Archery is a very popular sport that challenges both hunters and target shooters alike. It gives them a chance to practice and improve their skills. Hitting a target, however, is not always so easy. An archer cannot simply point a bow in the general direction of their target and expect to hit it with consistent accuracy. This is where sighting in a bow with bow sights can improve your accuracy.

Bow sights make aiming and shooting a bow much more accurate. They give an archer a point of reference to aim with. This can provide major improvements to both accuracy and consistency. However, the process of setting up and sighting in can sometimes be a little tricky. Here are some of the basic steps that you need to take in order to start sighting in a bow like a pro.

Sight In Pre-Check

Before sighting in your bow, there are a few things you must first check. Without this pre-check, your bow may still be off, even if the sights are correct.

Proper Tune and Setup

Before you get started, it makes the process much easier if your bow is already tuned and properly setup. While you may have to make a few tweaks once your sight is installed and sighted in, starting out with a bow that is in tune will save you a lot of trouble. When it comes to having a properly tuned bow, make sure to check some of the following things.

Draw Length

The draw length on a bow is exactly how it sounds. It is the length that a bow can be drawn. Having the correct draw length is vital to your archery success. An improper draw length for your physical size can not only affect your accuracy, but actually be dangerous! Make sure that you have a properly fitted bow before trying to sight it in. This can be adjusted by using your own bow press or by visiting your local archery shop.

Peep Sight Placement

Just like the rear sight on a rifle, a peep sight is a hole in your string that allows an archer to have a clear line of sight. With a peep sight, you can align your eye, your bow sight, and the target to ensure an accurate shot. It goes without saying that without a peep sight in the proper spot, you will not be accurate while shooting.

A properly placed peep sight will be perfectly in line with your eye while at full draw. Draw your bow and anchor your release. If the peep sight does not naturally come into alignment with your eye, it might need to be adjusted.

Consistent Arrows

Your arrows play just as an important role in archery accuracy as your bow. Before ever sighting your bow, ensure that all of your arrows are consistent. This means making sure they are all an exact match. Every arrow should be the same weight, length, and straightness. If they are different, every shot you make will be affected differently.

Straight Arrow Flight

In addition to ensuring consistent arrows, you need to consider your arrow flight. Do your arrows fly in a straight path when shot downrange? If not, there are a few factors that may affect this. Everything from your release, bow rest, arrow stiffness, nock point, and arrow length could all play a factor. Make sure to correct this problem before sighting in your bow completely and work with a bow shop if necessary.

Any Bow Issues

Lastly, check to ensure that there are no other problems with your bow before sighting it in. There should be no loose or missing parts, missing equipment, or any other issues that could cause problems while shooting.

Correct Archery Form

Your archery form is just as important as your sight in pre-check. If you are using improper form, your shots will be inaccurate no matter how well your bow is sighted in. Follow the proper steps of archery form to ensure a consistent and accurate shot. If you need more detailed explanations, check out our article on archery form and technique.

Archery Stance

Foot placement, can have a positive or negative effect on your shot. If your feet are not positioned properly, you may be affecting your potential accuracy. There are three basic stance positions that most archers subscribe to: open stance, closed stance, and square stance. Find which one works best for you and your accuracy.

Bow Grip

An improper grip is one of the biggest causes of inaccuracy. If you don’t have a proper grip, you will have a hard time sighting in your bow. The most accurate shots are those performed with no hand torque applied to the bow. Squeezing the grip tightly or unintentionally twisting your hand will create the inconsistencies of hand torque.

Posture

Proper posture while shooting may seem insignificant, but it can have a major impact. Ensure that you are not leaning backwards, forwards, or slouching. Your back should be straight like a “T”. Legs should hold equal weight on flat ground and remain relaxed but not bent.

Anchor Point

Anchor points are points of contact that are used as a reference when shooting. These are to ensure that you are setting up with the same form and alignment for every single shot. This will include contact points such as your nose, mouth, fingers, cheek, ear, jaw, etc. It is this consistency that is critical to improving and maintaining accuracy while shooting a bow. Check out our article on How to Find Your Anchor point if you need help with this.

Release

The release is one of the most important steps of the shot process. Don’t jerk the string back or add any extra movement when releasing. Release the string as smoothly as possible by allowing it to slide right off your fingers. If using a mechanical release, avoid “punching” (or grabbing at) the trigger. Wrap your finger around the trigger and use back tension to gently pull the trigger until the bow fires. To see all the different styles of release, take a look at our beginners guide to archery releases.

Follow Through

After your release, avoid the tendency to drop your bow arm immediately afterwards. Allow the bow to drop forward in your hand naturally as you maintain the same posture and stance until your arrow hits the target. If you move during the shot, it will negatively affect your accuracy.

How to Adjust a Bow Sight

Sight in Basics

There are a few basic principles that you will want to know before starting to adjust and move your bow sight. Here are a few basic things to keep in mind.

Sight Placement

Where your sight sits on your bow is very important. The further out it sits from your bow, the more accurate it will be. However, the downside is that aiming becomes much more sensitive to movement and therefore more difficult to shoot.

The closer your sights to your bow, the less accurate you’ll be but less sensitive to movement. Many bow sights give you the option of how to mount it. Personally, I like my sight somewhere in the middle, not too extended and not too close. Choose a distance that you feel comfortable with and fits your level of skill.

Shooting On Level Ground

When sighting in a bow and adjusting your sight, you always want to shoot on level ground. You should also pay attention to your bubble level on the sight as well. Shooting on flat ground will keep everything balanced and as accurate as possible.

Shooting For Groups

When sighting in a bow, you should be shooting for groups first. This means aiming at the bullseye and shooting more than one arrow in a row to see your grouping. Sight adjustments should be made depending on group impact, rather than a single shot. This will help keep everything more consistent. A single shot might not be perfect, but a group of arrows will give you a good idea of where you need to adjust your sight.

Follow Your Impact

This is one of the most common difficulties for new archers when adjusting a bow sight. When changing your point of impact, move your sight towards the point of impact. So, if you are shooting too far to the left, move your sight to the left. This will force you to move the bow further to the right on the next shot, making your point of impact more to the right. This applies to any direction. If you shoot too low, move the sight or pins lower and you’ll shoot higher. If this is confusing at all, it will become clear as you start making sight adjustments and seeing what happens.

Sighting in Your Bow

Now we are finally ready to sight in your bow! This process will be a little different depending on the type of bow sight that you are using (single pin or multi-pin). Keep in mind, you may need a set of allen wrenches to make your adjustments, but here are the general steps that you should follow when starting the process of sighting in your bow:

1. Start close to your target (roughly 20 yards) when shooting. This will make it much easier to hit a target and avoid losing any arrows.
2. Like we mentioned before, make sure that you are shooting for groups. Aim at the bullseye and shoot a group of three to five arrows to make an assessment of the impact. A single arrow will give you an indication, but a group of arrows will provide more clarity of a necessary adjustment.
3. After assessing your arrow group, determine the direction your sight needs to move. If it needs to move two directions start with a single direction first. For example, if your group is hitting low and to the left of the bullseye, let’s start with horizontal adjustments first.
4. Make horizontal adjustments (left or right) in the direction that the arrow is hitting. If you are hitting to the left of the bullseye, move your sight to the left. To do this, you will generally loosen the left/right adjustment screw and adjust the entire sight accordingly. Tighten the screw and shoot another group of arrows. This may take a few adjustments to get just right.
5. Once you have the horizontal adjustments dialed in, move on to vertical adjustments. This step is essentially the same, only for up and down adjustments. For multi-pin sights, you want to move the entire sight for first pin accuracy. Loosen the vertical adjustment screw and move the entire sight and re-tighten after adjustment. Keep testing these adjustments until your first pin is sighted in.
6. After your first pin is sighted in (for multipin sights), you can now move on to the other pins individually. With the first pin being 20 yards, you can now vertically move each of the remaining pins to their corresponding yardages (30, 40, 50, 60, etc.). You simply loosen, adjust, and re-tighten each pin until all yardages have been set. For moveable sights, you simply mark each yardage on your site tape.
7. With your bow sight completely sighted in, the last thing to do is adjust your 3rd axis. Some bow sights will not come with this adjustment. It is however becoming much more common as it allows for more accurate shooting. The 3rd axis of the sight is the rotational axis that the sight level moves on as the sight body angles either toward you or away from you at full draw. To adjust your 3rd axis, hang a string from your ceiling. Now draw your bow and line up your pins with this string at a 90-degree angle. Now, begin to bend at the waist and aim down about 45 degrees. Maintain your vertical level as you follow the string down and watch the bubble. If your bubble moves to one side of the level or the other, then your third axis is off. Find your 3rd axis adjustment and adjust in the proper direction. Adjust as needed until your bubble remains level on flat ground, an incline, and decline.

Troubleshooting

The following are a few common problems and issues that arise when sighting in a bow. If you find any of these during the process, don’t worry. There is always a solution to getting your bow back on track.

Inconsistent Impacts

If you are not getting consistent grouping with your arrows, thoroughly check all of your gear for potential issues. This problem is typically caused by loose or improperly mounted equipment. Check for any loose screws and tighten them down. If the problem still consists, it may be an issue with tuning or inconsistent archery form.

Pin Restrictions

This occurs when you run out of space for your pins during the adjustment phase. If this happens, you can try moving your entire sight and then readjust each of the pins. If this still does not solve the problem, then you may need to shoot heavier poundage. This will increase arrow speed, which in turn decreases the distance between your pins. You can also try moving the sight closer to the riser, shooting with fewer pins, or buying a larger sight if necessary.

Sudden Left/Right Impact Grouping

If you sight in your bow and it suddenly starts hitting to the left or right, the culprit is likely your grip. Changing your grip, even slightly, can change your impact. Make sure that you keep a consistent grip and avoid torquing your bow while shooting.

Sudden Random Shots

If you sight in your bow and get a random shot that does not align with your arrow group, don’t worry. This was most likely caused by a bad release or follow-through error. This is why shooting groups of arrows is so important. It’s also important to realize everyone makes a bad shot from time to time, so don’t let it bother you. Just re-focus on your form and make a good clean shot.

Conclusion

As you can see, sighting in a bow involves much more than simply mounting a sight and shooting the bow. There are many different things to consider and adjust to get your bow shooting properly. The entire process of setting up and sighting in a bow can be challenging. Follow this guide and you’ll have your bow sighted-in in no time, shooting with consistent and complete accuracy.