Dnoodle. If you can move your sight in, it will tighten the gap and might allow you to get 35 and 75 dialed in exactly.
I agree we should all study our trajectory, even the fast bows. We need to know how it can work for us or against us. I killed a deer one time that I put my pin on a tree limb. I knew the deer was a few yards behind it and my arrow will pass right over and into the kill. Heart shot that doe and she only went 20 yards. Son's second bow kill was kind of the same thing. He said there is a leaf (sycamore tree) in the way. I said shoot, you won't even touch it and he lung shot her. Of course I knew he would have blown through that big leaf like it wasn't even there and still killed the deer.
Of course, everyone knows how I believe trying to watch one's arrow-flight is the bane of hunting accuracy. (likely the chief cause of "I hit one too far back, and don't know why.")That being said, it is interesting to watch one's arrow flight to, about 25 yards. There is a point (18 yards for me) where we literally see the arrow rise (crest) above the line of sight them come back down to the target. Very few seem to understand the physics involved in trajectory. The arrow begins its journey well below the line of sight, travels through the line of sight and drops back to it again. The further the shot the more pronounced this crest becomes. It may be several feet or even several yards at long distances. I can't agree more with KNOW your arrow's trajectory and make sure you not only have a hole to shoot through, but that the hole is large enough for it. I too have aimed at a limb and allowed an arrow to rise over it. I have also not taken shots because I knew, even though I could see my target clearly, I knew I would hit a limb above my line of sight.
This is true but having the pins set dead on insures the mistakes made are on the shooter or deer moving and not because the pin isn't in the right spot to begin with.
I think this is a bad habit to get into IMO. I have a similar sight, but I still practice with my 20 and 30 yards pins am all distances. What happens when a you draw at a deer at 23 yards, he doesn't present a shot and moves to 37 and stands broadside. You come off full draw to "dial it in". Shot my buck this year with my pin set at 30 yards taking a 38 yard shot. Aimed high vitals and drilled it.
I shot a doe 2 seasons ago; quartering hard away and facing uphill. I estimated 40 yards (rare shot distance for me). I shot and watched the arrow go high, over the spine and enter above the off shoulder and travel through the Jugular. I thought I missed. The deer was actually at 37 yards when I stepped it off. Very... very ill advised shot at a rashly estimated distance and an even luckier recovery. Please don't hammer me... yes, I knew better. The point being is that 3 yards of misjudgment... 3 yards... made an enormous difference in poi, probably more than a foot. While it may be okay to gap aim or whatever we call it, thinking a yard or two doesn't matter at close range, It definitely becomes crucial at longer distances.
This used to be a problem back 20 years ago last time I bowhunted. Just got a PSE Momentum and started hunting recently. I've done plenty of practice, both target and in the field with judos. Now I don't even worry about it cause. My top pin is set at 15 yds but it's good for me 0-20. @nd is probably dead on at 27-28 but anything 20+ - 32 I'm good. 3rd is dead on at 45yds so mid30's to almost 50 it's good. These new bows are great and as long as I'm close I know I got a good chance! And plenty of bows out there a lot faster than mine so I know they're even better!
35-50 is a pretty big change in distance to stay in the kill zone. I am guessing I would drop at least 2 feet between those two distances at 230ish fps. Probably a bit more.
The range inside my shop is 34yd and that's what I usually practice at. On stand I set my site at 25yds. That's my comfort zone and with that I can shoot with confidence 20-30yd. If a deer moved off further and is relaxed it's far enough for me to let down and re-range him. If not I won't take the shot. I've made short work of game out to 68yds but they had no idea I was there but when I dialed in 68yds on my site the shot was dead nutz. I like that. Their new site will be great to be able to practice out to 100yds Kilboars Hunt Club
I want to make sure I don't miss. 24 and less, hold 20 a little high, 25 and more hold 30 and a little low. The best thing to do is shoot those in between yardages at the ranget and know how many inches the drop off is. Then you can get more comfortable with which pin you want to use.
You're right Muzzy I said that wrong? 3rd is on at 40 and good out to about 45yds. But if I'd take the sight off this new bow with the spacing already set the way it is and put it on the High Country I had in early 90's the pins would be about right for aprox 15, 20, & 25 yds. Or very close IMO.
Not considering the drag, which is always acting against an arrow and slowing it down at various rates depending on various factors; all objects, no matter how fast, fall toward the ground at the same rate. So an arrow traveling 300 fps forward, if it were possible to maintain this speed, would still fall the same amount in one second as one traveling 250 fps. This equates (with no adjustment for drag or acceleration) to both arrows falling 4.9 meters over the first second or approximately 16 feet. The faster arrow would fall 16 feet in 100 yards. To put this in perspective, one would need to aim at the peak of the roof line of an average house to hit a rabbit sitting on the ground 100 yards away. This same adjustment for gravity would have to be made for the 250 fps bow at 83 feet. At 50 yards the 300 fps bow would still fall almost 8 feet if falling velocity is constant (which it is not) The slower bow would fall the same 8 feet at 41 1/2 yards. Divide this again to get the average shot distance of 20-25 yards and both bows, still have approximately 4 feet of trajectory to deal with Admittedly, this is very rudimentary physics (not considering gaining velocity over time and distance) but it should illustrate the point that no bow is fast enough to be dead on from zero to 30 yards, as many seem to claim. The fact of the matter is, our sight pins are set to allow for gravity to do its job... this is perhaps best illustrated in the growing distance between subsequent pins, i.e. our 20-30 yard pins are closer than our 30-40 yard pins. You may set a sight pin at 30 and be dead on at 30 and dead on at 15, true, but you will definitely be hitting high at 20-25 yards to do so, probably a lot more than you think. We hear of many high hits at this range... and yes, deer do duck the string... sometimes... but most of the high hits people experience are due to arrows cresting in the flight path higher at that middle range than the archer believes. An arrow hitting exactly the same at all ranges between zero and 30 yards is simply impossible in the 1/4 second it takes to travel that distance.
Drawdown, you need to study trajectory a bit more. You're not alone in this so please don't think I'm picking on you. A 5 yard miss at 40 yards will miss the vitals on the vast majority of bows today. For me, it's only about a 2" difference in the point of impact with 70 fps. Difference at a 45 yard shot that was shot for 40. Just check out the trajectory chart I provided. 2" difference at 35 yards with a 30 zero. That chart is showing close to 100 fps differences.
I never split pins. If it is at 25 or so yards, I aim like 2-3 inches high with my 20 yard pin. I like to make things simple and focus on the shot.
I have split pins and used the 20 and 30 yard pin and shot either high or low while target shooting. When shooting at an animal I have typically used a 20 or 30 yard pin and focused on a spot either high or low depending on which pin I was using. Works for me.
