Single Pin Sight and Range Finder Pros and Cons

I also want to mention that something you should keep in mind with using a single pin, set at say 25 yards, is that you will lose quite a bit of foregiveness in your own shot errors. For example, if you have a deer at your 30 yard mark, and you shoot him with the 25 yard pin... you better make a good executed shot and not drop the pin out the bottom or you will most likely either hit very low or completely miss. Same with animals at 20 for example. This of course is also dependant somewhat on arrow speed, but even at lower speeds in the 260-270 range, inside of 30 yards, there isn't a great deal of difference in arrow drop from a 260fps arrow and a 300fps arrow. I have tested this quite a bit with my own setup and various arrow speeds.

That lack of foregiveness is the main reason I'm switching back to a three pin setup.

 

Never had that problem ^^^^ but I also shoot fairly fast arrows, even when I used my old Allegiance I was in the 290's + for quite a few years, slightly lighter arrow then at a higher 290-305 fps speed, higher poundage to get those speeds also(65-70lbs) ... at 295fps, I killed dozens of deer with a 380-395 gr arrow using Steelhead XL's and Slick Mags .... I still use 3 pins on the back up bow (Ritual)(Montana Black Gold), its in the 280's so I may go back to a single pin Tetra on it for this coming season .. love the clear sight pic and only that one pin to concentrate on the shot with .. its all about knowing your bow/arrow trajectory and practice ...

 

Great point.
All kinds of people struggle with a form of target panic that causes them to have the pin settle low, it would definitely cause an even bigger miss when the pin is already not dialed to the exact distance.

 

or f up when you split multiple pins wrong or even use the wrong pin, get confused at crunch time .. ^^^^ ...

 

I killed a lot of deer with a single pin sight set at 20 yds. Ain't that hard.

 

I leave mine at 20 also. It’s easier for me to hold over on longer shots if necessary than to remember to hold under at close shots. I’m good without moving the sight to about 35. After that I dial in.


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I think this is a good discussion. I have actually put an enormous amount of time and thought into this very thing in the last couple of years (probably too much... lol). I would like to point out that this is ALL personal preference and everyone should use what they're confident in, period.

For me personally, I am going back to a three pin setup, but most likely on a slider sight. My thought process is that my margin for error is larger, but in range estimation, as well as my not so perfect treestand form and nerves.

My current bow shoots an arrow at around 275fps. Not fast by any means, but thats sort of the penalty you get for shooting lower poundage and relatively heavy arrows. What I found from shooting in the backyard and dialing in my currently double pin Spot Hogg is that with pin at 25 yards, I get about 4" of drop at 30 yards. Outside of 30 and the drop is more significant as the trajectory of the arrow falls much faster. The second vertical pin (non adjustable on the SH double pin sight), falls somewhere around 38 yards, which is pretty accurate from 35 yards to 40 yards.

I am a 40 yard bow hunter and don't take shots outside of this range. Not because I run out of talent, but because I just don't feel comfortable shooting at an animal at ranges over that. I deer can move a mile before that arrow gets there and I'm getting lazier and don't enjoy chasing wounded deer across these mountains anymore.

The scenario that concerns me about my setup is shooting a 32 yard deer with a 25 yard pin. In my testing, I am pushing 6-8" low at 33 yards. Throw in a less than great shot (treestand form and backyard form are worlds different) and I have nothing to help me out there, its a plain miss in many cases. Yes, I could move the sight but I have been in countless situations, especially during the rut, where I have little time to be monkeying with a sight as I may be positioning myself in the tree, looking for lanes, trying to keep another deer from seeing me, etc. All the while, my heart is thumping out of my chest and i'm trying to calm my nerves.

Yes, I could choose the wrong pin. Done it years ago when I was a young fella learning to bow hunt. But for me, and my mindset, I don't have the tendency to do so. Once I have my ranges around me in my head, I simply reference those, tell myself what pin I need and go to work. I don't split pins and don't think you should. If set correctly, they should be plenty close enough to make a good shot with little drop or rise.

With a 20-30-40 pin setup, you should have reasonable spacing between pins. My feelings are, those "in betweener" ranges are far less of a problem for my setup as if I shoot a 34 yard animal with a 30 yard pin, I will be a couple inches low, not 8". Even if the deer is 28 yards for example, and I shoot him for 30, the margin is much closer.

As I said, I have tested all of this with my current setup, shooting off yardages with my pin set at 20-30 or 40 yards to see what I come up with.

For me, its all about a setup that is forgiving of all my mistakes, and trust me, I make plenty, even on the deer I kill. I want to be confident that if I misjudge an animal by a few yards, or I have to lean out off the tree at some odd ball angle, my setup is going to help bail me out a little. I just don't feel a single adjustable pin does that for me unless I move it, which I honestly hate doing when I'm going to kill a deer. I have enough other things to worry about.