Bow / point of impact mystery
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
Last year about this time I switched from righty to lefty because I am strong left eye dominant. Bought a LH Hoyt charger, QAD rest, HHA single pin slider, Gold Tip arrows. Got it dialed in quickly, and I have not touched a single thing on that bow since a year ago. Hunted and target shot all through the fall, but really didn't shoot it much the last few months.
Went to the range a week ago to shoot targets and see where my score might be, since I am going to shoot a tournament in March. My arrows were grouping 6" high at 20 yards. Peep is tight, kisser is tight, D loop has not moved, sight is solid, rest is solid. Nothing changed except my POI. I moved the sight to compensate, and shot a 266 (which I was happy with). Really perplexing how my POI could move that much and nothing seems to have changed on the bow. I've been shooting for 30+ years, so I doubt it is my form making that much difference. Very odd.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Even though you say it's not your form, that would be my guess if you've not been shooting for a while.
I'd guess a small change in form or grip.
There are muscles used to shoot a bow that build and atrophy based on how often you shoot. If those muscles are relatively weak compared to last time you were shooting on a regular basis then can impact how you pull back the bow and hold. A bit of curve in your lower back or twist in your form as you tire can create issues as are shooting.
I would suspect your anchor point.
I had the same thing happen to me last year. It drove me nuts. It ended up being my rest. For some reason the factory put on an extra washer on the little hex screw that attaches the launcher arm to the rod coming from the main part of the rest. The washer itself was round with one side squared off. Over time this washer rotated just enough to make contact.
Since you are using a QAD (mine is a smackdown pro) I doubt this is the problem.
Even though you have 30 years' experience, only a small fraction of that is shooting left-handed. I would think a form issue is very possible...
I'd considered it might be me shooting lefty, so I'll shoot some more and see how it goes. Also I'll have the bow checked at the shop.
I know my arrows hit the QAD, as my vanes have been wearing the felt off the arms since it was new. I've never had a QAD rest that worked, and my kids and I have had a bunch. They replace them, and the new ones still don't work. Ever. But the rest has never worked well, and that's how I sighted it in. I am planning to replace the rest soon.
Sounds like it might have stayed in a hot trunk or car check for limb twist
The last thing you should do is move your site. It's something else, either grip or anchor as stated above. Once you figure it out you're going to have to move your site back.
Same thing happened to me on one of my back up bows , timing was off . Put it back in time and all was well.
""I know my arrows hit the QAD, as my vanes have been wearing the felt off the arms since it was new. I've never had a QAD rest that worked, and my kids and I have had a bunch. They replace them, and the new ones still don't work. Ever. But the rest has never worked well, and that's how I sighted it in. I am planning to replace the rest soon.""
This is a big problem if it's happening. If your shop is letting you leave while you have fletching contact with your rest, find another shop!
The rest came with the bow. QAD drop away are awful. My son has one on his bow that we've never had a problem with. My daughter and I have been through about 10, and they all don't work. They either don't drop fast enough or they bounce. Either way the fletching hits the rest. I am done with them. The last two I sent back to them I expressed my displeasure with them and told them I didn't want them to replace them because I had no faith the replacements would actually work. I asked for my $ back and never did get a response.
SB x 3.
The other thing I have seen do that is different lighting, usually when folks who shoot outdoors go indoors or vice versa. The change in lighting changes the perspective of the sight through the peep and causes the archer to unknowingly change their anchor slightly.
QAD s are great when installed right!there Hunter model however is garbage ! It's doesn't have brake like the pro models
Something has moved or changed. Even something as simple a nock rotating or a loose cable guard can cause additional fletching contact or possibly lessened the contact that you had.
How did you get "it quickly dialed in" when you have fletching contact? What method did you use to tune your bow?
Just a thought,
Since you changed from R-H to L-H and haven't shot in a while. Perhaps it is the right eye trying to be dominant again at full draw ?
I would make sure the right eye is closed during your practice.
Provided you are comfortable with your form etc. Do not tinker with your previous set-up at this time. Wait for your results.
If your bow was on before, it should still be on, unless it had an accident. :)
A 6-inch shift @ 20 yards is huge. On such occasions, it would be extremely helpful to have a crib sheet with a full set of tuning/set-up measurements taken when your bow was shooting good. That allows you to instantly eliminate most of the usual possibilities and solve the issue much faster. If I didn't have that, I'd probably re-tune from scratch.
"Hunted and target shot all through the fall, but really didn't shoot it much the last few months."
How bout the string stretching while it was sitting? (factory strings?) Nock point moves down, POI moves up. Everything else stays the same.
DDD
I had the felt come loose on the bottom side of a Ripcord launcher and bunch up in the launcher groove raising the point of impact. Had me baffled for a bit until I saw the problem. Happened in really wet weather when I was Roosevelt elk hunting on the coast. Glad I caught it while shooting an arrow into an 18 in 1 before I got a shot at a bull. Now I really watch the felt on my rests and Pliobond (Adhesive) them down on both sides if they show any indications of coming loose.
?????
any luck yet?
Pliobond is good stuff, like heavy duty contact cement. I quit using felt type material on things and have gone to the "loop" material on hook and loop tapes (velcro) much more durable, waterproof, very quiet. Get the sew on and glue it on with the pliobond.
Tom, Good info on the Velcro for rests. An yes, Pliobond has been my adhesive of choice to glue stuff to the riser for about 25 years......I get about 10 yrs out of a small bottle before it gets too dried up to use.
Shot some last night. Same results. I don't know enough about tuning a bow to have setup measurements.
Lighting in the indoor range is not good, though I've gone inside/outside before and it has not been an issue.
If I get a chance I'll be at the bow shop this weekend.