13pointjomc

anyone use a pendulum sight? my bow has a 3 pin sight but I don't like using a rangefinder while I'm hunting and a pendulum I've heard adjust itself out to 35 or 40 yards.

popeandyoungchaser

Thats a good question. I havent seen one or read about any in years. I honestly don't remember how they work. Lol

redmag

I have used them with great success. I had it on a PSE and an Outback. Right now I am using a 3 pin setup on my Outback but I may go back to the pendulum. It is best to try an set your stand on as level an area as you can because they can be off shooting down (say the ground drops off) or up (bank behind you, etc). I don't know of all the possible makers of the pendulum sights but I liked the Savage sight over the Keller. I found that Keller rattled too much at the shot.

Jim

VTBoneCollector

I bought one and practiced with it all summer. It was fine on the ground but when I got 30 feet up in the air it didn't seem to hit where I was aiming. Not sure if it was hitting low or high, because that was a couple of summers ago, but there was no way that I was risking a bad shot on a deer. I switched back to my old sight. My brother has used one for years with success and swears by them, so I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.

OhioNovice

I thought about getting one and did some serious research. From all the pro's I talked to they all basically said the same thing. They aren't typically necessary with the short distances that most bow hunters shoot and the speed at which modern bows shoot. They pretty much said that your arrow isn't going to drop fast enough at such a short distance to warrant a pendulum sight.

BGfisher

Good advice from whomever those pro's were. Set a single pin for 25 yards and then see where it hits at different distances. Assuming a modern compound bow and shooting most whitetail scenerios you'll find about a 4" drop at about 33 yards, 2" high at 20 yards.

Assuming a normal sized deer with an 8" vertical vital you should be able to hold mid-body on anything within 30 yards and just shoot.

This negates the need for a pendulum sight with moving parts and the extra noise it may make. Plus, if it's good from up in a tree then it's of little use on the ground.

Mojotex

Many eyars ago now .... I tried one for a few years ... a Cobra brand two pin. For about 40 years now I usually hunt from a tree stand set up about 20 ft. Shots I get are less than 35 yards 90% of the time. I set the top sight for 20 yards dead on at 20' off the ground. That put the bottom sight dang near dead on at 35 yards. I had zero issues as far as accuracy.

I did switch back to a 2-pin sight a few years later after the pendulum froze up on me while I was hunting on sleeting/snowy day. I set for dead on at 20 and 40 yards at an elevation of 20'. This was what I was used to for some 20 years or so before the pendulum ... again I found not issues at all with accuracy and clean kills out to 35 or so yards.

Bottom line with adequate practice, there is really not much of an advantage in my book to a pendulum.

1958bowhunter

YES!!. I'm a bow hunter for over 25 years now and that's all I've ever used.Started out with an old Keller. I've tried many different ones some were great, and some not so great.
These days I have a basic Truglo pendulum. It's very simple and never "sticks" and very easy to see the pin.My advice is get one with a simple design. Some out there are overdone. Predator IV for example. Some will say it's old school and bows now days are plenty fast to compensate for height and short yardage shots. That's fine, and may be true, but I can knock the hairs off a chigger's butt using a pendulum so that's what I stick with. Over the years I've found out that one has to use what one is comfortable with. That pertains to everything, starting with your bow and on down. It doesn't matter a flip what everybody else tells you, it's what "you" like. Follow your heart. You'll be successful.

jerseyhunter

I used a Keller for years, Than switched to a Savage QC Ranger. Now I'm back to a 3 pin. Did take deer with it, but the problem is shooting up hill. Furthest shot was 39 yds.

Nomercy448

My opinion is that it's a fun theory, but it's really a gimmick. Way too many variables come into play when you talk about how pendulum sights are supposed to work for me to believe that it's anything more than luck, or the normal wide margin for error in archery/bowhunting. Pendulum sights, by design, result in a higher position of your bowsight if you're shooting uphill or downhill, does that make sense to anyone at all? No, it doesn't (if it does to you, then you REALLY need to go back to high school).

Practice is what's important for varied angle shots. Flatter shooting bows don't make up for everything, nor does any bowsight. Knowing where your rifle is going to hit before you release the arrow is what's important.