Breachin

So I've been wanting to Bow hunt for years now and finally found the time where I can sit down and get a decent starter bow and have time to shoot. I'll give you my setup and then ask some questions in a minute...

Reflex Excursion
Tru Glo sights in a package deal with a stablaizer, tru glow bristle rest, this rod thing holding my strings back, a D loop, and a Quiver...
Some RedHead Carbon arrows.
Scotts mongoose release

I'm a rather short guy so my arrows are really short 25" to be exact.

I got all this for about 400.00$ my buddy who is shooting a 900$ hoyt and has been shooting forever is helped me get the set up. What made me think I have such a good deal is my buddy loves it and the store guy told us I'd have this bow for a long time so I guess I should be pleased.

Well we get back with it and start shooting right away. I grouped on the first 5 arrows and most groups close to the size of a 50 cent piece. I know with a m16a2 I can put a 25cent piece group together so shooting is kinda natural for me. But after hearing my buddy talk to others and listening to the more experienced guys I've come to the conclusion the only way to be super acurate would be to tune your bow.

My question is how do I tune what do I tune what do I need to tune, to get the best possible accuracy?. Does anyone have any tips for shooting such as what arrows to use for high impact and going to fly accurately with that short of an arrow? Good broadheads for an arrow that size that will not affect my shot? Or any opinons tips hints anything at all. Everything is welcomed...




Breach

Loadsmasher

ok, in my opinion, (just MY opinoin) get a new sight, Im assuming your sight pins are probably .29, try getting a sight with .19, second get a drop away rest, i love the vaportrail limbdriver I'm sure many people will agree and disagree with that rest. The mongoose is a good release, that is what I startes out with and now I have the Tru-Ball Short n Sweet (BIG DIFFERENCE). As far as arrows you want to practice with waht your going to use during the hunt. with a short draw length like 25" try a Carbon express maxima 250. This is just my opinion, you dont really need it but you might notice a difference, for a starter bow setup your good to go. Just my opinion.

Vabowman

if you are putting arrows in group the size of a 50 cent peice, don't go "F" with itthen!! Leave it!! I know from trial and error myself. I got my new Ally shooting damn good, I ain't messing with nothing. The way I see it, if I can hit the vitals every time, then Im good, I like tight groups, but hitting the vitals every shot is far more important to me, I have shot the new bow at least 50 shots, and from 8-26 yds, I have not missed the vitals one time. Good enough for me, Im no competition shooter and don't plan to be. Im a bowhunter, and you don't get too many chances to group arrows at a live deer!!! make itr count with the first shot.

Austin/WI

I second this. To be honest your accuracy sounds pretty darn good right now. Don't mess with a good things IMO. Practice, Practice, Practice is all I would recommend from now until deer season. Practice from stands if you can, shooting different ranges; also try to practice with clothing similar in size and bulk to what you will hunt in.

NEW61375

Just keep practicing. I wouldn't recommend any new equipment or changes. If you are interested in checking the "tune" of the bow most decent shops will have someone knowledgeable enough to check your bow and maybe shoot it through some paper(google: paper tuning an arrow). Like others have said, practice from stands in hunting gear(when you can), develop a system to repeat everything the same way every shot (i.e. Stance, Draw, Anchor, Aim, Release, Follow Through). That will definitelyhelp you at longer ranges. Don't be scared to practice at longer ranges as you get more comfortable, I don't recommend shooting at longer ranges at deer and such but practicing at longer ranges will make the closer ranges seem like chip shots. Once you are confident in your shooting you may want to get a broadhead target and start thinking about shooting some broadheads, if you know anyone you think is a knowledgeable bowhunter maybe ask for some mentoring from them as far as broadheads and other details(there is a ton of broadhead info on this site as well).

Beyond just shooting, bow hunting itself is an entirely different animal than gun hunting. Attention to detail in stand placement is crucial, like wind direction, height, available cover, etc. The importance of all of these thingsis magnified a ton when you are trying to not only get adeer within bow range but also draw a bowon them undetected.

Just my opinions, I'm sure if you stay tuned to this site you will pick up loads of useful info. Just don't get overloaded, a simple approach has less room for error so "Keep It Simple Stupid" is a decent motto to usemost of the time when you are starting out(and as you gain more experience it will still apply).

Breachin

Thanks guys, but when I said I was grouping on 50cent pieces I wasn't lieing but its so far away from bulls eye... Like a good 3inches, so some sight adjustment would work better, problem is I don't know what to mess with to change sights... I'm leaning on the allen wrenches on the side of the sight pinsto change up and down and I haven't figured left right.

Austin/WI

I need to make sure I have this straight, you can get groups about the size of a half dollar - but the groups themselves are consistently not on the bullseye (or the point of aim)? This is how I understood you post, so if this is true, then the next question is do you group to the left or right, high or low? These things can be fixed very simply by adjusting the sight itself in the direction of the arrows, no tuning to the bow is necessary it sounds (as your group size is already pretty good). So if your grouping left consistently, adjust your sight left. To adjust the sight, try to fix one problem at a time (ie: one smal adjustment at a time) and make very small adjustments moving the sight aperature up or down as needed in only very small amounts. Same goes for left and right.

Also before you start moving sights around, mark the original location of sight, both on the vertical and horizontal axis. This way if things get worse for some reason, you can pretty easily return it back to the original settings.

The key to this is consistency. If your groupings are consistently left, right, high, or low of the POA then adjustment is needed.

Breachin

Thats exactly whats happening. Now and I've ruined two arrows already I think I should get some more. One arrow hit the other on the shaft and bent them both preety bad.

So theory is changing your sights to follow where you hit. So if my shots are going left move the pin to the left correct? Now what screws do i loosen to adjust it up and down and left to right?

crutch

Some good info! If your shooting left, move sight slightly left. If shooting low, lower your sight slightly.Same goes for shooting high or right. Like AW said, do small adjustments at a time. After I adjust mine I will shoot a few arrows just to make sure the arrows are hitting the same area.

Vabowman

That's good, your almost there then, just always remember to follow your arrow when adjusting the sight. If it shoots left, move it over to the left, if it shoots right......you get the pic..