OKbowhunter

I use to think all you had to do to tune a bow was paper tune at 10 feet and if it shot a bullet hole, you were good to go. Then things became confusing when people started saying your field points and broadheads should hit in the same spot. Then some people would say paper tuning is useless, you should utilize group tuning. And then there is bare shaft tuning.

First of all, I don't see how your broadheads and field points should group exactly because of the shape and aerodynamics of a broadhead. Some people say you should move your arrowrest until the two group together, some say just to move your sights. Can someone just give me the BOTTOM LINE on what to do?

My goal is for the arrow to be as accurate as possible and to maximize the penetration potential of the arrow as well. I believe a "true" flying arrow is the key to maximizing penetration. Should I paper tune, group tune or both? This is for a hunting setup only, I don't care about 3-D or target shooting. Again, accuracy and penetration is my main goal. I shoot a Q2 and carbon arrows if that helps. Thank you.

hunter9022

I personally beleave in group tuning. Just take one of your arrows and scrape all the fletching off of it. Then, shoot a group of regular arrows, then shoot your bare shaft in the same group. It should be right there with the others. If its hitting low, bring down your nock point, if its high, bring your nock point up. Just play with it. Be careful though, i was doin it the other day and robin hooded another one of my good arrows. The main thing u want is all your energy behind your arrows, and thats not happening if your arrows are wobbling all over. Try the bare shaft method though, once u get it really close, shoot your broadheads, they should be right there.

ijimmy

This is probably the most debated thing on this board , how to tune a bow . Short answer = group tune . I've used many methods in the past , as of late I've gone to the broadhead tuneing method first and though I usealy cant get them to hit the same spot I get them close , when I get consistant groups with broadheads I'm done , for me it's usealy a group just right of my feild points but hiting the same spot every time . But thats me ,your results will probably be diferant as everyone grips or holds a bow diferantly . Bottom line you are trying to hit what you aim at and group tuneing is all about that . In my opinion bareshaft and paper tuneing can be dificult or deceiving . Many pepole strive for an 11 o'clock tare .

We all have different oppinions , if we did'nt the world would be a BORING place

PABowhntr

All in all, I agree with the two previous posts. If I am left with an "either or" choice then I will definitely group tune. Both have their merits under certain situations but the desired end result is the key.

tobyn

EASTONARCHERY.COM HAS A TUNING MANUAL IN ADOBE FORMAT TO DOWN LOAD.
I BELIVE IN THE GROUP TUNING I HAD ONE OF THE ORINGAL MATTHEWS THAT WOULDNOT PAPER TUNE BUT WOULD ALWAYS HIT WERE YOU AIM....
YOU ARE RIGHT THE BROADHEAD AFFECT THE ARROWS BUT MOST PEOPLE WOULDN'T NOTICE IT AT 25 YARDS IT MORE AT 35-40 THAT THE COUPLE OF % FOC STARTS SHOWING UP....AND THE SPEED....I HAVE HEARD THAT 250 FPS IS ABOUT MAX FOR A FIXED BLADE BROADHEAD, I SUPPOSE THAT WOULD MATTER ON MANUFACTURE.
IF YOU LIKE TO TINKER TINKER AWAY, BUT REMBER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO GET IT BACK!!!

CBM SC

Having put myself through a lot of frustration over the same thing, I'll give you some advise I received from a hunter with 600+ big game animals under his belt "Why don't you try expandables". I took his advise and haven't looked back !!

BobCo19-65

OKbowhunter, I know your delema.

One piece of advice from me here. DON'T bareshaft tune with broadheads. It can become very dangerous.

I know that I am the minority here when it comes to group tuning and papertuning thats OK by me.

Also, to me it is OK to have a different tune for your bow with field points and broadheads. You are correct in that there is different aerodynamics for each. And each will affect the spine or the arrow differently. So trying to get them to hit exactly the same usually does not happen. At least for me it doesn't. If they do, it is because there is a compromise.

I am still a believer in paper tuning arrows with broadheads. My reasoning is because it shows the arrow flight off the bow. If the arrow is coming off the bow correctly, it will not have to correct itself downrange. An arrow that has to correct itself downrange is difficult to do with a fixed broadhead.

One of the biggest problems that bare shaft testing will show is arrow contact with the bow (clearence problems). However, I have successfully used other methods to show problems. First of all I use a drop away rest. So I know that there is not clearence problems on my rest. Second, I use spray foot powder around areas that may have contact. Third, I use some lipstick on the edges of the fletching (this is also good to do with papertuning). Currently, I use four 5 inch fletching on my arrows and don't have any problems in that area.

Another thing that I found helps in papertuning is making sure that your arrows are spined correctly and consistantly. If you have a shaft that has been used a lot and try to papertune along side of new shafts you may have a problem and a big headache trying to papertune. Also, a tip that I recently had given to me here on the forum, is to find the weak sided spine of the arrow and keep that weak spine pointing down. You may want to do a search on the forum to find that thread.

Edited by - BobCo19-65 on 01/29/2003 08:59:07

Ossage

This isn't an either or thing. You have to start with the objective. Is it proper arrow flight, or is it hitting the target with maximum accuracy. Paper can be better for flight, and accuracy is more like group tunning. Usualy folks will use a little paper tuning to check that the bow is working properly, and then move on to groups, and then maybe check the flight again. Gold medalist Jay Barrs goes through a back and forth process that lasts months.

The first thing above decribed as group tuning is actual bare shaft tunning, of sorts. This is a good system also, and has become a fairly necesary process for tuning trad bows, where the sources of feedback are fewer, and arrow spine is a bigger issue.

I think that particularly for hunting, you can forget the whole thing. I could set up a bow with which I am fairly familiar to shoot good groups for hunting without any kind of tuning proceedure at all. And that is how it is done 90% of the time in pro shops accross the country. If you want to push for the last bit of accuracy and performance, by all means do so. These techniques get talked about a lot because they are like little secrets (though obviously no more). But the fact that the vast majority of animals have been shot with bows that were never paper tunend or anything similar speaks to the need. With the high performance gear we have these days, sure you need to be more careful, or you could just shoot a decent sized fletch.

The whole thing about broadheads and field points is mostly driven by the RPS system. The industry model assumes you have one bow only, and you have one set of arrows, and you want to plug and play, no tuning beyond initial set-up at the pro shop. The magic that would make this pro shop based method work is if when you can change the points the point of impact would remain the same. Sadly this is easier said that done. But like a lot of stuff we are stuck with the assumptions. If you own multiple bows, or arrows, you might as well forget about the whole thing.

As far as getting a straight arrow, just shoot at a target with someone looking over your shoulder, and they can tell what your arrow is doing out of the bow.

I am not knocking tuning. It is tough for me to do, since I live in a city without much access to archery facilities, and yet, have about 20 bows, and try to keep active in different kinds of shooting. So I have to figure out a way to get the bow shooting and sited in without a lot of tuning. If I have a fully equoped 40 yd range, I would tune to the nines.

BOWFANATIC

I paper tune strictly for hunting and group tune strictly for 3d.
Paper tuning is to achieve best arrow flight for maximum penetration. Group tuning is mainly for competition shooting. When I group tune , I could care less what kind of tear I get in paper.

>>>---Doug--->

Arthur P

You can have good arrow flight but rotten accuracy, and you can have good accuracy but rotten arrow flight. You want both good arrow flight and good accuracy, so tune for both.

Paper tuning is a good starting point for a good tune job, not the end product. Once you get the arrows flying good, you want to get them flying good and consistently hitting where they're aimed. So, you go to group tuning to tweak your tune for best accuracy.

Bare shaft tuning is a lot more applicable to fingers shooting (compound as well as traditional) than it is to release shooting.

Edited by - Arthur P on 01/29/2003 17:49:36