Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting How many pins

Debating a new sight and wondering what people use and like.
I see three pins, 5 pins, 7 pins.
My shots thus far have been inside 20 yds on pigs.
Debating elk hunting this year and will probably limit myself to 40 yds with some more practice this spring and summer.
What's your favorite sight?
I currently have a trophy ridge react 5 pin that I like, but wonder about breaking the plastic housing when I do something stupid at an inopportune time.
Are the 7 pins too cluttered/crazy when you've got an elk or deer in range?

If you have 7, do you sight in at 10-70 or 20-80 or??
Thanks

Depends on several things. How fast your bow shoots, what range you can hit consistently/accurately and how far your target may be. Most modern compounds are quite fast and therefore pins can end up being close together. Certainly a 10 yard pin is no longer needed if you have a 20 yard. A 20, 30 and 40 yard pin would be all you need if you are limiting yourself to 40 yard shots. Tom.

on any new sight i remove
all the pins but one. most all
my bow kills have been 20 or less.
i won't try shots with a bow that
should be done with a gun. i hear
of a lot of folks trying to make
rifle shots with a crossbow also.
they forget it's still a bow.

jmho- i think too many folks these days
try to make shots with gun and bow that
shouldn't be attempted.

Understand and have limited myself thus far to shots that I feel comfortable with and know I can hit.
I shoot pretty well to 40 yds, hence my 20 yard maximum in the past. If I can hit a 6" plate on every shot at a distance, I figure I am pretty good.
Once that distance is determined, I have cut it in half thus far.
Bow is shooting my arrows at 315 fps if I remember correctly from the last time I shot through a chrono.
I appreciate the insight.
What size pins do y'all prefer? 0.019, .010, something else.
What sight do you recommend for ease of use and easy to see and easy to adjust (only really important during sight in)?
Thanks

JonS,

I run a Montana Black Gold 5 pin slider using .10 pins. I have a 20,30,40,50, and 60 pin then slide for anything over 60. I have no intention of shooting an animal very far and ideally want them all inside of 30. However, practicing longer shots makes the closer ones seem easier and it highlights any mistakes I am making in my form so I can correct them. Elk are a much bigger target than pigs so a longer shot is not out of the question if you are up to it. Shooting targets at less than 40 yards is boring so why limit yourself with a fixed pin sight?

1 pin

One pin for me - HHA Optimizer.

I hear the one pin crowd, wondering about what you do if you're dialed in at say 20 yards. Mr or Mrs. elk, pig, deer, whatever comes in, you draw on them at ~20 yds, they spook,run to 30 and stand broadside. Do you let down and adjust?
I think I like the idea of multiple pins but am willing to learn other viewpoints. I've seen pigs come in to 10 and then bolt to 30-50 in no time.
Thanks for the advice, keep it coming.
Jon

20,30,40 yards for me. I have shot well over 100 big game critters with a bow. Maybe 10% were between 30 and 40. I can remember one over 40. The rest, right at 20 yds or less.
Some people like 40+++ yard shooting at animals. I like to see how close I can get.

I set my pin at 25 yards and anything within 30 is only +/- a couple inches point of aim at most. I'm not going to shoot at an alert spooky animal at 40 or 50 yards like you describe. If the critter is calm and has no idea I'm there and conditions are good for a high percentage shot I have plenty of time to use my range finder and slide my pin.

20, 30, 40, and 50.... on an old Browning F5 Tornado. I can hit farther out but the arrow is sticking straight up out of the animals back.

i try to practice enough that i can
tell where to hold on that paper plate.
if one is too far for me to shoot at
and make a clean shot i let it walk.
a lot here would probably laugh at
my equipment, but it works. you have
to practice hard and know it

i'm in the closer-is-better camp with
archery or firearms. a doe killed up
under my feet is more of a trophy to
me than a big buck at 200.

Self-confessed gear junky, but I've found that trying it out works better for me than reading fifteen positive reviews with no content, or context, in the writing of the review. I've used 1,3,5,7 pin set-ups.

All worked, but I have settled on the Montana Ascent with five pins.

Single pin - I found the same concern with the dialing the single pin to 20 yards, and the deer coming in does a turn, and wanders out to 40. I don't want to be fumbling with the sight. HHA is a great sight, repeatable stops, easy to adjust and have been pretty bulletproof in the field. The only drawback I found is the quiver mount. The sight has to clear the sliding bar for the sight yardage adjustment, this mounts the quiver out quite a bit from the vertical center of gravity of the bow, the bow (mine) had a tending to lean in the direction of the quiver.

Three pin - what I started with in the way-back, and it works in the Virginia woods for 99% of what I want to hunt. I've used the G-5 sight with the three fixed pins, and the four pin rover. I liked the sight, but the sight light was garbage for me. The pin fiber are well shielded, but that also means they aren't getting a lot of light and the pin light is a requirement for dusk and dawn. Nice big sight housing, and the adjustments were pretty simple. The sight light was the killer for me, they are about $35 each, and the design has the light housing sticking up above the sight. I routinely broke one or two a season, and didn't see that as a positive. Specifically, the rheostat dial would pop off after a few weeks of use. I also found that the roving pin didn't get used much, and it wasn't helping the decision to keep it, and deal with the lights.

Five pin - Axion Axcel, Spot Hogg Hunter, Montana Black Gold, and the MBG Ascent. All good sights, all worked, and I've killed game with each. Axion sights are bullet proof, ridiculously over-built, accurate to adjust, and heavy. The sight is pretty chunky on the scale, this did not matter from a carrying issue, but the weight up high on the riser tended to need more weight on the bottom of the riser to balance out. I found I was spending more time trying to balance the hunting bow, than shooting it. Target bow balance was easy, but I wanted the same for hunting sights.

Spot Hogg Hunter - if you told me I could have only one sight, this would probably be it. Bullet-proof, mounts close to the riser, large sight housing, bright pins, and easy adjustments. Economical sight light, and very little to go wrong with it. I use the "wrapped" version, with the extra fiber ring on the front of the sight housing. The down side - the extra fiber can really make the pins bloom in the direct sunlight, but great at dawn and dusk.

Montana Ascent - 5 pin purple haze in view. I hunt Idaho, no sight lights allowed. The MBG company has a lock on the market with the purple light shrouds on their sights. The clear shroud turns purple in the sunshine, and tones down the fiber to a soft glow. The purple is a reaction to UV light, if I understand the tech right. As the light fades, the purple fades back to clear, allowing the natural light back in.

I use the five pin housing, the sight comes with one, three, or five pins. The sight housing slides on a geared track with an adjustment knob, for the three and five pin, the bottom pin comes your "rover". I dial 20-30-40-50-60, with adjustments out to 80. I don't expect to shoot past 40, but I can if needed, and I routinely practice out to 80 yards. The longer shots aren't for hunting, they help identify errors in form, release, grip - that I can't get at 40.

Seven pin - only once on a target bow. It worked, but you get too much in the sight housing, you start trying to see the forest without the trees. YMMV.

Pin size - I have tried .010, .019, and .029s. I currently run .019, but it's also an aging eyes limit. I liked the .010, but I found they were harder to get consistent lighting out of with a pin light. I swapped fibers around, and just didn't get the results I wanted for visibility. I tried the Tru-glo five pin sight with the mixed fiber sizes, .029 for 20, .019 for 30-40, and the .010 for 40-50 yards. Really liked the idea, but couldn't get the illumination I wanted.

At longer ranges, the .029 seemed to cover more of the target area than I wanted, and I found I was getting more consistent groups with .019 pins, than the larger. However, as the advance of age increases, I may be back with them again. We have small deer in Virginia, especially in the urban northern areas.

Trophy ridge react 5 pin - I bought the single pin version on here recently (see line number one), and it's not what I expected. I agree, it's a weak sight that will break if abused. My does not adjust easy, this good once it's dialed in, but it's a pain to adjust on dial in. A number of the screws in the sight have worked loose, I'd need to thread-lok the whole sight to feel comfortable with it.

Practice - at the end of the day, no model of sight or number of pins is going to correct for the abundance, or lack of it.

JMHO - and limited experience trying different set-ups.

Seven with the first three.19 last four.10.

My bow has one pin on a slider. I leave it set on 20yds. but have the ability to push it to any yardage that I have marked on the replaceable tape.

I have used as many as 5 pins, but now I use a single pin. I have not killed too many animals with a bow and I try to keep shots close. The bull I killed this year was at 33FEET and his chest filled the sight window. I am gonna stick with one fairly large sight pin that is a bright enough for early morning and thick timber hunting.

I rarely adjust while hunting I can shoot one pin out to 35 yds with out worry I know my little bit of hold over at that range

Bingo ....My set ups are designed for close range shots really don't have to shoot much past 30 yds and the shots are usually 25 yds and in

Another that uses a single pin slider.
If I'm elk hunting I set the pin on 25 yards and don't worry about anything out to 35 yards. A broadside elk has about a 16" kill zone/lungs so a guy can be a bit off on estimating the distance and still kill the elk.
I also have found that if the animal is further away, I usually have time to range and set the pin. I find this to help in actually slowing me down, and not rushing a shot.
For turkeys next week, I'll set the pin at 10 yards because that's how far the decoys will be from the blind. A chip shot indeed.

I like 3 pins. (Mostly an elk hunter also) First set at 25 yards, second at 40 and third at 50. The 25 yard pin will be within a couple inches of the middle (white of a NFAA target) from 15 to 30 yards so anything close I just hold that pin in the middle and shoot. Longer ranges like 40 and 50 I usually have time to hit with a rangefinder and confirm. Can shoot accurately to 70 by holding over but don't like to shoot at game over 50.

I have tried sliders with success but have also taken several animals that hit my target distance and kept on coming and ended up being taken much closer. It is nice to just use a different pin instead of all the movement involved moving a sight or the guesswork of holding under with a slider. I don't condone long range bowhunting so having a slider for 'long shots' does not matter to me.

My favorite bow does not have a sight, or wheels for that matter.

I shoot a one pin HHA now, but my next bow will have a Spot Hogg Tommy Hogg 2 pin.

When I use sights, I use a single pin. I refuse to shoot long anymore, to much chance of an issue happening.

I shoot 15 and under these days basically. Keep the pin on 15. Keep my instinctive to 15 and even the crossbow only at 15( when my shoulder injury won't allow a regular bow or I just have the desire to use the crossbow)

3 pins! 20,30,40 yards. Guess past that!!

Single pin. HHA I believe. I've used it for several years and don't think I could go back.

I haven't used sights in many years for bow. one pin only on crossbow.
when I did use sights, it was one pin at max comfortable shooting distance, and just drop the pin by eye for less.

Four pins, 30, 40, 50, and 60. the old Mathews Black Max II will get to 60 with easy accuracy provided the wind isn't whipping up a storm.

1 pin slider HHA.Has worked for me.

If you have a 5 pin that you like and you shoot well I would stick with it!!

But since you asked. I'm a 3 pin guy myself. I've shot 1 pin and 5 pins--- too little and too much for me.

I like 20,30, 40(floater)

The MBG Ascent 3 pin slider is AWESOME>

I have 2.

0-25 yds
26-35 yds

Sword Jury Pro 3 pin slider. I have 20,30,40 fixed and can dial out to 110yds. My limit on deer is 50. But i practice at 70 and 80 just to hone my skills.

How do their sights work? All pins slide? Not described well on their site.

Just like any other multi pin slider. Bottom pin is your floater. Their sights are amazing. Built like a tank. Bright pins. No slop in the adjustments. CS that cant be beat

I shoot recurve and longbow almost exclusively and haven't had a sight in decades. If you only shoot out to 20 yards I'd say one pin. The fewer the better. However, if you plan on hunting Elk or other critters in wide open spaces you may want to add one or two depending on how far you PLAN to shoot and the trajectory of your particular setup. Less is always best to contain confusion when stress is applied.

Do you prefer recurve or longbow when shooting stuff in the pelvis?

Single-bevels and Extreme FOC.... the Partition of arrows!

3 Pins - 20, 30, & 40, have served me well for over 25 years. 40 is my self imposed limit. Most are taken around 20yards +-5yds.

mg

Three pin head on a Tommy Hogg slider.30,40,50, with the bottom as the floater.