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Sight choice help

slonstdy

slonstdy

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
1,377
I'm in the market for a new bow sight and would like to hear your thoughts how you go about deciding which style of sight to use and any good or bad experiences you may have had with a particular brand. The sight I'm shopping for will be used on a hunting bow for deer and bear from an elevated position and not for any 3D or organized target shoots.

I've have used fixed 5 pin, EZ-V, slider and dial sights so I'm familiar with them and they've all worked fine for me .

The EZ-V is rugged, simple and easy to use but I want a more precise point of aim to focus on. I like the EZ-V and have one on another bow so this sight is not in the running.

5 pin sights are too busy for me and the one I have I moved the last two pins all the way to the bottom to clear up the view.

That leaves slider and dial sights...

I've got an HHA dial sight that I really like but I've never used it for hunting. I have it set up on hunting rig but it's only been used for long range practice sessions. It's impressive at how confident you can be dialing in the yardage and know that where you settle the pin is where your arrow will land. That feature I like but what I'm hesitant about is having just a single pin and being in the scenario where a deer gets within range but never stays at a particular yardage and wanders aimlessly. I don't want to constantly fumble with a range finder to verify yardage and move the sight before I shoot. This is where the EZ-V shines with it's frame the vitals and shoot simplicity.

I had a slider sight years ago and it worked fine for me when my shooting skills were limited and I didn't have much hunting experience. Now that I am able to extend my shots on game comfortably to 40 yards and like practicing at further distances I feel one of these may be a good option too.

Drawbacks that I see to these style of sights are cost and weight. Is there anything else I should be concerned with? As far as pin size, what would work well in low light conditions but at the same time be small enough so it doesn't cover too much area on the target? Is there much of a difference in features between a slider and a dial?

What do you guys like as far as brand, style, ease of use etc?
 
I use a single pin HHA slider and really like it. One pin leaves nothing for me to get confused about at the moment of truth. I don't move it though. I set it like a rifle sight where it is an inch or so high very close in, dead on at a given range, usually 20 yards, then an inch or so low on out, say 25. I then just practice at various unknown ranges. I figure out the point blank range and just practice. Twenty five yards would be a very long shot for me, though. Deer are usually in thick stuff around here. I haven't shot a deer past 20 yards in three years. I've often wondered how that EZ-V works out.
 
a moderately fast to fast bow with a single moveable pin, 2 pins on a moveable sight, or just 2 fixed pins is my preferred setup

with a fast bow, you can set a single pin slider to 25 or so yards and kill anything easily from 0 to 30 yards

i used one of those for years, an hha brand one

the downside to most moveable pins is that you have to change your anchor point slightly in order to center the sight housing in your peep if you move it from 20 to 40 yards, which breaks good shooting practices for me

i went to a slower setup and now use a fixed 2 pin, my bow is around 265 fps

i custom ordered a spot hogg grinder with a large, green top pin in the middle/horizontal position and then a smaller red pin in the bottom position, they are setup at 25 and 40 yards

i chose this because i can use the 25 yard pin from 0 to nearly 30 yards and then easily gap between the pins out to 40 yards, i do not have to move a pin or change my anchor

the 2 pins, with the main one being larger and a brighter color, is not cluttered and picking 25 and 40 yards puts a bit of day light between the pins so that i do not experience any clutter or urge to use the wrong pin, using the smaller/dimmer pin that is relatively far down is a conscience choice and i don't mess up in a moment of stress

i've bowhunted over 30 years and tried all sorts of stuff, and for whitetail from a treestand this is the best system i've found and the spot hogg grinder is the most durable sight i've owned and the company is great to work with, you can call and speak directly with a guy that handles custom orders and it is a small upcharge to get it exactly as you'd like

the only other sight i would consider is a slider with 2 moveable pins so i could set them to 25 and 40 yards when in the typical position and move them to practice at longer ranges
 
I really like my HHA Tetra. For me single pin is the way to go for an uncluttered sight picture. 5 pin is too busy and 3 pin blocks too much sight picture. I really like EZV but I can’t get my brain housing group to work with the sight, a failing of mine and not the sights. The HHA is American made and has a lifetime warranty. Some folks don’t like having to slide the pin but I hunt fairly fixed yardages so for me it’s a non issue. An uncluttered sight picture is of paramount importance to me
 
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I'm a definite sight junkie and go through them like most people change their underwear. That being said, I've always gone back to a single pin of some kind. Currently I have the BG Whitetail Ascent, it doesn't have 3rd axis adjustment, but I believe they came out with something similar this season with a third axis adjustment if that's important to you. However, being an eastern hunter with most shots under 25 yards I've never really worried about it. I really like Spott Hogg's double stack and the triple stack looks appealing as well.

Using a slider type sight is probably overkill the way I use my single pin but I sight in so that I'm shooting from point blank to about 30 yards by holding dead on at the point of the shoulder. For the extent ranges I would aim slightly higher but remember, and especially with the slower setups with heavy arrows, "jumping" the string at 30 plus yards is going to be a real factor. Like you, I like the simplicity of a single pin and I range out to about 25 yards on the trails I'm watching and know that if the deer is within that radius, I can just aim at the point of the shoulder. Simple and stupid proof. Concentrate on taking the shot and enjoying the experience. I never use sight tapes on my sliders because I don't care about trying to range and then move the pin to the range I think the deer is at. I just sight in as specified above and leave it there. Like I said, with this method I could use something much less complicated but that's no fun.

One thing I would highly recommend is making sure you have a .019 pin for your main shooter pin. I'm in my early 50's and I can't make out a .010 pin size much at all any more so be aware of that fact too.
 
Did you ever try those in line ones trophy ridge has? I had an old one and always liked how all the pins are in a line. Just curious if you consider it.
www.beararchery.com

React® V5™

Eliminate distractions with the React® V5™ compound bow sight. Combining React® Technology with Trophy Ridge’s innovative vertical in-line pins increase your precision while offering a clear, unobstructed view of your target.
www.beararchery.com www.beararchery.com
 
The Spot Hogg Triple Stack is a good option. Gives plenty of fixed pin yardage with the dial for back up. The vertical pins are a clean sight picture and help with staying vertical. The BG and SH sights with two inline dots would be worth a look too. The yardage is sort of fixed on the bottom dot but should be easy to learn.
I had the original Trophy Ridge when in came out. I did like it a lot. However, I’ll spend a little more on the SH for the durability factor.
 
I’m currently in the process of revamping my bow so this is my thoughts.

I had an apex gear covert on the bow originally. It’s a single pin slider and I’ve had great success with it. The one downside was the pins aren’t very bright without a light. I shot my buck this past year at last light and had a hard time making out my pin as the battery was dead. That led me to searching for a new sight. I bought a BG Whitetail ascent again in a single pin and thought I was good. I walked into a local shop and they had the Spot Hogg Fast Eddie Triple stack for 269. Needless to say my bow is now getting the triple stack.

I prefer the single pin setup however I wanted the flexibility of having fixed pins and being able to stretch the bow out. My bow is currently in the shop getting new strings and I haven’t had a chance to shoot it with the Fast Eddie. I’m hoping it lives up to the hype, but the jury is out for me.
 
Fast shooting bow with a single pin is the way to go. The “spec” on my bow is 340 actual is around 319fps I run an hha single pin slider with a .010” pin and sighted in at 25 yards that bow can shoot rather flat out to 30 yards.if you’re concerned with moving just take a dremmel and notch out a 40 yard hash and color it with yellow paint
 
Seems to me that you guys like to keep your sight set a predetermined yardage that will give you a maximum effective point blank range where you can hold on target and know you're good. That makes sense to me. Usually my shots are within 20 yards so that would work well for me but last season was the first year ever where I shot at longer ranges, the closest being 23 yards then 27, 33 and 40 yards. I guess that's why I was hesitant to employ a single pin sight. In reality at those ranges I would have time to make a sight adjustment.
 
slonstdy said:
In reality at those ranges I would have time to make a sight adjustment.
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i often draw before i know exactly where the deer will stop for a shot and i'd hate to let down the bow at a key moment to adjust sight and pull it back again
 
Sometimes I think I wait almost too long before drawing back to take the shot. I range the target right before I draw so in my mind that arrow is being sent regardless of what the deer is doing after that.
 
slonstdy said:
Sometimes I think I wait almost too long before drawing back to take the shot. I range the target right before I draw so in my mind that arrow is being sent regardless of what the deer is doing after that.
Click to expand...

my preferred method is to range everywhere i might get a shot and memorize the distance to around 4 to 8 landmarks (more than that and i'll forget)
 
The IQ pro hunter has two fixed pin and then a moveable 3, they aren't cheap but it allows a 20,30,40 setup and then the ability to dial in longer yardage for practice or longer shooting scenarios. Last year was my first year with it and it seems to be a very well made sight compared to the cheapo 3 and 4 pin ones I've used before. This year I'm working on getting it dialed in without a peep. Trophy ridge makes a similar model called the hotwire that's a little cheaper priced, not sure what other manufacturers make something with this setup.

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Option Archery makes a hybrid fixed pin/ single pin which maybe what you want to consider will give you the best of both worlds but they are not cheap. If you are tree stand hunting you “fold” the multi pin housing out of the way and just use the single pin. If you then are in a situation where you may have longer shot distances you move the multi pin housing back and you have all of your fixed pins ready for those multiple ranges. https://optionarchery.com/products/new-s-series-option-sights
 
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Highly recommend the CBE tactic hybrid 3-pin… it’s a slider and amazing.. single handedly the best build most durable sight for the money


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