Paper Tuning Question
 

I went to the paper tuning section of this website and it showed the different tears when your bow is out of tune. What is the hole suppose to look like when the bow is perfectly tuned? Not a perfectly round hole I assume. I keep making adjustments, but cannot get it perfect. Also, how important is it that it is exact?
My local proshop does not put much emphasis on it if everything is squared up.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

For me, as a hunter using a behind the nock release point and a drop away rest, not a target archer, I tune my bow to get a perfect bullet hole from 5 feet away from paper. As long as my arrows spin well, I believe this gives me the best potential accuracy with fixed, mechanical or field tips out to the distances I shoot.

I had a pro-shop like you mentioned once. Guy put the rest on, took it out to shoot at 20 yards, bullet hole, said it was tuned. I walked up to the paper, shot, TERRIBLE tear. He looks at me and said " you can' t shoot paper that close. You gotta give the arrow time to settle down" . This is the guy doing the majority of tune work for everyone in town.

I went home, tuned my bow myself and have never looked back. Just cause they own a shop and act like they know it all, doesn' t mean they do.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Rangeball, I agree with you 100% on that. What you are checking is how the arrow is coming off the bow before it is able to correct itself in flight. There are a lot of people who are non-believers in paper tuning out there, but I still do it and believe in it. But, one thing that I will say is that I paper tune to the arrow that I am going to use. So when I using my hunting setup, I paper tune with broadheads.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Some people live by paper tuning. Some completely ignore it. I' m one of the ones who ignores it. It' s nothing more than a basic method to tell you how the arrow is coming off the bow.

The theory is that if the arrow is coming off the bow perfectly straight and leaving a nice round hole with easily defined fletching tears, then the bow is perfectly tuned. In a way, it IS... Perfectly tuned to shoot perfect holes in a sheet of paper. The bow is not necessarily perfectly tuned to shoot with it' s best accuracy.

On the rare ocassion I actually do shoot through a piece of paper, I don' t waste any time trying for the ' perfect' tear (and a waste of time is exactly what going after that perfect tear is). I get it close and then move straight on to fine tuning, making very small adjustments in centershot and nock/rest height, until my groups are as small as I am capable of shooting at the furthest distances I can shoot well, and broadheads are grouping somewhat close to field points. Not necessarily grouping perfectly WITH my field points, but not a foot away either.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Arthur, for me it took exactly 2 shots to get a perfect hole after my last set up change. It would' ve been one shot, but I had the cock feather down, and got rest contact on my drop away. Reloaded, paying attention, release, perfect hole.

I' m too cheap to shoot groups. My arrows are numbered, and if I do my part, each of my arrows will shoot to the same point of impact.

To each his own, but this works very very well for this drop away launched carbon flinging release using hunter.

I should mention that this is another thing I chalk up to quality arrows. The ACCs are so well matched, they allow this to happen, as I don' t have to compensate for arrow flaws or paradox to get he best common ground. If one shoots good, the others do as well.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Same with XX75' s or better.:)

2 shots?? Man, now THAT' S what I call building confidence with repeatability. [&:]:D

Personally, I like seeing those symetrical 3" 4-arrow groups at 60 yards.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Hey now, 2 shots to get it, several more to verify it wasn' t a fluke... It wasn' t :)

I' d shoot for groups at longer ranges. If only I had a place to practice at those distances... Would be a hoot. I' m sure I could find a place, but If only I had the time to find a place... :)

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

That' s true in your case Art, and what you do sure works for you. But you have to admit that not everyone has that type of ability to begin with, well tuned bow or not.

Any tuning method used though will be in a direct corelation of the individuals ability to shoot.

In my own case, I consider a 2-2 1/2 inch group with broadheads to be about my best. Not being able to shoot at the same target with broadheads at 30 yards keeps me happy.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

I am like Art I only use the paper as a starting point in the tuning process.

My main concern is with group tuning and creep tuning (dual cam bow).

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

ABSOLUTELY! And there are probably just as many guys that are incapable of shooting a ' bullet hole' in a sheet of paper as there are that can' t shoot 3" groups at 60 yards.

And it' s due mostly to the fact that they paid more attention to the IBO ratings than they did to their bow' s design when they chose it. The things that make a bow fast make it hard to shoot well. The things that make a bow easy to shoot well also cut arrow speed. Everything is simply a matter of tradeoffs. That' s just plain fact, no matter how many knotheads try to say otherwise.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

I know this has already been addressed before but i never caught it. Can some one please tell me how to tune your bow in good. My sights are dead on and my nock has been aligned with a bow square. My fletching on my arrows are good. I have good form when i shoot and I follow through but my shooting is still not as good as I want it to be. Any technical tips that would help me I would appreciate the help.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Tuning and shooting good can be two completely different yet related things... :)

Did you tune your bow? If not, did a pro shop do it for you?

If you can see your arrows in flight, do they look like they are sailing straight to the target or is the fletched end whipping around somewhat?

When you shoot more than one arrow at the same spot, are you getting tight groups? From what yardages?

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

a.h.,

That' s a heck of a question to try to " sum up" , but I' ll give it a shot. First off, go to Easton' s website and download the tuning guide. Please note before you read this document as a tuning " Bible" that all the adjustments and test results may not apply to you. Many were written for finger release, etc. Just use this as a source to try to understand what adjustments you should be able to make yourself and how they might effect the arrow.

People use all kinds of evaluation methods to see if their bow is " tuned" . The goals are: 1) Proper spine and 2) Proper alignment. aka, " Spine & Align" . This has nothing to do with sight settings. It has everything to do with good arrow flight and tight grouping.

I prefer the " Bare Shaft Planing Test" for several reasons:
a) No additional equipment needed: bow, fletched arrows, " bare" arrows (cut off the fins only, not the bases, for weight), and a target
b) Results are clear-cut and can be measured
c) Tuning to a finer degree can be accomplished by simply backing up to a farther distance and repeating the test
d) Good results in this test have resulted in an easy transition between field points and broadheads
e) The method makes the most sense to me logically

Remember that tuning will not evaluate how close your arrows hit to your current sight settings. You need to tune your bow, THEN adjust your sights later to match where your " tuned" arrows are flying. Don' t try to conform your tune to match current sight settings. Your goal is tight groups, then you sight them in.

Your life will be a lot easier if you don' t carry any pre-conceived notions into the tuning process (i.e., " I' ve got to pull 70 lbs of draw weight." or " My nocking point is supposed to be 3/8" high because Joe' s is and he shoots the same bow." ) Commit yourself to adjust ANYTHING in the goal to attaining good arrow flight, and only compare yourself to your neighbor in HOW WELL YOU HIT WHERE YOU AIM. Not how you compare on a chronograph or how much weight you can pull or how well the blades of your broadhead align with your fletchings.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

i put alot of time paper tuning and jet fustrated i now use fixed blade broadsheards razorbak 125 and line eveything up so it looked squared and the broadheads are grouping with feild points out to 40 yards i dont shoot that far at deer anyway... just nice to no it does.... some people put to much time in paper tuning and not enough on there form... if you got bad shooting
form,paper tuning in use less???

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

I had a buddy that use to laugh at me paper tuning my bow. When I finally talked him into shooting through the paper he was getting a terrible left tear to which he replied " thats ok, it hits where i' m aiming" he was getting good groups.

I then suggested we take the 3-d target out in the woods and have some real life hunting practice. We each took turns placing the target and picking the spot to shoot from, I picked one spot that your arrow had to come real close to a little sapling in order to hit the kill zone on the target. I shot and got a clean kill. He shot and the back of his arrow smacked the little sapling and missed everthing.

We went back to the house and paper tuned his bow and now he does not laugh at me anymore......:D

Paper tuning is a very important part of getting the most out of your set up and a properly tuned set up will penetrate much better than a arrow that is wagging its tail.....

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

....but paper tuning is the beginning of the tuning process. I like to shoot through paper to get a bullet hole....this ALWAYS gets my broadheads close to my field points with good groups each. Then I group tune to get that pin point, top notch flight. I might try that bare shaft planing test again as I didn' t have much luck the first time I tried it.

RE: Paper Tuning Question
 

Not real sure about paper tuning.For years we tuned with a bare shaft.
Vane clearance is adjusted by using powder on the vanes to see where to set the nock.
Guess I' m an old fogey,but this system works fer me.

Joe