gmil6184

I have been shooting my bow this morning and i've noticed my arrows are going into the target kind of sideways. I am standing dead even with my block target but when i go to pull them out instead of being at a 90 degree angle with the target they are angled to the left slightly...as if i took two big steps to the left and shot at a slight angle...i hope that makes sense. The bow also appears to be shooting slightly low and to the left. For what its worth i'm shooting beman ICS hunter 400s, with four inch feathers and 100 grain magnus stingers, out of a Bear Truth I, pulling about 68-ish lbs. I also shoot a whisker biscuit. The bow shop i normally go to is three hours away (i'm at school) so if it was just a minor adjustment i would like to do it myself. I like to think my form is very good, and the arrows are grouping very well, just not where they should be. I have read a few articles about walk back tuning and they say if your arrows are drifting low and left as you go back that the rest might have to be moved? I dunno though and i don't want to start moving stuff without a little guidance haha. So any help you guy had to offer would be most appreciated (unless it is "get brand x bow/broadhead/rest"), thanks!

UncleNorby

You may have a tuning issue, but could be other things. Assuming your arrows are correctly spined and your bow is within its specs, and your form is good, etc., the walk back test is easy enough. This is how I do it.

Draw a vertical line on your target and shoot at a specificspot on that line, preferably in the middle of your target (to to bottom). Start shooting at 10 yds, but use your 20 yd pin (as long as you won't shoot over the target)and establish where your arrows are grouping in relation to the vertical line. Then move back to 20 yds and shoot the same pin at the same spot on the line. Repeat at 30 yds, again with the 20 yd pin.

If you see that your arrows are impacting to the left as you move back, move the rest very slightly to the right and repeat the exercise. Do the opposite if they hit to the right as you move back. The goal is for your arrows to fall in a vertical line as you move from 10 to 30 yds.

Once you get that to occur, move the sights leftto rightto get your arrows hitting where they should.

If you are still seeing that yours arrows hit nock-end left, it can't be blamed on your rest position. I'm sure there are many possible explanations, but I'm not the guy to give you that advice.

GMMAT

Great start.

Question.....based on the advice above. I'm trying to think of what I would do if this were occurring with my setup.

Why wouldn't you corrct the flight of the arrow, first (i.e. make sure the arrow is flying "true") and then make a simple sight adjustment? I suppose I'm trying to figure out why where your arrow was impacting mattered......if your flight was still erratic (side to side). Once your arrow was flying ture.....it would seem like a simple sight adjustment would have all problems solved.

Wouldn't you want to make your center shot adjustments first (again....assuming the above, quoted was a given)?

UncleNorby

If the arrows are flying "true", meaning straight, then they should not impact nock left or right. Once they are flying straight, a sight adjustment should be all that's needed.

But, a bow can be adjusted to centershot using the walk-back method, and arrow flight can still be poor for reasons unrelated to centershot. Obvious reasons are form, arrow spine, arrow/fletch contact with cables orthe rest, etc. There are probably others too, and I know I don't understand them all.

I know that occasionally I'll torque the grip and see a fish-tail.

I have no idea what the target material is, but if it has some grain to it, it may grab the arrow and make it seem like they are not flying straight.

Bob H in NH

Could also be the target! If you shoot into the block at the same spot, you can get soft spots which can result in the arrow kicking one way or another. Spin the block around, or shoot at a fresh spot, see if that changes it.

gmil6184

I toyed with the arrow rest and i think i got it almost zeroed in. The arrows are still going in nock left though. I don't think its the target because it has never done this to arrows before. Do you think it could be a spine issue? if i am under spined turning down the poundage should help right?

davepjr71

Turning the bow down could help.

Did you move the rest right until you started getting the problem in the opposite direction and then came back? Try that first and then worry about spine.

Depending on your draw length and arrow length the 400's could be underspined.

If you do not have a combination of the following or shorter the arrow is probably underspined:
29" DL arrow shorter than 28"
28" DL arrow approx or shorter 29.5"

Another way to check all of this if you are a consistent enough shot and you have a 50 yd pin is to shoot the 50 at approx 4 yds and sight it in to be dead on and then go back to 50 yds and see where the arrows are hitting. You will also be able to watch the arrows from this distance and see if they are fishtailing and it will tell you more than just having a little left or right nock when you look at them in a target. I thought mine were hitting right and then shot through paper and then out to 50 and everything was dead on.