Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Archery Gear => Topic started by: smithkl42 on May 15, 2018, 05:30:41 PM

Title: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: smithkl42 on May 15, 2018, 05:30:41 PM: 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?
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: Sneaky on May 15, 2018, 07:17:03 PM: go to a single pin sight - trust me
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: MAVsled on May 15, 2018, 07:26:00 PM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: adamR on May 16, 2018, 05:15:58 AM: Quote from: MAVsled on May 15, 2018, 07:26:00 PM
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?
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: luckyman on May 16, 2018, 05:27:32 AM: I have the same problem. I went to a 5 pin site with .29 pins and my shooting improved greatly.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: LongBomb on May 16, 2018, 06:30:20 AM: Quote from: Sneaky on May 15, 2018, 07:17:03 PM
go to a single pin sight - trust me
:yeah:
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: quadrafire on May 16, 2018, 06:43:19 AM: Ditch the compound and sights, pick up a longbow or recurve and shoot instinctive :archery_smiley:
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: BULLBLASTER on May 16, 2018, 10:45:51 AM: Could try a smaller peep sight
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: theleo on May 16, 2018, 11:19:23 AM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: MIKEXRAY on May 16, 2018, 07:14:44 PM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: northwesthunter84 on May 16, 2018, 07:41:44 PM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: MAVsled on May 17, 2018, 09:04:43 PM: Quote from: adamR on May 16, 2018, 05:15:58 AM
Quote from: MAVsled on May 15, 2018, 07:26:00 PM
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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: dreamunelk on May 17, 2018, 10:50:24 PM: Quote from: Sneaky on May 15, 2018, 07:17:03 PM
go to a single pin sight - trust me

:yeah:

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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 18, 2018, 06:13:31 AM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: Wolfdog2314 on May 18, 2018, 07:55:06 PM: 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.
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: smithkl42 on June 16, 2018, 12:27:54 AM: Just to circle back on this. I ended up buying the $300 pair of glasses. My pins are a little fuzzy now, but much better than without glasses; and the target is a little clearer than without glasses. I'm definitely feeling more confident, though I haven't yet tried hunting in the rain. We'll see how that goes...
Title: Re: Can't see my darn pins
Post by: RadSav on June 16, 2018, 01:33:54 AM: You should still be able to get things tuned up better than that, IMO.

Two things that should help:

#1 - Find a new Optometrist. I am repeatedly amazed at how bad most Optometrists are. Between my failing sight and the wife's multiple eye surgeries we have seen a good number of them. Vast majority of them are not worth the paper their degree is printed on. Most of them have us diagnosed before the hand shake is complete. From our experience I think about 75% of them should lose their license! When you find a good one - Be sure to let them know about shooting the bow and detail how the bow/sighting works and what issue you are having. Don't let them get away with saying something asinine like bifocals or trifocals...that's ridiculous!!

And for the Love of God....Do not get transition lenses for shooting a bow. They are nice for driving the car or watching bikini babes on the beach. But they are complete demonic plagues of evil in the field!!

#2 - Drop the aperture size of your peep. Way too many people who are having a hard time seeing make the mistake of "increasing" the size of their peep aperture. This is exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing. As our eyes age and we begin to lose definition we really are losing our depth of field, in most circumstances. Think of the peep sight as the iris of a camera. If we set the iris wide open we blur the background and the foreground leaving only the subject in focus. When we reduce the iris we start to get more depth of field and the background and the foreground start coming back into focus.

You don't want to immediately jump into a small target size peep aperture as we don't want to restrict our low light opportunities. So you want to gradually move down from where you are at until things reach an acceptable compromise of clarity, depth of field and low light vision.

Good luck to you. Hope all works out and you find a positive solution.