Shooting a bow and arrow without knowing where it will end up is a scary thing to do. You can greatly increase your aim and skill by using good bow sights. I’m focusing on compound bows, but you can apply many of the principals to a traditional bow as well. There are several different types of sights and many of them have several features. It’s not necessary to use all the features in a sight, but it’s nice to have them there just in case.
Start with the bow
First thing to do is look at the bow you’re shooting and see if it has mounts for a sight. You might not have the same mount on every bow or you could have some damage that might need to be addressed first. If there is any damage and you’re not sure about being able to fix it, you should find a local archery shop that can handle repairs.
Check the peep
The peep sight is the little loop that you have placed in your string which you look through. This piece will go close to your eye and needs to line up correctly. You will be looking through this same peep every single time you make a shot. it’s also important that it doesn’t turn or move up and down the string. You can install this yourself or take it to someone. The important thing is to make sure that it ends up doing the same thing every single time you draw your bow back to you. You might also see some bows that have a string attached from the peep to another point. This is to keep the peep lined up every time you draw back.
Different features in sights
Pins are the small parts that stick into the middle of the sight tube and is the end point of the sight apparatus. You can find pins that are vertical or horizontal and with different features. One feature that most people like is the illuminated sight. These pins normally use fiber optics to bend the light into the pin and make it glow. This feature can come in really handy when you are in a low light condition.
Most sights will come with several pins in them. When you are sighting in the bow, you’ll spend a lot of time on each pin so many people choose to only use a couple pins. The important part is to pick a sight pin that isn’t too big. You don’t want the pin to cover up your target so much that you can’t see the target when you’re aiming.
Another feature you will find is a small level that you can see. You want your bow to be level when your shooting. This is important for compound bows and will help you have more consistent shooting results.
For me, a great value and price for a good sight is the Trophy Ridge Punisher 5 Sight
