Bow Sights - What features are good

[stick]

So I got into bow hunting last year. I bought a fire-sale Bear Truth package, and the sights were a bit on the low end. Good enough to take my first deer this year. However, one of the fiber's broke. I am looking for a better sight overall, but, there are soooo many options. I know there have been threads on what sight is best, but I'm more looking for overall options that you like. In my overwhelmed search, I saw some of the following options:

- number of pins

- orientation of pins (horizontal or vertical)

- different colors of fiber optic fibers or different sized same color for the different yardages

- long fibers for light gathering

- sight lights

- long arm that "cants" the sight out from the bow...does this make it hard to fit in a hard-case? What are the benefits?

- sight level

- tool-less adjustments

- Etc.

Can anyone chime in on their thoughts of the good features to have in a sight?

[skolfoppa]

Keep it simple. You want to see the pins, but more importantly you need to be accurate and confident with your pin yardages. I've had success with a basic 3 pin sight, but the sight has less to do with it than being able to put my arrow where it needs to be consistently. My .02. Skol.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Stick- very good question.. and all I can give you is my opinion.

There are a ton of good sights on the market these days. I really only need one that is easy to adjust, and to be able to see it in low light situations. I amnot all caught up in having a ton of pins, I think it just clogs your sight picture. I hunt with 3 pins.. and really only 2. I have my pins set up at 15 and 30 yards.. and I have a 45 as well but only for practice of if an animal is hurt and needs another arrow to finish it off.. I doubt I would ever use the 45 to actually hunt with.

As for color, red can be hard to see, greens better, yellow may be even better, but can clash with the ground.

Here are my opinions on options...

-A level is nice for practice, but when its game time, I highly doubt you will look at it.

-I too thought vertical pins would be sweet, but have yet to find one that adjusted easily. it also covers up what you are aiming at and does not allow for "gap shooting" as easily.

-long fibers means easier to break in my opinion.. but have been wrong before.

- I am also sceptical of "tooless" adjustments.. to me that means, can change without me knowing.. Once I am set.. I CRANK it down.. I dont want stuff to move!!!

I hunt with a Copper John Dead Nuts Pro.. is it the best?.. Probably not!.. but does it do all I want.. yup.

[mnhunter79]

Black gold flash point is what i use. One feature i like about it, is the fibers are wrapped around the top to gather more light.

[koonie]

Got a schafer sight on order for my new Mathews.

[delmuts]

I start by looking at the overall durabilty of the sight,( Especially the pins!) but the pin colors would be next thing. Try holding them up in a different light condition to see how YOU see them.( Everybody eyes are different) I'm with DD in that i use two pins,( 15 & 30) want something that is adjustable, but can be locked in place once set. Then i start shopping.

[woody1975]

I bought a Truth II this year and had the same question. My thoughts when talking about easy adjust sights is that they are not worth the extra money you spend (As far as hunting goes). Now I can't speak for target and competition shooters, but I set my pins and shoot them in the pre-season. I have not touched my sights (as far as adjusting) all season and once I had them set on my old bow, I never adjusted.

I bought the Extreme RT-900 sight and I love it - Paired with the 5/16 Meta-Peep - The pins light up like Christmas.

My .02

DL

[Meat-Run]

I have 3 pins but truthfully all I end up using the most are the top two pins. My first pin is green and the second one is red and wish I could swap red for the yellow but for the most part if you don't plan on hunting open range or more than 40 yards and if your bow is fast enough I think 2 pins is plenty.

Brand and size is personal preference but maybe if someone can chime in on the distance the actual pins are to the riser, closer or further from the bow how much difference does that make?

mr

[pascooter94]

I also like the black gold flash point, can see the pins in low light.

[eyeguy 54]

Here's a nice sight and just needs an allen wrench so easy to adjust. The wrap around really gathers light well and metal pins are strong. The pin guard has a screw in hole for a light attachment that is really nice if hunting from a blind where it's dark inside. Not legal tho in some states to use a lighted pin. If you like the easy adjust that's also availble but gets a bit spendy for me.

[rbs]

Are you going to be only using it for bowhunting? Reason I ask is that 2-3 pins are fine for hunting...and actually they would be fine for some people for everything, but if you are going to start shooting 3-d or field rounds for practice during the summer you might want to get more pins. I have the copper john dead nuts 2 pro on my bow. It is a 6-pin sight. I have shot 3-d and field targets with this sight and never had a problem. I have my pins set at 20,30,40,50,60,70 and my sight bubble(top of it) is 80yds. My pins are .029 and I was just wondering if at longer ranges if a smaller pin dia wouldn't help me a little bit. I don't really know because I don't have any experience with smaller pins.

Last night I started shooting indoor league and I was having problems with my 20yd pin being blurry. so now I am wondering what else I could do about the pins. Indoors for me at least green tends to blurr out. Red seems to stick out more for me.

I would like to have easier adjustable pins but the sight I have is just the allen screw style. I guess what I am getting at is you need to match the sight to what you will be using it for.

[InTheNorthwoods]

SpotHogg. Bit spendy, but if I could buy any sight this is what I would buy. Rugged, durable, simple.

[BlueBillStacker]

tru glo 3 pin sight with lighted pins for around forty bucks best thing i ever had on my bow next to the wisker biscuit!

[walleyemaniac]

I'm in total agreement with BlueBill, I also use a tru glo 3 pin. The fibers wrap around and gather plenty of light. I can see my pins well after it's dark enough to be hunting. It does have a spot to screw in a light if needed. It's a simple sight so less to go wrong in the field. Green pins stick out better for me in low light but to each his own. I would keep the arm on your sight as short as possible, the more stuff that sticks out on your bow the more your going to snag on twigs, grass... you don't want to knock that out of wack. Get one with a good solid pin protector. I've seen some sights with pretty cheap lookin plastic protectors on them. "K.I.S.S." is the way I like it.