Do you have to “aim low” for a 10 yard shot, or do you find that the trajectory is so flat that you can aim the same as a 20? I know this is likely to be different for everyone’s setup - just curious what your experience has been.
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Pin Settings
- Thread starter Bach55
- Start date
Do you have to “aim low” for a 10 yard shot, or do you find that the trajectory is so flat that you can aim the same as a 20? I know this is likely to be different for everyone’s setup - just curious what your experience has been.
Goldentriangle85
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- Jan 6, 2019
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Top pin 20 and under should be right on. At least with my last few compounds it has been. I run 30 40 and 50 pins also. Don’t sell yourself short by stopping with 30. If you can hit close at 30 there’s not much difference at 40 or 50. If the deer is already spooky it’s a different story.
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Kurt
Well-Known Member
If I was shooting dots I'd aim an 1 1/2" low. If I'm shooting at a deer broadside or quartering I'd aim center mass, or to the top of the bottom third. If I have one directly under me and, or going straight away/hard quartering, then slip it in just off the backstrap,( don't want to ruin any meat) so It exits out the front of the chest or just forward the front far shoulder. If you can hit the grapefruit sized target every time from every angle then that's your effective range, and 1 1/2 inches either way is negligible. IMO. That being said, it is a game of inches. I'd go get the Mckenzey out and shoot ten arrows and see what shooting 10yds with a 20yd pin looks like. I know it works for me in a hunting situations
Definitely test and practice. For the average guys shooting average weight arrows it works good. If your setup is really slow or you have an odd anchor point it may not work well.
Update....I’m sold. I have a pin that is zero’d in around the 25 yard range. 10 yards has about 1.5” of adjustment needed, and it goes down from there. I fully expect 95% of my shot opportunities to be in the 10-20 yard range, so this should be lethal even if my shot isn’t perfect. I like the “no clutter” approach for the sight picture. Looking forward to putting it to use this season.
Excellent! You may want to play around with it a little and try different zero ranges.
How did you test? Best way I've found is to zero at 25, then shoot at 5,10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, aiming dead on. I record how high or low I hit. Repeat a few times to get averages across more shots. What I'm looking for, for deer, is +-3". That's my effective range. I find that each bow/arrow/weight/draw length is a little different. But try zeroing at 25, 26,27,28. You may find one of those other distances generates a wider span of distances that still hit within 3" of your aim point. For my current setup, that distance would be 29 yards. From 2-33 yards, I'm +- 3". If I have a calm deer, and plenty of time to shoot, I can simply adjust an inch or two up or down if I want to, to hit my "spot". If I have a deer come out anywhere inside 30 yards, and i have to draw quickly, have a small opening to shoot through, and not a lot of time to think, I can aim right behind shoulder and release. I know that I will be just as effective as "bracketing" in those instances, because the variables that matter on these shots are out of my control.
I tested by putting duck tape in a cross on my target and then shooting at 10, 15, 20, and 25 while aiming dead center. I marked the duck tape at 1” intervals and then noted my points of impact at each range. I’ll test at 30 yards as well, but that gets more challenging due to the way my yard is situated.
You answered another one of my questions as well which was “do you adjust your aim or just let it fly knowing you’re going to hit in a 1.5” radius inside of 25 yards?”. I think ideally I’d adjust slightly (~1”) inside of 20, but it depends on what the deer allows for. It’s nice to know that if a shot opportunity develops rapidly you can shoot with confidence knowing you’re going to hit a fist-sized target.
Blinginpse
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Not shooting past 30 Is hurting yourself I feel
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It depends on who you are. There are a bunch of bow hunters that can shoot fist sized groups at 50 that can barely hit hair at 30. Even when using a fixed single pin I will shoot out to 50 yards for practice. I just aim at the top of my target and as long as I’m shooting small groups I am building confidence.
Bama_Xander
Well-Known Member
My pins are at 25, 35 and 45. My sight is a Spot Hogg so I can roll the 45 pin to whatever distance I want to shoot long range (target practice, not hunting). Most areas I hunt are thick and the sight essentially functions as a 25yd single pin sight. Except for hitting a branch once, I have yet to miss a deer using this system. It’s simple and easy and requires little thought.
My pull is 65lb and I run a 415 grain arrow going 280 FPS. This keeps a fairly flat trajectory out to 25 yds with some weight to get good penetration. Minus a spine shot, I have consistently had pass throughs, even breaking through an off side shoulder on a 35 yd shot a couple years ago.
I also run my actual hit location a little low. My 25 yd pin hits about an inch low and 35/45 each hit 2-3 inches low. Deer in the south move fast and almost always duck. I try to aim at the lower 1/3 of the deer and I have never hit a deer too low. The shots always seem to end up hitting a bit higher than I hoped so I went ahead and built some drop into my sight so I can just aim normal. I still have yet to hit a deer low in this system.
My pull is 65lb and I run a 415 grain arrow going 280 FPS. This keeps a fairly flat trajectory out to 25 yds with some weight to get good penetration. Minus a spine shot, I have consistently had pass throughs, even breaking through an off side shoulder on a 35 yd shot a couple years ago.
I also run my actual hit location a little low. My 25 yd pin hits about an inch low and 35/45 each hit 2-3 inches low. Deer in the south move fast and almost always duck. I try to aim at the lower 1/3 of the deer and I have never hit a deer too low. The shots always seem to end up hitting a bit higher than I hoped so I went ahead and built some drop into my sight so I can just aim normal. I still have yet to hit a deer low in this system.
Blinginpse
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Agree I just always felt shooting farther made them 20-30 yarders seem like slam dunks and helped ya thread the needle a little better if in thick cover
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Mark Drury was on the Wired to Hunt podcast this week and described a similar setup where he intentionally has it hit a bit low.
It’s just a function of space. I can’t shoot 30 yards in my back yard. I do it when I can and as opportunities allow for it.
Regardless of your sights, I also believe you should shoot farther in practice than you might feel comfortable shooting at an animal. It helps me with not dropping the bow to “look for” my shot, but rather to hold the follow-through and “listen for” the shot before zipping to my glass to check placement.
Bama_Xander
Well-Known Member
My effective longest hunting kill range is half the distance I shoot in long range practice. If I can keep it in 1 inch MOA per distance (Example - 7 inch group at 70 yds, 8 inch group at 80 yds) I cut that distance in half for my effective hunting range (8 in group at 80 yds = 40 yd effective hunting range).
Bama_Xander
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If Mark is doing it, it must be a good idea.
Blinginpse
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I use a 5 pin sight. I hunt from a saddle so I set my first pin to Dead on center at 20 yrds from my height (treestand). Second pin is dead on center for ground 20 yards, third is 30. I find the further deer are out the more i can use my ground settings. Most of my deer are at 25 yards or less. I started doing this because I was 30 feet in a tree and a deer came right under. I had never practiced that shot and didnt hit it all three times . (one of my first years doing archery). The deer was like what was that, man i keep hearing a swosh and that tree is looking at me funny. Oh not a tree..i'll see ya next season! I always recommend preseason practice from height.
Smokingbarrel270
Well-Known Member
@Bach55 first off I want to say good for you on practicing and figuring out what works for you. Practice makes better... with that being said, assuming you are shooting a compound with 50+ lbs draw, IMO I would drop the 10 yard pin and go with 20,30,40. If you are practicing that much, the more you practice at 40 the better your 20,30 shots will be. My dad never shot his bow past 40yrds and he consistently dropped deer every year. Best of luck this year and keep practicing, rain or shine.