Compound bow tuning guides

Tuning and setup guides

• Compound bow shooting form

  What good form looks like at full draw, point by point: stance, bow arm, grip, anchor, head position, draw length fit and bow cant, with the fix for each fault.

• Target panic and the release

  The shot after anchor: aiming, how each release type fires, command vs surprise shots, the signs of target panic and the drills that rebuild the shot.

• How to set up a new compound bow

  From the box to the first paper tear: checking the bow, installing the rest, sight, nock point, D-loop and peep, fitting the release, and arrows that fit.

• How to tune a compound bow

  The full tune order for a hunting bow: the spec check, the starting setup, a contact check, each tuning method in sequence, and nock tuning your arrows.

• Paper tuning a compound bow

  How to read every paper-tear pattern — high, low, left, right — and the rest, nock-point, cam-lean, and spine adjustments that fix each one.

• Bare-shaft tuning a compound bow

  Shoot unfletched arrows next to a fletched group, read where they land, and the nock, rest, cam lean or spine change that brings them together.

• Walkback tuning a compound bow

  Set the rest's left-right position by shooting one pin at a vertical line from 20 to 60 yards, plus when French tuning is the better test.

• Broadhead tuning a compound bow

  Every broadhead-vs-field-point impact pattern, diagnosed, plus the corrections that bring the two groups together. The last tune before season.

• Cam timing and cam lean

  How to check cam timing and cam lean at full draw, and how yokes, cam spacers and press-free adjusters correct them.

• Arrow setup for compound bows

  Spine, total weight, point weight, FOC, kinetic energy, and momentum — what each one is, what it changes, and the numbers worth caring about for whitetail and elk.

• How to sight in a compound bow

  Which way to move the sight, setting the 20-yard pin and then each longer one, multi-pin and slider sights, and checking that broadheads hit with field points.

• Compound bow sight tapes

  How sight tapes work, why calibration beats chronograph speed, and how to print one at exact 1:1 scale so the marks land true.

• IBO speed vs measured speed

  What an IBO rating actually means, why every advertised number is optimistic, and how to read the gap between the spec sheet and your chronograph.

Field reports

Original data we collected and published — measured numbers, not manufacturer claims.

• IBO honesty — brands ranked by advertised vs measured speed

  Independent ranking of 12 compound bow brands by the gap between advertised IBO speed and chronograph reality, from 55 at-IBO datapoints.

The order things get tuned

Tuning is sequential — each step assumes the one before it is clean. Working out of order means chasing a symptom whose cause is upstream.

1. Form — a bow only groups when the shot repeats, so check your form at full draw before tuning anything.
2. Setup — the rest, sight, nock point, D-loop, peep and release installed in order, so tuning starts from known positions.
3. Contact check — a vane brushing the rest or a cable produces tears no adjustment can fix.
4. Arrow setup — spine, point weight, and total weight, before any rest movement.
5. Paper tuning — the coarse first pass on rest height, nock point, and centershot.
6. Bare shaft, walkback and nock tuning — more sensitive checks that surface what point-blank paper hides, then matching each arrow to the bow.
7. Broadhead tuning — the hunting confirmation, at 20 yards and out.
8. Sighting in and sight tape — last, once the arrow flies and the speed is settled.

Re-run the sequence after a new string, a draw-weight change, or any arrow change.