I know lots of guys that settle every year for broadheads that don't fly with their field points. These guys either A) move their sights or B) shoot mechanicals. Mechanical broadheads ARE NOT a substitute for a well tuned bow. Similarly, a PAPER TUNED BOW will not necessarily shoot perfectly with broadhead-tipped arrows. At best, a bow that is not properly tuned wastes kinetic energy resulting in a loss of penetration. At worst, you make poor shots resulting in lost and/or wounded game.
I present here a quick primer on how to have your bow properly broadhead tuned... a bow that will shave the fletchings off your field tips when you chase them with broadheads. A bow that you can take to the woods and KNOW where your arrows are going to go.
1. Good arrows. If you build your own arrows, use a device such as the G5 arrow squaring device on the nock and insert sides and make sure that the cuts are square. If your insert or nock isn't square, the arrow won't fly true. If you bought a dozen arrows out of the bin at your local shop, chances are that you'll only have a couple of arrows that spin true. These should be your #1 and #2 arrows... the rest are for practice.
Spin test each and every arrow either on your finger (this takes practice not to lose fingers) or on an arrow spinner. Mine cost $20 and was some of the best money I ever spent. You shouldn't feel any vibration in the arrow tip when you spin your arrow. It may take a little practice to truly learn how to feel arrow wobble, but once you've got one GOOD arrow, you'll immediately be able to feel any vibration in other arrows.
Play around with your broadheads and find arrow/broadhead combinations that spin true. If broadhead #1 doesn't spin right on arrow #1, try broadhead #2. Make the best of what you've got to get the most arrows that spin. Some broadheads have VERY poor straightness. Lots of people love Muzzys, but I've found as many as 50% of muzzy broadheads won't spin true. Broadheads I've had good success with are Magnus and Slick Trick.
2. Eliminate rest contact If you're using a dropaway, make sure your fletches aren't impacting your rest. Spray some aerosol powder (tinactin works great) on your rest and let it dry. Shoot an arrow. You'll be able to see if the powder is knocked off. If your rest isn't dropping in time, you'll have to change how it's anchored to your down cable. This may be something you have to go to the proshop to fix if you're not comfortable serving in your own tie off. But you'll never get good arrow flight if you have rest contact.
3. Broadhead tuning Don't be afraid. It's simple and easy. Shoot three field point-tipped arrows at your target, followed by a group of three true-spinning broadhead-tipped arrows. Do all six lie together in the bullseye? If so you're done. If not, we have some work to do. If the broadheads do not group with the field points, move the rest such that you "chase" the field points. If you're shooting low and left with the broadheads, move your rest up and to the right 1/16" at a time. Keep doing this until the FPs and the BHs hit together, then resight your bow and you're ready to go to the woods.
We owe it to the game we pursue to have properly tuned arrows. When I first started bowhunting I went to the woods with a bow that I knew was shooting 6" to the right. I killed my first deer -- luckily I took out the descending aorta because I shot high AND back. But I swore from that day on, I would never go to the woods without KNOWING 100% what I and my equipment would do.
I present here a quick primer on how to have your bow properly broadhead tuned... a bow that will shave the fletchings off your field tips when you chase them with broadheads. A bow that you can take to the woods and KNOW where your arrows are going to go.
1. Good arrows. If you build your own arrows, use a device such as the G5 arrow squaring device on the nock and insert sides and make sure that the cuts are square. If your insert or nock isn't square, the arrow won't fly true. If you bought a dozen arrows out of the bin at your local shop, chances are that you'll only have a couple of arrows that spin true. These should be your #1 and #2 arrows... the rest are for practice.
Spin test each and every arrow either on your finger (this takes practice not to lose fingers) or on an arrow spinner. Mine cost $20 and was some of the best money I ever spent. You shouldn't feel any vibration in the arrow tip when you spin your arrow. It may take a little practice to truly learn how to feel arrow wobble, but once you've got one GOOD arrow, you'll immediately be able to feel any vibration in other arrows.
Play around with your broadheads and find arrow/broadhead combinations that spin true. If broadhead #1 doesn't spin right on arrow #1, try broadhead #2. Make the best of what you've got to get the most arrows that spin. Some broadheads have VERY poor straightness. Lots of people love Muzzys, but I've found as many as 50% of muzzy broadheads won't spin true. Broadheads I've had good success with are Magnus and Slick Trick.
2. Eliminate rest contact If you're using a dropaway, make sure your fletches aren't impacting your rest. Spray some aerosol powder (tinactin works great) on your rest and let it dry. Shoot an arrow. You'll be able to see if the powder is knocked off. If your rest isn't dropping in time, you'll have to change how it's anchored to your down cable. This may be something you have to go to the proshop to fix if you're not comfortable serving in your own tie off. But you'll never get good arrow flight if you have rest contact.
3. Broadhead tuning Don't be afraid. It's simple and easy. Shoot three field point-tipped arrows at your target, followed by a group of three true-spinning broadhead-tipped arrows. Do all six lie together in the bullseye? If so you're done. If not, we have some work to do. If the broadheads do not group with the field points, move the rest such that you "chase" the field points. If you're shooting low and left with the broadheads, move your rest up and to the right 1/16" at a time. Keep doing this until the FPs and the BHs hit together, then resight your bow and you're ready to go to the woods.
We owe it to the game we pursue to have properly tuned arrows. When I first started bowhunting I went to the woods with a bow that I knew was shooting 6" to the right. I killed my first deer -- luckily I took out the descending aorta because I shot high AND back. But I swore from that day on, I would never go to the woods without KNOWING 100% what I and my equipment would do.