Is it Difficult?
It doesn’t have to be. The very first time I shot one, I had absolutely no idea how to sight in a bow. At the time there really wasn’t much out there in terms of the internet. I know that is hard to believe for some. However, you are actually in the minority still. To those who are older than I and remember times that I can’t comprehend, I feel your pain. Anyway, learning how to sight in a bow can be a relatively quick and simple process once you wrap your brain around it.
The Start
So, you’re shooting your bow and you are getting pretty good groups at 20 yards. Say, hitting a pie plate with all 5 shots at 20 yards. Congrats! The thing is, most of the shots are hitting way to the right of where you are aiming while one or two of them are just a little bit to the right. If that’s the case for you, then it’s time to learn how to sight in a bow already!
How to Sight in a Bow
As stated earlier, this process is actually pretty simple. Take the example above where the shooter is consistently having all of his arrows hitting to the right of where they are aiming. In order to correct it, you are going to need to adjust your sight housing. First, let me say that if you are going to shoot a bow and have no idea how well sighted in it is let me highly suggest starting by taking a shot from 10 yards. This way, even if your sights are really far off, you should still hit most targets on the market today. If you hit where you are aiming at 10 yards, then move back to 20. Like the example again, if you are hitting to the right at 20 yards, then you are going to need to adjust your sight housing to the right as well. In simpler terms, in order to sight in a bow at 20 yards, move your entire sight housing so that it follows the arrow. This is the case whether you need to move it up, down, right, or left. You always follow the arrow. Once you have your 20 yard pin hitting exactly where you are aiming, it’s time to move back to 30 yards. To set up your 30 yard pin, all you are going to need to do is move your pin up or down. If you are hitting right or left at 30 but dead on at 20, then you have another issue that could be one or more of a bunch of things. Form issues and tuning issues are the most likely culprit for that so take care of any of those issues first. Newer sites are not like old ones. When your bow is properly tuned, or even rough tuned, your arrows will hit in a straight line vertically so there should be no reason to allow individual pins to be adjusted right and left. The same holds true for the rest of the pins that you have. If you only have a 3 pin sight, then all that’s left after your 30 yard pin is your 40 yard pin. Move back to 40 yards and take a couple shots. Adjust the individual pin up or down depending on where it’s hitting the target in relation to where you are aiming.
Conclusion
Once you are able to get your head wrapped around the simple thing of following your arrow, knowing how to sight in a bow becomes easy. You can now take any bow and get it sighted in relatively quickly as long as the bow is rough tuned at the very minimum. From there, you have many choices on how to proceed. Broadhead tuning and perfecting your accuracy are huge when it comes to shooting a bow. Consistency is also very high on the short list of priorities when it comes to being proficient with a bow. If you are planning on doing a little bow hunting, try incorporating some of my Bow Hunting practice tips during your shooting sessions. Good luck!