When it comes to archery, it’s important to have both accuracy and precision. What’s the difference? Accuracy is hitting where you are aiming, while precision is hitting the same spot every time. In order to achieve both, you need to properly adjust the bow sight that you’re using. A properly adjusted bow sight is critical for both accuracy and precision.

So you may be wondering how to adjust a bow sight. While most archery shops will help you adjust your sight, it’s an important skill that you’ll need to master yourself. With a little bit of knowledge and some practice, you’ll be adjusting your own sight in no time.

What is a Bow Sight?

A bow sight is an accessory an archer uses to aim their shot. Most bow sights are constructed of a metal housing that contain pins used for aiming. These sights function similar to the sights on a firearm.

There are many different types of bow sights, each with their own pluses and minuses. However, they all provide the opportunity to dramatically increase your accuracy.

Types of Bow Sight Adjustments

Bow sights have many different types of adjustments. Each adjustment affects a different aspect of the bow sight, giving you the ability to dial in your sight with extreme accuracy. There are three major types of bow sight adjustments and we’ll cover them here.

Horizontal Sight Adjustment

Moving your bow sight left or right adjusts the horizontal impact. This is often referred to as the 1st axis. You adjust your bow sight left and right by using the horizontal sight adjustment. Once your horizontal sight adjustment is set, you generally don’t need any further adjustment.

Vertical Sight Adjustment

The vertical sight adjustment on a bow sight is the opposite of the horizontal sight adjustment. The vertical sight adjustment is also known as the 2nd axis. To adjust, simply move the sight, or individual pins, up or down depending on impact. This is often the most used sight adjustment on a bow sight.

3rd Axis Sight Adjustment

Last is the 3rd axis sight adjustment. The third axis runs parallel to your body and through the center of your sight. In order to get a better idea of the third axis, imagine that your bow sight spins around like a top or a spinning coin. The third axis is not important when shooting on level ground, but is very important at extreme angles.

How to Adjust a Bow Sight

Adjusting a bow sight is very easy once you learn how to do it. All you’ll need is few basic tools and a little bit of know-how. With some practice, you can properly adjust your bow sight with minimal effort.

Bow Adjustment Tools

While there are many different archery tools, you really only need the basics in order to adjust a bow sight. In fact, you may only need one set of Allen wrenches. A complete set comes in many different sizes, which should accommodate anything you find on your bow sight. You may also consider a laser alignment tool to help precisely adjust it, although this tool isn’t necessary.

How to Make Horizontal Sight Adjustments

When your arrows impact to the left or right of where you’re aiming, you’ll need to make a horizontal adjustment. In order to make these adjustments, grab your set of Allen wrenches. Loosen the bolt (or multiple bolts) holding the horizontal adjustment in place. Once loosened, your sight should now be able to move side to side.

Before making any adjustments, take a second to think about which way you need your arrow groups to move. If you are hitting to the left, you need your arrows to impact more to the right. In order to do this, you will actually need to move your sight to the left. While this may sound counterintuitive, give it some thought.

By moving your sight to the left, it forces you to aim further to the right on your next shot. This will make your arrow impact further to the right. So remember, moving the sight or pin to the left pushes the arrow to the right. Moving the sight or pins to the right will push the arrow to the left…sight adjustments should always follow your groupings.

If you are using a multi pin sight, all of your pins should be in alignment with one another. This means you should only have to make one single horizontal adjustment and all of your pins will be set. However, if you notice you’re grouping left or right at further distance, you may need to make a minor adjustment.

How to Make Vertical Sight Adjustments

Making vertical adjustments is just as simple as horizontal adjustments. Let’s say your arrows are impacting lower than where you’re aiming. In order to fix this, you’ll want to move your sight down. Doing so causes you to raise your bow higher on your next shot, raising your impact. Using your Allen wrench set, take the same steps to loosen the bolt holding the sight. Make the necessary adjustments and tighten it back down.

If you’re using a multi pin sight, you’ll need to individually adjust each pin after your first pin is sighted in. Since each pin corresponds to a different yardage, they will need to be adjusted up or down to find the correct elevation. This may take a little time, but each pin should only need minor adjustments to zero in.

How to Make 3rd Axis Sight Adjustments

While only a small number of bow sights allow you to adjust the third axis, it’s important to be aware of how to do it. These adjustments are generally done either in the extension bar near the head of the sight or the sight level. In order to adjust it, you’ll need to adjust a few setscrews, placing the sight in a new position.

There is no easy way to adjust the third axis and some archers use a sight jig specifically designed for this purpose. The simplest way of adjusting the third axis, however, is to shoot your bow at extreme angles and notice your groupings. Start by loosening the setscrew and turning your level in order to adjust it.

If you’re shooting to the left on steep downhill shots, you need to turn the level away from you. If you’re shooting to the left on uphill shots, the opposite is true. If you can find and shoot on the steepest, longest slope you can find, you can easily adjust your third axis yourself.

Common Sight Adjustment Issues

As you sight in your bow, you’re likely to run into a few issues. Some are easy to solve, while others are more challenging. Below you’ll find a few common issues and how you can go about solving them.

Offset Pin Grouping

One issue many new archers experience is having their pins offset within the sight housing. Remember, you can move both the pins and the sight housing. Many new archers only move their pins, causing them to be grouped in a certain area of the housing. To fix this, you can move the entire sight guard in order to ensure that your pins are centered within the sight housing. Moving the pins themselves should only be done for minor adjustments after being centered.

Adjustment Shortage

Adjustment shortage occurs when you run out of possible adjustments for your bow sight. This will not allow you to continue making adjustments, leaving you unable to finish sighting in your bow. There are several ways to combat this, including trying out an entirely new sight. Before resorting to that, however, you can try to readjust your sight by installing it differently on your bow. Many bow sights allow adjustment forward/backward from the riser by incremental lengths. Moving the sight closer to the riser may provide more adjustment. If that doesn’t work, you may need to increase your poundage.

Sight Clearance

Sight clearance is how much space there is between your bow sight and your arrow. Some archers have such minimal clearance, that their arrow vanes actually hit their sight. This can be caused by a number of things. You may have too high of an anchor point or your peep sight is installed too low. Either of these things can cause you to place your sight too low.

Another possible source of clearance issues is shooting a bow with too low of poundage. This again forces you to lower your entire sight. In order to solve this problem, you’ll either need to try a new sight or simply raise the poundage of your bow.

While these are just some of the most common issues when adjusting a bow sight, there are many more. Most archers will run into these problems and more if they do not have any previous experience. Luckily, almost every local archery shop is more than happy to help you get everything adjusted. They will even teach you how to do all these things as well!

Conclusion

In order to achieve the proper accuracy and precision from your bow, you must adjust your bow sight. While this may seem like a simple task, it can come with plenty of challenges. Now that you’re armed with the knowledge, try getting some practice. You’ll be adjusting your own bow sight and hitting the bullseye in no time!