A good hunter always hits the target very accurately & precisely.
For hitting the target accurately, you need a good bow with the best possible equipment.
But for precision, you need to have practice.
And hunting or playing archery requires both.
To get the best possible aim on target hunters use bow sight, which is specially designed to help the hunter aim on the target very accurately.
However, to get your game to the next level and aim and shoot from different distances, you need to see in a bow.
And that’s the problem with many beginner hunters and archers asking that “how to sight in a bow.”
Well, there are different types of sights that different archers and hunter use for aiming at different distances.
Let’s first discuss the basics of sights;
Table of Contents
What is A Bow Sight?#
A bow sight is archery equipment that aids in aiming at the target very accurately and quickly. Bow sights are purchased aftermarket and can be installed on any compound bow, but the archer must first sight in them to get desired results.
Types of Bow Sights #
There are two basic types of bow sights;
- Single PIN Bow Sight: The single pin bow sights, also sometimes known as one pin bow sight, consist of only one pin used to see the target. This is the simplest form of bow sight, which is commonly used by archers who plan to aim at targets at a fixed distance.
- Multiple PIN Bow Sight: Multiple bow sight consists of multiple pins; it can be either 3, 5, or 7 pins depending on the hunters' needs. These types of sights are used by hunters who tend to aim at different ranges depending on their distance from the prey.
How to Adjust a Bow Sight #
Before we start to learn how to sight a bow, I would like to clear out that this guide is about multiple pins bow sight; if you have a one pin bow sight, then the procedure is the same. You need to skip the adjusting the other pins part.
Video Credit: Legendary Whitetails
Adjusting Single Pin Bow Sight #
To get started, mark a distance of up to 10 yards from your target and shoot three arrows (we use three arrows to adjust the possible human error).
If you want to get even better results, you can always go for a group of 4 or even five shots to get even better results.
The first adjustment that you will be doing is in a horizontal plane. Now shot all three arrows at once and see in which portion of the target your arrows hit.
If they hit on the right side of the targeted line more your sight towards the right (always make small adjustments and check if it works) while if your arrows hit on the left side of the target then move your sight pin towards the left side.
Tip: Don’t move the sight a lot in either right or left direction; always do it slowly note the position where you get the best results, and the arrows group hits the center of the target.
Adjusting the Multiple Pin Bow Sight #
Now that you have got your first pin sighted, it’s time to switch towards the second.
Repeat the same procedure but this time, just increase the distance; for example, if you were hitting from a distance of 10 yards, this time make it 20 or 25 (any distance you prefer to shot from).
Tip: For close distance, you need grater sight adjustments; however, for the far distance, you need small adjustments to get the desired results. So, adjust the pin according to distance.
You can keep doing the same procedure until you finally get all of your sight’s pin sighted.
Some people tend to use 3 pins while others use 5 pins; the more pins, your sight will have the more distance options you will get.
Tip: While accurately sighting your bow yourself for the first time will take some time and the “guess and check” rule plays a significant role, you may need to try again and again, in such scenarios, don’t get frustrated – keep trying.
Wrapping It Up #
I hope this guide helped you in learning the procedure to sight in your bow correctly, usually, people get their bows sighted from experts at archer shop while purchasing a sight, but for advanced hunters or archers, it is mandatory to learn how to sight a bow the correct way.