Poor fella asked for some advice in another thread and it opened up a debate about pros/cons of the sight. I figured I'd start a new thread to have a little more in depth conversation about the EZV, pin sights, effective range, the ranging capabilities of the EZV, etc.
I'll start with my personal experience. I bought the sight several years ago. It sat on the shelf for a while, and I decided to give it a go. I made a swap to a thumb release as well at the same time, so I set out to get used to both, and shot. A LOT. Like at least 2000 shots, maybe as many as 3000 prior to a season. Then I hunted for a full season with the sight, continuing to shoot it regularly. I decided to go back to a single pin sight after that trial. Here's the results of that shooting session, and season, and why I swapped back:
My bow shot 270fps. Me and the bow were simply not good enough at "ranging" with the EZV past 30 yards to feel comfortable shooting at a deer. The results were too inconsistent during practice. Let me be clear - Guessing range with a pin sight, versus guessing range with the EZV, the EZV was considerably more effective than I was. The problem was that it was simply not effective enough, given all the other variables that come into play when you put 30+ yards between you and a live deer. Plus, it does not take into consideration the ability to range a deer with a rangefinder at those longer distances. The EZV is not even close in terms of accuracy, or precision, when attempting to range the distance with the sight, versus a pin sight and rangefinder. I also noted that knowing the distance did not help improve accuracy of the EZV with the tick marks not showing. And with them showing, I was slightly less accurate/precise than I was with a single pin set at 30/40/50/60 while at distances in between (compensating with the pin). To sum up - single pin sight was more accurate and precise in ALL scenarios, except at unknown distances past 30 yards.
Accuracy defined here as average distance from center of bullseye or exact center of where I'd want to hit on the deer. Precision defined as average group size when shooting multiple arrows from same spot.
During that season, I took 6 shots at 5 deer. I missed twice, and killed four deer. One miss was on a deer 40-50 yards away that I had already shot. She didn't move until arrow hit ground behind her - it was a complete miss. The other miss was on a giant at about 25 yards. Shot over his back from a seated position on the ground, no rush, him standing still. He never flinched until arrow hit branches behind him. I was pretty calm, had plenty of time to execute and the shot felt fine. Framed up his vitals or so I thought, and let it fly. The first deer I hit was straight below me, easy shot, can't miss. Spine/heart shot, never moved from the shot sight. Second deer was at about 25 yards. I hit him high and back in the lungs, thankfully clipped the dorsal aorta and he flopped upside down in about ten seconds 30 yards from shot sight. Third was a doe at about 15 yards, hit her a little far back and low(this is the deer I missed on follow up shot). Random rain shower washed blood and tracks overnight so I didn't recover her. Fourth was a small buck at about 15 yards. Hit him slightly up and back, but double lung and recovered after about 100 yards.
There are lots of variables in hunting situations. They are incredibly dynamic. When looking at the averages of all hunters and what happens, closing on 4 of 6 opportunities (the one non recovery was a fluke, that deer is mos def dead) is great right? But the devil is in the details. On the straight down shot, EZV makes no difference from pin sight. It was a can't miss shot. I could've aimed down the arrow with same result. On the second deer, a single pin, set at 28 yards for me, would have no doubt resulted in at least a similar result, if not a more precise shot( I hit that deer about 10" behind where I wanted to). On the third deer, I may have still hit low, but I would not have missed left/right as bad as I did. This likely results in the deer dying in sight, or a blood trail I'd be willing to follow that night instead of next day. On the fourth deer, likely same result as he was so close, a single pin would've been about the same. On the long miss - I probably don't improve my odds with the single pin sight because I was totally guessing at distance. On the big deer miss, that deer is on my wall today with a single pin sight - no doubt in my mind.
I have spent a lot of time shooting, hunting, and thinking about shooting and hunting. I'm not special. I'm not super smart. But I've decided that the odds of hitting a whitetail deer past 30 yards with a bow are generally too low for me to attempt it with any regularity. Will I ever shoot further? It very likely could happen. But it won't be at an unknown distance, and it won't be without my pin set to that distance (I use a single pin slider). What this means, is that the ranging function of the EZV is essentially pointless. And inside of 30 yards, for whitetail deer, for a bow that shoots at least 250fps, my opinion is that a single pin sight is the simplest and most effective way to put deer on the ground.
So my basic arguments against the EZV are the following:
Most folks shouldn't be shooting at deer past 30 yards.
Inside of 30 yards, the EZV offers no advantage to someone who has good vision and is used to shooting a pin sight.
I will concede that for folks with worsening vision, that it could offer a clearer sight window.
I'll also concede that acquiring target is much faster. This could be useful on a moving animal. The routine of a pin does take a second or so. But I'd argue that snapping off a shot with the EZV is going to be just as risky as snap shooting with a pin. You just may be able to settle in with the V slightly faster in some situations.
Basically, I'm not saying that the EZV is not an ok sight. Or that you can't be effective with it. I'm just saying that the ranging function is significantly overblown. And that for most of the archery community who have become quite used to shooting with pins, it doesn't offer any advantages at the distances most people shoot most deer. Excluding the two advantages conceded above.
I'm very interested to hear from other folks on it. It seems to be a subject that gets some strong responses. It's probably a good idea to talk it through, and this is an open discussion. No haters!
I'll start with my personal experience. I bought the sight several years ago. It sat on the shelf for a while, and I decided to give it a go. I made a swap to a thumb release as well at the same time, so I set out to get used to both, and shot. A LOT. Like at least 2000 shots, maybe as many as 3000 prior to a season. Then I hunted for a full season with the sight, continuing to shoot it regularly. I decided to go back to a single pin sight after that trial. Here's the results of that shooting session, and season, and why I swapped back:
My bow shot 270fps. Me and the bow were simply not good enough at "ranging" with the EZV past 30 yards to feel comfortable shooting at a deer. The results were too inconsistent during practice. Let me be clear - Guessing range with a pin sight, versus guessing range with the EZV, the EZV was considerably more effective than I was. The problem was that it was simply not effective enough, given all the other variables that come into play when you put 30+ yards between you and a live deer. Plus, it does not take into consideration the ability to range a deer with a rangefinder at those longer distances. The EZV is not even close in terms of accuracy, or precision, when attempting to range the distance with the sight, versus a pin sight and rangefinder. I also noted that knowing the distance did not help improve accuracy of the EZV with the tick marks not showing. And with them showing, I was slightly less accurate/precise than I was with a single pin set at 30/40/50/60 while at distances in between (compensating with the pin). To sum up - single pin sight was more accurate and precise in ALL scenarios, except at unknown distances past 30 yards.
Accuracy defined here as average distance from center of bullseye or exact center of where I'd want to hit on the deer. Precision defined as average group size when shooting multiple arrows from same spot.
During that season, I took 6 shots at 5 deer. I missed twice, and killed four deer. One miss was on a deer 40-50 yards away that I had already shot. She didn't move until arrow hit ground behind her - it was a complete miss. The other miss was on a giant at about 25 yards. Shot over his back from a seated position on the ground, no rush, him standing still. He never flinched until arrow hit branches behind him. I was pretty calm, had plenty of time to execute and the shot felt fine. Framed up his vitals or so I thought, and let it fly. The first deer I hit was straight below me, easy shot, can't miss. Spine/heart shot, never moved from the shot sight. Second deer was at about 25 yards. I hit him high and back in the lungs, thankfully clipped the dorsal aorta and he flopped upside down in about ten seconds 30 yards from shot sight. Third was a doe at about 15 yards, hit her a little far back and low(this is the deer I missed on follow up shot). Random rain shower washed blood and tracks overnight so I didn't recover her. Fourth was a small buck at about 15 yards. Hit him slightly up and back, but double lung and recovered after about 100 yards.
There are lots of variables in hunting situations. They are incredibly dynamic. When looking at the averages of all hunters and what happens, closing on 4 of 6 opportunities (the one non recovery was a fluke, that deer is mos def dead) is great right? But the devil is in the details. On the straight down shot, EZV makes no difference from pin sight. It was a can't miss shot. I could've aimed down the arrow with same result. On the second deer, a single pin, set at 28 yards for me, would have no doubt resulted in at least a similar result, if not a more precise shot( I hit that deer about 10" behind where I wanted to). On the third deer, I may have still hit low, but I would not have missed left/right as bad as I did. This likely results in the deer dying in sight, or a blood trail I'd be willing to follow that night instead of next day. On the fourth deer, likely same result as he was so close, a single pin would've been about the same. On the long miss - I probably don't improve my odds with the single pin sight because I was totally guessing at distance. On the big deer miss, that deer is on my wall today with a single pin sight - no doubt in my mind.
I have spent a lot of time shooting, hunting, and thinking about shooting and hunting. I'm not special. I'm not super smart. But I've decided that the odds of hitting a whitetail deer past 30 yards with a bow are generally too low for me to attempt it with any regularity. Will I ever shoot further? It very likely could happen. But it won't be at an unknown distance, and it won't be without my pin set to that distance (I use a single pin slider). What this means, is that the ranging function of the EZV is essentially pointless. And inside of 30 yards, for whitetail deer, for a bow that shoots at least 250fps, my opinion is that a single pin sight is the simplest and most effective way to put deer on the ground.
So my basic arguments against the EZV are the following:
Most folks shouldn't be shooting at deer past 30 yards.
Inside of 30 yards, the EZV offers no advantage to someone who has good vision and is used to shooting a pin sight.
I will concede that for folks with worsening vision, that it could offer a clearer sight window.
I'll also concede that acquiring target is much faster. This could be useful on a moving animal. The routine of a pin does take a second or so. But I'd argue that snapping off a shot with the EZV is going to be just as risky as snap shooting with a pin. You just may be able to settle in with the V slightly faster in some situations.
Basically, I'm not saying that the EZV is not an ok sight. Or that you can't be effective with it. I'm just saying that the ranging function is significantly overblown. And that for most of the archery community who have become quite used to shooting with pins, it doesn't offer any advantages at the distances most people shoot most deer. Excluding the two advantages conceded above.
I'm very interested to hear from other folks on it. It seems to be a subject that gets some strong responses. It's probably a good idea to talk it through, and this is an open discussion. No haters!
