Can't see my darn pins

[smithkl42]

I just started archery about a year ago, but even in that short time, I've noticed that my aging, 50-year-old eyes are having trouble seeing my pins. I don't mean that my pins are a bit fuzzy - I mean that at best they're *very* blurry, but depending on the light, sometimes they show up as one kind of fuzzy blur, and sometimes as multiple blurs, so that it's hard even to pick out where the rough center of the blur is. It's enough that I'm convinced this is (part of) the reason I've been having trouble getting good groupings. I've been wearing reading glasses for the better part of a decade, but otherwise the eye doc says my vision is basically 20/20.

Options include, I suppose:

* Live with it. This is what the folks at my bow store have suggested, but my pins really are fuzzy enough that I think it's a problem.

* Shoot with cheap, very weak reading glasses (so that both the pin and the target are a bit fuzzy, but overall it's a reasonable compromise). Problem is that hunting with glasses in western Washington in the fall seems like I'm going to be fighting with them and the wet all the time.

* Shoot with (expensive) custom glasses that have roughly the same effect and the same downsides - with the additional negative of having to explain periodically to my wife why I just lost another pair of $300 glasses in the woods.

* Get a peep sight with a lens - something like this:

I like the idea of not having to fight with glasses, but it seems like otherwise the wet and rain are going to be just as much a problem. (And are those legal to hunt with in WA?)

What do other folks do?

[Sneaky]

go to a single pin sight - trust me

[MAVsled]

I too went to single pin sight, Spott Hogg Father w/.19 green pin.
also went away from peep to the Anchor Sight system.
made a big difference.

[adamR]

I too went to single pin sight, Spott Hogg Father w/.19 green pin.
also went away from peep to the Anchor Sight system.
made a big difference.

Not to thread jack, but I have the same issue.  It's hard for me to focus on individual pins so when you mentioned the anchor system I got excited and checked it out.  Here's my issue though, the anchor system uses a magnifying lens to look at your pins.  The regs say no scopes on a bow.  Couldn't you technically be violating that rule by having the anchor system?

[luckyman]

I have the same problem. I went to a 5 pin site with .29 pins and my shooting improved greatly.

[LongBomb]

go to a single pin sight - trust me

[quadrafire]

Ditch the compound and sights, pick up a longbow or recurve and shoot instinctive 

[BULLBLASTER]

Could try a smaller peep sight

[theleo]

Before anything go to a shop and try some different size peeps. Most guys use a bigger peep as they get older to handle this issue, so start there.

[MIKEXRAY]

I had the same problem three years ago .  I went to the archery shop and picked a sight that had pins three or four inches further out than my current sight and had the bigger pins installed on it. ( .19 I think ) . The couple of inches further really helped , the bow shop even gave me a trade in on my old sight since it was a couple of years old only. My pins / eyes have been getting worse and I will need to do something more permanent soon but definitely helped for a couple of years. Good luck.

[northwesthunter84]

The peep magnifiers are not legal in Wa. That topic has come up before. I feel your pain I’m 33, but have astigmatism sin both eyes that stretch the field of view left and right. This makes it all more blurry than it should be. My eyes are only +1 on the prescription. I’m looking in to lasik and I also have to get glocoma testing done as my pressures are high for a 33 yr old. Contacts only helped to a point and are a PIA if doing a longer trip. I just shoot now without glasses but I know my range is decreased.

[MAVsled]

I too went to single pin sight, Spott Hogg Father w/.19 green pin.
also went away from peep to the Anchor Sight system.
made a big difference.

Not to thread jack, but I have the same issue.  It's hard for me to focus on individual pins so when you mentioned the anchor system I got excited and checked it out.  Here's my issue though, the anchor system uses a magnifying lens to look at your pins.  The regs say no scopes on a bow.  Couldn't you technically be violating that rule by having the anchor system?

no, the Anchor sight does not use a clear lens or anything else to view your pins. It does not capture the pins in sighting, it only acts as an alignment device, easily indicating torque. which is a great check for level sighting.
Eliminating the peep, I gained much larger, clearer sight picture using my single pin and don't deal with low lighting issues I experienced using a peep. I look right at my pin, feels like instinctive shooting but you have the Anchor sight as a check, like the bubble on the sight although the Anchor sight is not mounted on the sight or does anything with whatever sight you choose.
Even more difficult now as I'm much older and experiencing sight issues as described by topic poster.
i'll never go back to a peep.

[dreamunelk]

go to a single pin sight - trust me

 

Or a spot hog.  Not sure the what the m# is for the one I have.  I don't have issues with it.  For longer shots I adjust  it.   I don't hunt with it anymore.  In addition to old eyes I have nerve issues from injuries that makes shooting a compound consistently difficult.  My other compounds have multi pins and I have issues with them.

Don't worry about losing glasses.  I have never lost a pair.  The hard part is finding an optometrist that understands your frustration.  Or you can just go traditional and shoot instinctively.  Still have the optometrist issue.  Works for me.  One of the guys I hunt with shoots his compound instinctively.  He is consistently lethal out to fifty yards.

[pianoman9701]

First, get your eyes checked. You may have a problem that needs to be addressed. As far as losing glasses is concerned, use a strap. I wear mine all day long, everyday. I would go to one pin and a smaller peep, as well. I'm currently debating that myself.

[Wolfdog2314]

My accuracy greatly improved going from a 5 pin to a single”double” pin spot Hogg fast Eddie. Go to a shop and try one out. See if it helps. Pros and cons to multi pin vs single. For me, overall accuracy and having that arrow go exactly where I want it to, was worth it for me.