Archery or Bowhunters....help

[Boeing]

Folks, getting old here. My right eye's vision is a tad blurry and that's the eye needed to shoot......anything. With that in mind I have ILLUMINATED scopes on all my long guns. I took my compound to the range a few days ago and while I can look thru the string PEEP, and see the pins....the TARGET is pretty blurry.
It was suggested that I try a "rear sight 2X magnifier". I don't know anyone who has tried those and I worry that it would be like trying to see distance with "readers" on.
Another friend suggested a "Verifier" to go into a "Hooded Peep".....that really goes over my head.....Anyone know what these things are and make a recommendation?
I could give up on the long bow and use a crossbow with a scope......but they're heavy and really loud. Thanks

 

[deanocraft]

I have not tried any of the magnifiers on my bow, but I guess my vision may be a little better than yours. I do have to wear my glasses, though... I can still see fine for close up work, but need glasses to watch TV or drive. I'm obviously not privy to your vision prescription, but there are some REALLY inexpensive glasses options on the internet. I believe they all ship from China. I paid $35 for my last pair, delivered to my door in less than 2 weeks. The prescription was perfect. Maybe you could get a distance prescription and get a cheap set for bowhunting. This is where I bought mine... Zenni Optical | Affordable Rx Eyeglasses Online.

 

[nybirdman]

A verifier should correct your problem;that's why they are made.Any sound archery shop should be able to help you out.

 

[handirifle]

Can I ask the obvious question and why you do not just get glasses? Unless it's an un-correctable medical problem, that is the best solution. If you cannot see the target clearly, then you most likely are not seeing it clearly without the peep either. You may not realize it because the brain will use the left eye to compensate.

Glasses are not the end of the world. Going to a crossbow is sacrilegious!

 

[buickanddeere]

Bow hunters need to do something different. My butcher found three arrow heads after processing 180 deer this year.
Need weight, velocity and sharp edges.

 

[Shaneard]

Bow hunters need to do something different. My butcher found three arrow heads after processing 180 deer this year.
Need weight, velocity and sharp edges.

Did he find 3 arrow heads in a field? Were they the kind the Indians used to kill their food? You need to be more specific.:laughing:
In all seriousness I've probably lost as many deer with a gun as I have a bow. I would say there are more deer wounded and lost with a bow though. Can't hit em if'n you don't shoot at em is what I say.

 

[Boeing]

This is a very good question. I wore glasses for decades and endured them fogging up in cold weather and whenever I tried to wear a ski mask or face protector hunting. Then I was becoming more and more blurry. It was determined that I have/had Fuchs Dystrophy. This is a non correctable loss of corneal cells. The worst eye was/is my right eye. (my dominant eye). A new procedure called "D sect" allows a corneal transplant of just a thin section of a "donor" (cadaver) eye to be put into my eye. I had that done to both eyes 2 years ago. Wahlah...I was 20/25 in R eye and 20/20 in the left. NO GLASSES!!!! It was so exciting to see things crystal clear for the first time EVER!!. But....afterr 6 months or so the Right eye started getting blurry and "white fog" and the eye specialist has no idea why.... You're right, the left eye seeing great makes my brain thing all is well but when I look thru a peep or a scope...all is NOT well. A scope is fairly good cause it magnifies things so much. They did try glasses on me again which makes it clear but the "fog" remains. If I could learn to shoot "left eyed...."

 

[tractorshopper]

Could you try switching to a left handed bow?

 

[wrangler6831]

I don't use a verifier in my current bow, but have shot with them and I was impressed with the results. I really cleared things up. Now you have me thinking about changing my setup.....

 

[jemclimber]

You could/should get rid of the peep sight. It restricts the light coming to your eye and makes it harder to see. Aging eyes need more light, I speak from experience. All the peep sight does is give a semi consistent reference spot to align the front sights, depending on how large of a hole (aperture) it has. A larger hole which is easier to see also makes it less accurate because your eye may not be centered.
I I use is a timberline no peep, some use a kisser button, and there are other no peep sight options available. The bottom line is there are better ways to consistently align your eye to the front sights that don't reduce the incoming light thru a small hole. The timberline also lets you shoot with both eyes open which most pros recommend.

 

[roadhunter]

I suspect a kisser as a reference point would work. I have a nail that is on my release that I put in the corner of my mouth when I draw. After a while it is second nature and no peep necessary. I lost a little bit of accuracy but I found trying to shoot from a dark blind in the early/late hours was really difficult with a peep. Both eyes open is much better in low light conditions for my eyes.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I shoot two eyes open with the right being dominate, left just focuses on the outline of the target to make sure I'm in the area I need to be and seeing the target correctly.

I have never used a magnified sight either but I used to go to a lot of competitions and a lot of the competition set ups use magnified sights.

You also said you use a longbow? Not compound?

Regardless it sounds like you either need to get glasses or you need to relearn how to shoot your bow, they make a large hole 3 string peep which I use for low light conditions but I have shot a compound bow with no peep and no sights accurately before as a kid fooling around so it's all about repetition. I shot that bow like you would a recurve aiming down the arrow, not nearly as accurate but it would have been good enough to kill a deer on the ground at 30yds.

I have been a hunter most of my life and I can speak for many of us that we practice so the animal dies quickly and with the least amount of pain as possible. I don't trophy hunt, if I get a buck cool, if not my freezer is number one before a trophy on the wall.

In my mind whatever you decide to use I would suggest you thinking about the animal first and not your pride, if your not confident with your bow please don't use it and buy a cross bow with a proper scope.

When you take a deer into the Processer is he gonna care what weapon you used to harvest the animal? No he will judge you on how clean the shot is.

I own both a compound and last year I bought a Excalibur Exocet 200 for one particular stand that's in a hot location but you absolutely can not get away with ANY motion but I shot a doe with that bow and center punched the heart in a 15ft treestand at about 25 yards. That my good sir is why we practice. That's by far the most accurate crossbow I have ever had the pleasure of using, I can literally split arrows one after another at 30yds.

So whatever your reason for hunting, meat or sport remember that the animal comes first, you need to decide based on what's best for the harvest and not what's best for your pride.

 

[nybirdman]

Cross bows are not legal in all states.NY has a very limited season currently.Myself if the day comes I can't hunt with my bow I will wait until muzzle-loader season.

 

[Boeing]

BrokeFarmer.....I agree whole heartedly...and always have. I'm a "meat hunter". If a 150 lb doe and a 145 lb Buck are in range, the doe is mine. AND....I've passed many. many running shots, thru the brush shots etc 'cause I want a clean kill. I stopped using recurves/longbows the day I was introduced to compounds. I have a nice "Cheetah" 65lb 320FPS but it is now about all that I can draw back. I wrote about my sighting issues. I'd like to TRY a magnifier but don't want to spend $100 without at least trying one. The crossbow is pretty accurate but not nearly as much as the groups that you are getting. I have a illuminated Excalibur scope on it and usually a 6" group at 20-30 yards. Thanks for the input.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

BrokeFarmer.....I agree whole heartedly...and always have. I'm a "meat hunter". If a 150 lb doe and a 145 lb Buck are in range, the doe is mine. AND....I've passed many. many running shots, thru the brush shots etc 'cause I want a clean kill. I stopped using recurves/longbows the day I was introduced to compounds. I have a nice "Cheetah" 65lb 320FPS but it is now about all that I can draw back. I wrote about my sighting issues. I'd like to TRY a magnifier but don't want to spend $100 without at least trying one. The crossbow is pretty accurate but not nearly as much as the groups that you are getting. I have a illuminated Excalibur scope on it and usually a 6" group at 20-30 yards. Thanks for the input.

Maybe hit up bow shops and browse there used bow area, they may have a competition bow with a magnified sights you can shoot before you go out and buy one.

The shots I was talking about with my crossbow were basically bench shots, I can't shoot the same target twice without splitting a bolt or shaving a fletching, I was really impressed with the Excalibur.

also I might add that when I got my crossbow I scrapped off all the vanes off the bolts and used the same 2 in vanes I use on my compound, my fletching tool puts a helical on the vanes. I shoot off the ground on a target and the stand in question has a gun rest which I used to shoot the doe last year.

I chose a recurve crossbow because there more accurate and more reliable but are not as fast, I had a clean pass threw on that doe and it stuck in the dirt 6 inches, at first I thought I missed because she ran behind a tree and I could see the white fletchings of the bolt from the stand, until I saw the blood on the shaft and vanes. I waited around 45 mins, she was laying by that tree 20 yards from where the bolt was. I use two white and one orange vane, always have. I don't wrap my shafts.

I use grim reapers for my compound and montec fixed blades on my crossbow.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Now that I think about it, most magnified sights I have seen only have one pin, the shooters would adjust the site to the yardage they thought the target was, very accurate but not likely to get away with that much movement with a deer. Idk if there is multi pin magnified sights

 

[Pete O]

I second the 'No Peep' made by Timberline; a quick google search should find it easily enough. I've been using one for about 8 years. There is another brand making a similar gadget which they claim is better, can't recall the name.
Looking through a peep sight is like a camera with a small aperture setting, there is just not enough light coming through the peep to form an image. I used to find that when shooting rabbits at dusk, I would see the rabbit, draw, go to aim and not be able to see the darn thing through the peep. You can go to a bigger peep aperture but it defeats the purpose of the peep somewhat, you lose accuracy. The ideal is to not need any rear sight at all, just good shooting form with perfect repetition, the no-peep helps to acheive this.

 

[Boeing]

John,
I've been searching the "net" for magnifying sights. I cannot get an answer to a fairly simple question. Do the lenses magnify the sight PIN....for close vision problems...or magnify the TARGET for long dist vision problems? Might you know that? thx

 

[deanocraft]

It looks like a verifier is for seeing your sight pins... Specialty Arch Verifier HD 214 - YouTube

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

John,
I've been searching the "net" for magnifying sights. I cannot get an answer to a fairly simple question. Do the lenses magnify the sight PIN....for close vision problems...or magnify the TARGET for long dist vision problems? Might you know that? thx

As far as I know it magnifies the target. In competition archery, 1/4 inch to center can mean the diff from a win or doing well in the competition.

They don’t magnify much like 1.5 or 3x if I remember correctly. You can only magnify so much to be legal at a competition with sights. Binoculars also, there is a limit to what you can use and I have seen guys spend mins looking threw binoculars to implant the 10 or 11 point ring depending on the competition.

We just went to competitions to get better for hunting, there is local competition schedules we used to follow to different gun clubs or whoever was hosting the competition that weekend.