically adjusts the pins based on your bow’s speed. It has fiber optic pins and a bright aiming ring for improved visibility.
  2. Truglo Carbon XS Xtreme: This sight is lightweight and durable, with high-visibility pins and an adjustable brightness rheostat. It also has a glow-in-the-dark shooter’s ring for enhanced accuracy in low-light conditions.
  3. Spot Hogg Tommy Hogg: Known for its precision, this sight has micro-adjustable pins and a micro-adjustable 2nd and 3rd axis. It also offers quick and easy yardage adjustments.
  4. Trophy Ridge React Trio: This sight combines fixed pins and a movable sight for added versatility. The React Technology adjusts two pins automatically, while offering a third adjustable pin for longer shots.
  5. Apex Gear Covert Pro: This sight has a rear-facing yardage display and micro-adjustable windage and elevation. It also offers tool-less adjustments for convenience in the field.

These are just a few examples of the top multi-pin fixed sights available for hunting. Each sight has its own unique features and benefits, so it’s important to choose one that suits your personal preferences and hunting style.

In conclusion, multi-pin fixed sights are a popular choice among hunters due to their versatility and simplicity. They offer quick and accurate target acquisition at varying distances, allowing for more successful hunts. When choosing a sight, consider factors such as brightness, adjustability, and durability to find the best one for your needs.

Pendulum Sights

Compound bow sights are essential accessories for hunters, as they help improve accuracy and aim. One popular type of bow sight is the pendulum sight, designed specifically for angled shots in hunting situations. These sights are perfect for tree stand hunting, where the shooter is positioned above the target and needs to compensate for the downward shot. In this section, we will explore the features and benefits of pendulum sights and highlight some top options for hunting enthusiasts.

Features and Benefits of Pendulum Sights

Pendulum sights are designed to automatically compensate for the angle of the shot, ensuring accurate aim and increased hunting success. Here are some key features and benefits of pendulum sights:

  1. Vertical adjustments: Pendulum sights allow for vertical adjustments to align the pin with the target, taking into account the shooter’s elevation above the target.
  2. Pendulum mechanism: The pendulum mechanism in these sights compensates for the angle of the shot, allowing the pin to swing freely and stay on target.
  3. Increased accuracy: With a pendulum sight, hunters can effectively shoot at targets from elevated positions without worrying about aiming compensation.
  4. Easy to use: Pendulum sights are easy to mount and adjust, making them suitable for both novice and experienced hunters.

Top Pendulum Sights for Hunting

Here are some top pendulum sights recommended for hunting:

  1. Trophy Ridge React One Pro: This sight offers advanced features like tool-less micro-click windage and elevation adjustment, along with an adjustable rheostat light for better visibility in low-light conditions.
  2. TruGlo Pendulum: The TruGlo Pendulum sight features a precision pendulum design, smooth adjustment, and durable construction, making it a reliable choice for hunters.
  3. HHA Optimizer Lite: This pendulum sight comes with an exclusive mechanical rheostat feature that adjusts pin brightness based on lighting conditions, ensuring optimal visibility.
  4. Apex Gear Covert Pro: The Apex Gear Covert Pro sight offers precise windage and elevation adjustments, a glow-in-the-dark shooter’s ring for quick target acquisition, and a detachable bracket for easy installation.

In summary, pendulum sights are excellent options for hunters looking to improve accuracy when shooting from elevated positions. With their unique features and benefits, these sights provide reliable aiming compensation for angled shots. Consider the top pendulum sights mentioned above to enhance your hunting experience.

Retina Lock Sights

When it comes to hunting with a compound bow, having accurate and consistent shots is crucial. One accessory that can greatly improve your aim is a compound bow sight. Among the different types available, one popular option is the Retina Lock sight. In this blog section, we’ll discuss the features and benefits of Retina Lock sights and recommend some top choices for hunting enthusiasts.

Features and Benefits of Retina Lock Sights

Retina Lock sights utilize a unique technology that helps archers consistently position their eye in the same spot. This technology is meant to minimize torque and provide a more accurate aim. Here are some key features and benefits of Retina Lock sights:

  1. Consistent Anchoring: The Retina Lock sight has a built-in reference point that assists archers in achieving a consistent anchor point. This enhances shot accuracy and repeatability.
  2. Torque Reduction: By helping archers improve their form and reduce torque, Retina Lock sights can lead to more consistent shots and tighter groupings.
  3. Alignment Aid: The Retina Lock technology visually guides archers to ensure their form and anchor point are correct, resulting in improved shot alignment.
  4. Increased Confidence: With the assurance of consistent form and reduced torque, archers using Retina Lock sights can shoot with more confidence and trust in their equipment.

Top Retina Lock Sights for Hunting

Here are some top Retina Lock sights that are highly regarded by hunting enthusiasts:

  1. Trophy Ridge React Pro: This sight features a unique ballistix copolymer system for lightweight yet durable construction. It offers tool-less micro-adjustability and has a bright fiber optic ring for easy target acquisition.
  2. IQ Define Pro: This sight combines Retina Lock technology with micro-adjustable pins for precise aiming. It has a built-in sight level and boasts tool-less locking knobs for easy adjustments.
  3. Trophy Ridge Volt 5: Designed for entry-level archers, this sight offers Retina Lock technology at an affordable price. It has five ultra-bright fiber optic pins and a rheostat light for low-light conditions.
  4. BlackGold Pure Grip: This sight features a micro-groove pin technology that improves target clarity. It offers Retina Lock technology and micro-adjustments for enhanced accuracy.

No matter which Retina Lock sight you choose, it’s important to practice and familiarize yourself with its features before heading out for a hunt. Remember to adjust and fine-tune your sight based on your shooting preferences and target distance.

In conclusion, Retina Lock sights are a valuable accessory for archers who want to improve their accuracy and consistency while hunting with a compound bow. The advanced technology and visual aids provided by these sights can greatly enhance your shooting performance in the field. This sight here is an excellent choice for hunting.

How To Use Compound Bow Sights

How to sight in a compound bow for beginners

 

The archery marketplace today has many great archery sights available for compound bows. The sights vary greatly in the features that they offer, from catering to the competitive shooter to the die-hard hunter and everyone in between.

The sights also vary greatly in their price range as well. Once a shooter purchases a new sight, how to use compound bow sights and how to install them on the bow can often be foreign. Here, we’ll discuss how to get a new sight set up on the bow and how to adjust the sight to get it dialed in to a shooter’s preferred distances.

To start, when the new sight is purchased, it will be packaged with all components of the sight itself and any hardware needed to mount the site to the compound bow. After unpacking the new sight, the first step is to install the sight on the bow.

Modern compound bows have a spot on the riser to mount the sight to. The shooter will see the holes on the bow with the threads tapped into them where the sight gets mounted to. Included in the new sight package will be the screws that are required to mount the site. When mounting to the bow, it is important to tighten the screws as tight as possible to prevent any movement of the sight from the mount.

After the sight is mounted on the bow, most archery sights will require the new owner to adjust the housing of the sight. Most sights can be adjusted in distance from the eye, and it is up to the shooters preference on how to set this.

The general rule is that the closer the sight is to the shooters eye, the easier it will be to hold on target but will shoot less accurate. The further the sight head is from the shooters eye, the harder it will be to hold on target, but it will be more accurate.

Next, if the sight comes without the pins installed, the shooter can install them as directed. When lining them up for the first shot, the shooter can easily line up the head of the pin by looking down the arrow shaft while it is nocked and in the rest, adjust the head of the pin to be in line with the arrow and the string. This will provide a great starting point when sighting in.

When first sighting the new sight in, it is important to start close to the target to get the shortest distance pin dialed in. Around 10 yards is a good start. Once a couple of shots are fired, and if not true to aim, the rule is to follow your shot with the pins.

For example, if your shots are high compared to your aiming point, raising the site pin will lower the bow when shooting and bring the shot down. The same follow your shot with the pin rule is true for left and right adjustments as well.

The final step in learning how to use compound bow sights after getting the shortest distance pin set up is adding more pins for different yardages beyond the close-up pin.

When looking to add distance, the shooter needs to determine what distances they want to include with their available pins and work their way out to further distances with each pin. The close-up shot pin will be the top pin in the sight. Further distances will be the pins moving down from there.

With a little trial and error, you can catch on pretty quickly by observing your shot placement for the distance you want to set your pins to and making micro adjustments as needed.

For more information, you can check out another helpful post here.
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Pendulum Bow Sights

Pendulum site by TruGlo

 Archery is one of the oldest forms of trajectory ranged weapons, next to slings and spears. Unlike its companions, archery has continued to evolve over the years and has become a mix of technology, science and precision gear that bears little resemblance to its ancestors.
A major area of growth in archery is in the sights that we use to place our arrows on target. This article focuses on a particular sight designed to be used from a tree stand, The Pendulum bow sight. The Pendulum bow sight is designed to compensate for shooting in environments that involve major changes in elevation.
Examples of this would be hunting from a tree stand or shooting up from the bottom of a ravine. The puzzle of elevated shots lies in the science of gravity and angles. A shot with flat trajectory flies parallel to the earth, and thus, receives a consistent pull from gravitational forces along its entire trajectory.
An elevated shot however, receives much less influence from gravity when shooting down, and much higher influence from gravity when shooting up. Changes in elevation also affect the actual distance the arrow flies to hit a target, since we are now dealing with horizontal distance, as well as vertical distance.
Hitting a target with altered gravitation pull and distance has required much skill and guess work in the past. Pendulum bow sights compensate for both by the nature of their design and allow elevated shots to be placed, on target, with ease.
Pendulum Bow sights accomplish their niche application by self-adjusting a single, swiveling pendulum, with the assistance of gravity itself. Thus, if you raise the bow on the vertical plane, the sight automatically adjusts, increasing the range of the contact point, compensating for the increase in gravity. When the bow is lowered on the vertical plane, the sight adjusts to decrease the distance to avoid overshot, due to lower gravitational interference.
Most archers agree, that within 35 yards, a pendulum bow sight will bulls-eye your target, with no guess work. Due to advancements in archery, most bows shoot relatively flat at 30-40 yards. This has eliminated one of the puzzles that pendulum bow sights were created to solve.
Most compound bow sights are, as a result, capable of making accurate shots from elevated positions. The pendulum sight, however, still tackles the elusive elevated distance challenge that others sights neglect. While pendulum sights are less popular than they were back in the 90’s, they are still sought out by archers who intend on making accurate, elevated shots.
Pendulum sights, when used on level terrain, are inferior to other compound bow sights that are created for this environment. Pendulum sights can offer a flat trajectory sight by disabling the swiveling mechanism, if you ever find yourself with the need to do so. Most archers prefer to mount the type of sight that aligns with the terrain on which they hunt.
According to polls on public forums, the most popular pendulum compound bow sights are manufactured by Keller and TruGlo. Some archers preferring Keller’s sights for their robust build, choice materials and sleek finish. Others, however, prefer TruGlo for the quality of the sights themselves and the benefits that the fiber optics offer in low light situations.
The pendulum sight is a valuable asset for archers who are dealing with major changes in elevation. While this sight may not be the best option in every scenario, it offers superior accuracy in a niche market and should be considered, when the environment matches the need.
For more information on shooting a bow from a tree stand, you can check this article out here.