What Ever Happened to Pendulum Sights?

[Wasp]

Just curious, anyone else still using them. I still use a Keller and haven't found anything that I think works better. I never understood why these types of sights didn't catch on more. I know they (pendulum sights) didn't invest in product placement with the TV hunting shows which probably contributed to their not being more widespread, however they eliminate range finders and multiple pins. Which for me, limiting the opportunities I have to screw something up is definitely better.

 

[dpierce72]

I used one for a LONG time...

Kept it in my bow box for a lot of year. Not really sure where it is now. My guess? As guys started taking longer shots and bows sped up, multi pin sights took off. But for a 20-30 yard chipper on either of my old Pearson's (Renegade then Spoiler) there wasn't much better back in the day!

Nostalgic to say the least!

 

[EricS]

I have a trophy ridge mantis pendulum sight that I had on an old bow and liked. Considering putting it on my current bow but I haven’t due to the height difference in my different setups. I would have to compensate for the sight when hunting from 20’ to 30’. I can compensate with a single pin to 30 yards so I don’t know that the pendulum will be much of an advantage.

 

[Gator]

Bow speeds eliminated the need to have one

 

[Nutterbuster]

I know Dr. Sheppard is a huge fan of them. I considered one, but have grown to love a fixed, single pin (HHA Brushfire). No slider, no pendulum. Even on my relatively slow Elite Synergy, I can 0 it in at 30 yards, and also be dead on at 10. I'm a little high at 20 (3" or so, not enough to really matter for me), and a little low at 40. Since all of my shots have been close in and fast, in thick underbrush, this works fine

A pendulum necessitates some attention to climbing height, like @EricS mentioned. Since I may hang at 30' for a few hours, and then shoot a pig while walking out, a pendulum wouldn't suit my needs very well.

I am still surprised that there aren't more of them on the market though.

 

[EricS]

Bow speeds eliminated the need to have one

The 30fps we’ve gained in speed in the last 20 years doesn’t make a huge difference. I would guess that most guys setups are maybe only 20fps faster than they were then shooting hunting weight arrows. Not much different in trajectory at all. Pendulums weren’t that popular when they were in their hay day. I would say affordable rangefinders and so many wanting sliders to shoot 50 plus yards had more to do with them falling to the wayside than bow speeds.

 

[fbwguy]

I still hunt with a Trophy Ridge single pin pendulum sight. Works for me

 

[Apex7]

Just curious, anyone else still using them. I still use a Keller and haven't found anything that I think works better. I never understood why these types of sights didn't catch on more. I know they (pendulum sights) didn't invest in product placement with the TV hunting shows which probably contributed to their not being more widespread, however they eliminate range finders and multiple pins. Which for me, limiting the opportunities I have to screw something up is definitely better.

I still have them and my son still uses one. I use a Trophy Ridge pendulum it two sight in one . It's moveable for ground shooting and set it on 25 yard mark and unlock it and it's good out to 35 yards. Been using it for years and used the keller before that.

 

[Homebrew454]

I have a predator IV sight that I could never get adjusted right. I was going to try it this year but bought an EZV instead.

I think if you can get them dialed in they work great. I just never could with the predator IV.

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[Scott F]

I had a pendulum sight on a bow a number of years ago and it worked great, then I learned about using two thin strips of tape in the same application as a "Tagged Out" rangefinder I no longer needed a pendulum sight.
I don't even own a laser rangefinder because I don't think it is necessary at bowhunting distances; to make things worse, like Nutterbuster I am a fixed single pin kind of guy.

I use two thin (~1/16") strips of white electrical tape on my riser as the reference marks for my 'rangefinder'.

 

[Skewerer]

I used to use one. I switched to HHA single pin. The pendulums are much louder in my experience.

 

[woodsdog2]

I used a Keller Pendulum and liked it. I also have these two sights. The COBRA is still in the original package I never used it. I have used pendulum sights off and on for years but about 20 years ago a started going to single pin sights and now I use a single pin slider. Roy Marlow, in his book "Timeless Bowhunting" outlined a sight pin strategy using a single pin and aiming low on the "point" or elbow of a deer within point blank to your maximum effective range for that pin. You determine this by sighting in very close, say 5 yards on a deer sized target and then backing up and while still aiming low on the "point" of the elbow, you keep backing up and shooting until you reach your maximum range with this pin setting. So basically, with my bow setup this way, I can hold low from 0 to about 32 yards and the arrows fall within that range. At 20 yards my arrows drop "higher" on the deer but still within the boiler room or kill-zone. I don't like multiple sight pins and I have never hunted out west but if I do decide to some day, I can adjust my slider single pin accordingly. Roy Marlow emphasized the importance of aiming low on the point of the elbow to accommodate for a deer dropping as they "jump the string." Even though on average we have faster bows, many have "gone back" to medium or heavy arrows and so aiming low, in my opinion, is still relevant. Especially in saddle/tree stand shooting scenarios.

 

[7bru]

Bow speeds eliminated the need to have one

Also 3d archery didn't help either. Nobody wanted to shoot fixed pins and sliders all summer and switch to the Keller for hunting.

I killed a pile of deer with pendulums hunting flat ground



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[brydan]

I still have them and my son still uses one. I use a Trophy Ridge pendulum it two sight in one . It's moveable for ground shooting and set it on 25 yard mark and unlock it and it's good out to 35 yards. Been using it for years and used the keller before that.

That's the same sight I've been using for awhile too. Use it as a moveable pin for practice and unlock it for hunting. Any hunting shot I'm going to take these days is a short chip shot because I don't have the time to practice these days like used to to be shooting anything longer than that

 

[woodsdog2]

Here is a contemporary option available from Truglo: