How to sight in a compound bow

Sighting in sets each pin so the arrows hit where that pin sits on the target at its distance. It is the last step of the setup: it comes after the bow is set up and tuned. A rest or nock point move changes where the arrows hit, so pins set before tuning have to be set again.

You set a rough 20-yard pin during tuning, because walkback and nock tuning use it. Setting every pin at its distance comes after the tune is finished.

Fix these first

• The sight is level. Its second axis is set so the bubble is centered when the bow is level, and the third axis is checked. The setup guide has the procedure for both.
• The peep is final. It sits at the height of your eye at anchor, comes back straight at full draw, and the housing is centered in it. Moving the peep later changes where the arrows hit.
• The D-loop, release and draw length are final. Together they set where your hand and eye sit at anchor.
• Your anchor and form are consistent. The sight can only be as consistent as your shots. The form guide covers anchor and release, and the form check reviews a photo of you at full draw.
• You shoot what you hunt with: the same arrows, field points that weigh the same as your broadheads, and the quiver on the bow if you hunt with it there.

Safety

• Shoot into a target and backstop that will stop every arrow, including the first shots, which can land far from the center.
• Never dry-fire the bow. Nock an arrow every time you draw.
• Tighten every lock screw after each adjustment. A housing that slips during a shot sends the next arrows somewhere else.

Move the sight in the direction the arrows hit. This is often called following, or chasing, the arrow.

• Arrows hit high: move the pin, or the housing, up.
• Arrows hit low: move it down.
• Arrows hit left: move it left.
• Arrows hit right: move it right.
• Arrows hit high and left: move it up and left.

The reason is that the arrow goes where the bow points. After you move the pin up, you have to lower the bow to put the pin back on the target, and the lowered bow sends the arrow lower. After you move the pin left, you have to turn the bow to the right to aim, so the arrow lands farther right.

The common mistake is to move the pin away from the arrows, toward where you want them to go, which moves the next group farther off. The rule is the same for right- and left-handed bows and every type of sight. Only the direction a knob turns to move the housing differs between sights; your sight's manual shows it.

A multi-pin sight can move a pin in two ways. The gang adjustments move the whole housing, and every pin in it, up and down (elevation) and left and right (windage). Each pin can also be moved on its own inside the housing, usually up and down only; some sights give each pin its own left-right screw as well.

Use them in this order:

1. Set the top pin with the gang adjustments, for both windage and elevation. Don't move the pin itself inside the housing.
2. Lock the housing.
3. Set every other pin by moving only that pin.

Before the first shot, put the top pin in the upper third of the housing so the lower pins have room below it. Once the other pins are set, a gang move shifts all of them by the same amount: use it when every pin is off in the same direction, and move single pins when only one is off.

1. Get on the target at 10 yards

For the first shots you don't know where the arrows will land. Stand about 10 yards from a large target, or closer. Aim the top pin at the center, shoot three arrows, and move the housing toward them with the gang adjustments. Repeat until the arrows land near the pin. The goal here is only to be sure the arrows will hit the target from 20 yards.

2. Windage first, at 20 yards

Step back to 20 yards and put a vertical strip of tape on the target. Aim at the tape, shoot a group of three, and move the housing left or right toward the center of the group. Repeat until the group's center is on the tape.

Set windage before elevation. On a multi-pin sight, windage is set once, with the housing, for every pin, so it belongs with the top pin. And once the group is on the vertical line, the elevation that follows is a single up-or-down correction that is easy to read.

3. Elevation for the 20-yard pin

Put a dot or a horizontal line on the target. Shoot a group of three and use the gang elevation: move the housing up if the group is high and down if it is low. Repeat until the group is centered on the dot, then lock the housing.

If the gang elevation runs out before the pin is on, move the pins inside the housing in the same direction (down for a low group, up for a high one) and continue with the housing. A higher anchor pushes the pins lower, which is one reason the anchor and peep have to be final before you start.

4. Each longer pin, one at a time

Move to 30 yards and aim with the second pin. Shoot a group, then move only that pin toward the group until the group is centered. Set 40, 50 and 60 yards the same way, one pin per distance. Leave the housing alone now, because moving it would move the 20-yard pin too.

Before you shoot a new distance, place its pin below the one above it with a gap at least as wide as the last one, since each gap is wider than the one before. If your groups open up as you tire, set the far pins another day; a full sight-in often takes more than one session.

How to adjust

• Adjust to groups, not single arrows. Shoot three or more and move the sight toward the center of the group. One arrow can't separate a sight error from a bad shot.
• Make small moves. If your sight's manual says how far one click or one turn moves the arrow at 20 yards, use that to size the move. The same move shifts the arrow more at longer distances.
• Change one direction at a time when you are close, so you can see what each move did.
• Sight in on a calm day. Don't set windage to make up for wind; it is wrong as soon as the wind changes.

Choosing the distances

The usual spacing is one pin every 10 yards, starting at 20 yards: 20, 30 and 40 yards on a 3-pin sight, 20 to 50 on a 4-pin, and 20 to 60 on a 5-pin. A 7-pin sight on the same spacing reaches 80 yards. Between two pins, you aim in the gap, which takes practice. More pins cover more distance but crowd the sight picture, so set pins only for distances you would actually shoot at an animal.

Why the gaps grow

You don't set the gaps directly. Each pin goes where the arrows hit at its distance, so the gaps come from how far the arrow drops between two distances. The arrow drops more the farther it flies, so each gap is wider than the one above it: the space between the 50- and 60-yard pins is wider than the space between the 20 and the 30.

Arrow speed sets the overall size. A slower arrow drops more over the same distance, so a slow setup has wide gaps and a fast setup has narrow ones. When the top gaps are very narrow, the pins are hard to tell apart in a hurry, and some hunters with fast bows use fewer pins spaced farther apart. The arrow speed calculator estimates your real arrow speed from the bow's rating and your arrow.

When the long pins don't fit

On a slow setup, or with many pins, the lowest pins can run out of room at the bottom of the housing. Try these in order:

1. Move the top pin to the top of the housing, then lower the housing with the gang elevation until that pin is back on at 20 yards. The rest of the housing is now free for the pins below it.
2. Slide the housing closer to the riser, if the sight bar allows it. The gaps get smaller, and the bottom pin can be set for a longer distance. The housing will look larger in the peep, so check that it still fits, and sight in again, because every pin moves.
3. Drop the longest pin, or set the pins for shorter distances, for example 20 to 50 yards instead of 20 to 60.
4. Use a slider or a multi-pin slider, which lowers the pin for long shots (below).

At your longest pin, check that the arrow and vanes clear the bottom of the housing. Lower pins bring the housing closer to the arrow's path.

A single-pin slider has one pin that moves up and down on a slider, with a yardage tape that shows where to set it for each distance. You sight in two or three distances and the tape gives the rest.

1. Level the sight as for any sight, and set the slider at the starting position given in its manual (on some sights, the top of its travel).
2. At 20 yards, set windage and elevation with the housing's adjustments, not the slider, following the steps above. Lock them. This is your 20-yard mark.
3. Move back to your longest distance, usually 60 yards for hunters, and move only the slider until the group is centered. Mark that position.
4. Add a third mark in the middle, such as 40 yards. It makes the tape more accurate between the other two.
5. Build the tape from your marks, put it on the sight, and shoot each distance to check it.

The sight tape guide covers measuring the marks and printing and checking the tape, and the sight tape generator builds a printable tape from your marks.

A multi-pin slider is a slider with several pins. The usual setup uses the top pin for both jobs: with the slider on its 20-yard mark, the pins work as fixed pins, and for a longer shot you move the slider to the distance and aim with the top pin.

1. With the slider at its starting position, sight in the top pin at 20 yards with the housing.
2. Sight in the top pin at your longest distance with the slider, then mark it and build the tape as for a single-pin slider.
3. Return the slider to the 20-yard mark and lock it. Set the other pins one at a time for their distances, for example 30, 40 and 50 yards.

The lower pins are only right with the slider on its 20-yard mark. Check that it is there before you hunt.

The bubble only means something if the sight is level on the bow. The second axis makes the bubble read level when the bow is level, and the third axis keeps it reading true when you aim up or down. If the second axis is off, centering the bubble tilts the bow and the arrows land to one side. The setup guide covers setting both.

Center the bubble on every shot. A bow tilted to one side, called cant, moves the arrows left or right by an amount that grows with distance, so a cant too small to notice at 20 yards shows at 50.

When the pins don't agree on windage

If the 20-yard pin is centered but the lower pins hit farther and farther to one side, the cause is usually in the sight or the shot:

• Cant. Check that the bubble was centered on those shots.
• Second axis. If the sight sits on the bow at an angle, every pin after the first lands left or right.
• Pin alignment. The pins should sit in a straight vertical line. On sights with a left-right screw for each pin, line them up.
• Third axis. If the drift only shows on steep uphill or downhill shots, the third axis is off.
• The rest. If the sight and your form check out, the arrows may be drifting as distance grows. Walkback tuning checks the rest's left-right position.

Sight in with field points that weigh the same as your broadheads, then check the broadheads against them. Spin-test each broadhead on its arrow, then shoot a group of field points and a group of broadheads at the same mark from 20 yards, and again from farther.

If the two groups land together, the sight is right for both. If the broadheads land somewhere else, the arrow is not leaving the bow quite straight, and the broadhead's blades steer it further off line. Tune the bow until they group together, using the broadhead tuning guide and the broadhead tuning helper.

Don't move the sight to follow the broadheads. It puts the broadheads on and the field points off, and the cause is still there. Once both hit together at your longest hunting distance, shoot a group with your hunting broadheads at each pin, into a target made to stop them.

The pins are set on level ground. On a slope, aim for the horizontal distance to the target, not the distance along your line of sight. The arrow's drop depends mostly on the horizontal distance, so using the line-of-sight distance makes the arrow hit high, whether you are shooting uphill or downhill.

An angle-compensating rangefinder measures the angle and gives you the horizontal distance. This works well for normal bow distances, about 40 yards and under. On longer, steep shots it is less exact: arrows shot steeply uphill tend to hit lower than the horizontal distance predicts.

At full draw on a slope, bend at the waist rather than raising or dropping your bow arm, so your anchor and form stay the same. Keep the bubble centered; this is where a set third axis matters.

Pins stay right as long as nothing changes. Shoot at known distances, and correct the pins, after any of these:

• Travel. Shoot on arrival with the arrows and broadheads you will hunt with. If you take the sight off to pack the bow, put it back exactly where it was.
• A fall, a dropped bow or a hard knock.
• A new string or cables, once they have settled, or any change to the peep, D-loop or release.
• Any change to the arrows, points or broadheads.
• Before the season, even if nothing changed.

Changes to the bow or arrows also mean checking the tune, not only the pins; the tuning guide lists when to retune. If every pin is off the same way, move the housing. If only some are off, or the gaps have changed, reset those pins at their distances.

Record the settings once the sight is on: the readings on its elevation and windage scales, or paint pen marks across the housing and the bar. With the marks, you can see at a glance whether the sight has moved.

• Moving the sight away from the arrows instead of toward them.
• Adjusting after one arrow instead of a group.
• Changing elevation and windage together on a small miss, so you can't tell which move mattered.
• Moving single pins before the top pin is set with the housing, or moving the housing after the other pins are set.
• Sighting in before the peep, D-loop and release are final.
• Not checking the bubble, or trusting the bubble on a sight that was never leveled.
• Moving the sight to cover a tuning problem: broadheads that don't group with field points, windage at the end of its travel, or arrows that drift sideways as distance grows.
• Sighting in when tired or in the wind, or with loose screws.

Which way do I move my bow sight?

In the direction the arrows hit. If they hit high, move the pin or housing up; if low, move it down; if left, move it left; if right, move it right. After you move the pin up, you have to lower the bow to put the pin back on the target, and the lowered bow sends the arrow lower. This is often called following, or chasing, the arrow.

Do I move the whole sight or the individual pins?

On a multi-pin sight, set the top pin with the housing's gang adjustments, for both windage and elevation, without moving that pin inside the housing. Then set each other pin by moving only that pin. A gang adjustment moves every pin at once, so after that, use it only when all the pins are off in the same direction.

What distance should I sight in my bow at?

Start at about 10 yards, so the first arrows land on the target, then set the top pin at 20 yards, the usual distance for it. Set every other pin at its own distance, one at a time. A single-pin slider is sighted in at 20 yards and at your longest distance, and a sight tape gives the distances in between.

What yardages should I set my sight pins at?

The usual spacing is one pin every 10 yards from 20 yards: 20, 30 and 40 yards on a 3-pin sight, 20 to 50 on a 4-pin and 20 to 60 on a 5-pin. A 7-pin sight on the same spacing reaches 80 yards. Set pins only for distances you can shoot well; more pins mean a more crowded sight picture.

How far apart should bow sight pins be?

You don't choose the gaps. Each pin goes where the arrows hit at its distance, so the gaps come from how far the arrow drops. They get wider at longer distances, because the arrow drops more the farther it flies, and they are wider on slower setups than on fast ones.

What do I do when my bow sight runs out of adjustment?

If the gang elevation runs out before the top pin is on, move the pins inside the housing in the same direction and carry on. If the long pins don't fit at the bottom of the housing, move the top pin to the top of the housing, slide the housing closer to the riser, use fewer pins, or use a slider. If the windage runs out, check the rest position and the tune before you remount the sight.

Should I sight in with broadheads or field points?

With field points that weigh the same as your broadheads. On a tuned bow the broadheads hit with them, so shoot both at the same mark to check. If the broadheads land elsewhere, the bow needs broadhead tuning. Moving the sight to the broadheads hides the problem and puts the field points off.

How do you sight in a single-pin bow sight?

Level the sight and set the slider at the starting position in its manual. At 20 yards, set windage and elevation with the housing's adjustments, not the slider. At your longest distance, usually 60 yards for hunters, move only the slider and mark the position. A third mark at about 40 yards improves the tape. Build a tape from the marks and shoot each distance to check it.

Why does my top pin hit center but my lower pins hit left or right?

Check that the bubble was centered on those shots, that the sight's second axis is set, and that the pins sit in a straight vertical line. A sight mounted at an angle puts every pin after the first left or right. Drift that only shows on steep uphill or downhill shots points to the third axis. If all of that is right, walkback tuning checks the rest's left-right position.

Can you sight in a bow without shooting it?

No. Leveling the sight and starting with the pin over the arrow shaft only gives you a starting point, which is why the first shots are taken from about 10 yards at a large target. Every pin has to be set by shooting groups at its distance.

Point of impact

Where the arrow hits relative to where you aimed. Sighting in moves the pin until the two match.

Group

Three or more arrows shot at the same mark with the same aim. The sight is adjusted to the center of the group.

Housing

The ring, also called the scope, that holds the pins and usually the bubble level.

Elevation

The sight's up-down adjustment. It sets the distance a pin is for.

Windage

The sight's left-right adjustment.

Gang adjustment

The elevation and windage adjustments that move the whole housing, and every pin in it, at once.

Pin gap

The vertical space between two pins. It comes from how far the arrow drops between their distances.

Second axis

The sight's rotation around the line you look through. When it is set, a centered bubble means the bow is level.

Third axis

The adjustment that keeps the bubble reading true when you aim uphill or downhill.

Cant

Tilting the bow left or right at full draw. It pushes arrows sideways, more so at long range.

Slider

A sight whose pin, or pins, moves up and down for each distance, set with a yardage tape.

Sight tape

The strip of yardage marks on a slider that shows where to set the pin for each distance.