First time shooting with glasses
General Topic
My whole life I had nearly perfect vision but after turning 50 five years ago that changed and it’s far from perfect. So I got a prescription for progressives and I shot with them for the first time yesterday. I couldn’t hit crap. Took them off and shot well even though the target is fuzzy.
Is it that I’m using progressives? Will the same happen with contacts?
Getting old sucks.
I recommend contacts...you will soon get used to them and you'll see like an eagle again.
I wear progressives for everyday use, except shooting my bow. By design, progressives change the correction based your angle of sight, and are not designed for the angle of your head at full draw. For hunting I use contacts that are set for partial correction, which is a compromise that gives me pretty clear picture of the target and keeps blurring of the pins to a minimum. I'm also considering having special shooting glasses, with the same fixed correction that the contacts have, because I don't really want to deal with contacts for a short practice session. After trying, I never shoot my bow with progressive glasses. For years, I did shoot with readers. Good Luck.
Since having to use glasses it`s been nothing but a pain for me. My pin is right in between my lenses. They can`t make "wrap arounds" in a lens yet so I made my own glasses.
This year I went with "Dailies" soft contacts on my elk hunt. The problem is unlike my glasses you can`t see squat within 6 feet with contacts. My eye Doc suggested wearing just the contact in my dominate eye. It actually WORKED!
I gave in and started hunting with my glasses last season. I can't use contacts as I lose my vision up close (no progressive option for me due to my prescription/astigmatism). I tried shooting with my progressive lenses, but have yet to find the right breakpoint within the lenses so that I don't end up playing games tipping my head to get the viewing plane right. I just wear the same lenses that I drive-in. I opted for a frame that doesn't contain the whole lens so that I don't see the frame. The other key for me is that I have to wear my frame as high up on my nose/close to my face as possible so that I don't get a view of the nose piece / between the nose piece in my sight picture. I do have to tip my head back and look under the lens to move my sight tape and I will remove my glasses for using Bino's / Rangefinder when given the option.
The biggest downside thus far for me has been fogging up when wearing a facemask in cooler temperatures.
I wear contacts and prefer them to glasses, not just for shooting. Glasses really bother me when shooting. It is more the frame than anything else that I always notice in the way when shooting.
Contacts also take a little getting use to. When I first started wearing them they would really get dry in my eyes. That improved over time. Also finding the right brand for me helped. Some brands I tried would never focus correctly.
Glasses I find you have to look right through the middle of them. Really seems to effect my peripheral vision. I also fell on the ice and broke my shoulder a few years ago wearing glasses that day instead of my usual contacts. That may have some bearing on my dislike of glasses. Also if I am outside I like to have on sunglasses.
One other thing to consider is when correcting nearsightedness, while your vision at a distance is improved. It makes things worse close up. At 43 I need readers to see things close up. If I don't have my contacts in or glasses on. I can actually read or see something close better. That could have a bearing on looking through your peep or even seeing your pins.
With all that said I think most would agree when make any change shooting the change may improve your overall shooting in the long run. It almost always comes with a learning curve.
Pat, did the eye doc say if you had early cataracts? You're about the age I was when I first got cataracts. Mine showed up right after chemo. I had the surgery on my right (shooting) eye. I started seeing triple and double on some objects so I knew something was up. I wanted to get a Crystaline lens but got the govt issue lens when the lens sack tore during the procedure. Right now, if I wear my readers I can see thru the peep/pin good but not the target so well. Without the readers, it's the opposite....the peep/pin is a little blurred but the target is clear. If you do have cataracts, there are lenses you can get implanted that often do not require readers or contacts. If you get the cheaper govt issue lenses...you will need readers. Good luck...
Pat, I wear progressives most of the time I am working or indoors...but switch over to glasses with a lens without a bifocal or progressive (distance correction only) for all bow shooting, hunting, hiking, skiing, etc. Works for me, but I am near sighted. The pins are a bit fuzzy (.019" work, but can't see 0.010" dia) but I still shoot well enough to keep the freezer topped off!
I can’t wear progressives for shooting either I use just straight no bifocal inexpensive glasses for hunting and shooting even with guns works well for me Good Luck Lewis
Yup, I'm the same age as you Pat. Same thing, perfect vision until 50. Progressives just don't work shooting bow. I am struggling through no glasses & blurry vision while shooting right now. Maybe next year I will have to get some regular glasses without a frame to use for bowhunting. Perhaps prescription safety glasses.
stick n string when I started using contacts those were the same issues I had. I believe it was the 3rd brand of contacts I tried before the issue got better. Even after that I did need to use eye drops several times a day for a while. Now I rarely use drops, take them out every other day and get 2-3 months out of a pair of monthlies. Eye docs ok with doing both.
Also if you are like me, I have eye insurance and it will pay up to a certain dollar amount for glass, they don't cover my contacts. I have found I can get them at about half the cost as the eye doc from lens.com
You also could try a verifier. I never have used one but a guy I hunt with who is far sighted and my age uses one (successfully).
X2 on the contacts. I wore glasses since I was 8 yo, very nearsighted.
I was about fifty when I needed bifocals enough to begin wearing them, and almost immediately began looking for a better answer for hunting. I even looked into having some made "upside down" so I still see where I was stepping in the woods without the "reading" portion of the lens blurring the view of the twigs and vines that either made noise or did their best to trip me. I figured if I had my distance vision through the lower half of the lens, I could read through the upper half just as well as through the lower half when I needed the closer vision, and could tilt my head back slightly for aiming. Still think that might work better than the conventional arrangement for hunting, and probably also for machine operation in the shop, where the bifocals in the lower half of the lens always seemed to be in exactly the wrong place to allow good vision of the dials on the lathe without taking a step back and tilting my head extremely downward to accurately take another few thousandths with the next cut.
Contacts solved both problems, as I could use a pair of cheap readers in a lower strength to get sharp vision at about the thirty inch distance that works great for seeing my pins on my bow sights, my Bowsite on my monitor, and the gauges on my dashboard, and they are still low enough to be out of the way when I want to see at distances.
That led to the solution that worked best of all for hunting, which was a pair of contacts that have full distance correction in the left (non-aiming) eye, and the 30-inch focal length in the right eye, which sharpens the pins without needing any movement or unusual head tilt while aiming. This solution also eliminates the problems of fogging lenses, rain/mist on the lenses, reflections of the glasses alerting game at close range, etc.
Cons would be getting used to wearing them (usually minimally problematic with soft dailies) getting used to putting them in and taking them out (takes a little practice, and you may need a decent mirror and light source that wouldn't be part of your regular camping gear).
And I agree with pipe above. I see even better with the contacts than with my glasses of the same strength.
I'd look into getting the extended wear ones once you've experimented a little to find the absolute best prescription for your eyes and your usage. That process can be as simple as being fitted for new boots by picking the ones that are your size from a catalog, or a bit more trouble to get the best results, which is well worth the effort and the few dollars for some sample lenses a notch or two stronger or weaker. Like the boots, your best fit may change after a day or so in the field with them. Sometimes they are "plug and play", but often not quite.
Thanks for validating what I suspected - that it's the progressive lenses screwing me up. I did the exact thing as you guys who tried them, moving my head to clear up the target and then I would shoot 8" low at 30 every time. Took the glasses off and shot fine at the fuzzy target. My eyes are perfect at 24" so my pins are good, distance is my problem.
I got some tips from guys over PM and I am going to try a 4x lens on my MBG. Gonna try without the clarifier first and see if that helps.
I am also considering lasik. Everything I read says I am a likely candidate since I am nearsighted. But that would have to be post season. I have too much hunting going on now to mess around.
Verifier peep if your distance vision is still good. Or alternately just get a second pair of glasses for hunting that are not progressive.
Yup, my vision from 18" - 60" is still perfect. The farther away an object is, the blurrier it is. I have a 6x lens in my target bow. It's actually worse without a clarifier in the peep. I don't have any verifier lens' for my peep to try that. Not real wild about any kind of lens on my hunting rig.
Also concerning progressives, it’s a pain up in the tree. To look through top of lens to see distance (and downward), you have to twist your neck downwards, gets uncomfortable pretty fast. Solution is set of glasses specifically for hunting which exclusively corrects for distance throughout the whole lense. But then of course your pin is fuzzy. Getting old is tough.
Single vision for hunting. Works well that way at any angle, elevated or from ground. I've been shooting with glasses for probably 35 years, just takes a little getting used to. I actually like wearing them now as they provide some protection from limbs, blowing dirt, etc.
Progressive is what is screwing you up. Bifocals nor trifocals will not work either.
You need a single lens for vision correction and wear “readers” on end of nose for seeing close detail and close detail in low light conditions.
I use the same single lens for playing golf as I do for hunting. Progressives/bifocals/trifocals are not golf friendly either.
Welcome to the world of aging !
Hi Pat same thing with me when I was shooting pins. with the trad bows thing were a little better until the years passed and the script got stronger. Now 15 years into wearing them its hopeless. Please let us know how the surgery works out if you go that route. Best of luck Kent
My wife shoots with contacts and that is what she prefers. Have you looked into Lasik or anything like that, it's a life changer if you are able to have it done.
Contacts are easier to shoot with, but a pain in the field for me personally. I always get stuff in my eyes.
I have push my glasses up at the right angle to get my peep to line up with them with no obstruction. It can be a pain.
Just a note.... I see a good deal of the time folks using too long a draw length. Glasses can really point that out.. Glasses are a pain. Too long a draw really compound some issues. Really need to "square up" your form so your head is more square and not looking as much through the lens edges.
When my vision started to slip I started seeing two pins (on a single pin sight). Even then I was ok, just used the same pin and ignored the other. Then it went to seeing 3 and things really went south. Got a pair of glasses (single prescription) and destroyed an arrow the first practice session. Ok. Glasssesitis.....
I'm in the middle of trying to make some progressives work for me. My main issue with them is hiking, my depth perception is way off. Shooting not too bad but really have to focus (so to speak) on form. I used two pairs of glasses a few years, my prescription and readers. That brings it's own issues. But in the end I might just go back to it. Really like the progressives for day to day work in the office and shop now that I'm getting more used to them.
A side note, big improvement was going to carbon fiber frames. They don't slide down my face, no "geek strap" as they don't fall off when running or jumping. So light I rarely notice them in comparison to the 3 other "conventional" frames I've used before. And I think they are tougher as well. They are flexible but "rigid" they don't "bend" or take a set. Not the most "stylish" but then I guess neither am I......
I've been looking at a company called Sports Optical out of Denver. They claim they can make curved prescription lenses for a number of sport/tactical frame designs. Still researching, would like some real world reviews on how it all works but it's a pretty small niche market I guess. Might try them if I go back to single lenses away from the progressives. (geez... I don't even like their name "progressive".... =D)
I concur with Buffalo1. The Dr suggested I try dual lens, i.e. one corrects for distance and the other for close and your brain and eyes adjust to it. I aim with both eyes open and I just never adjusted so I reverted to simply correcting my near sightedness and wear readers as Buffalo1 posted. Note, that is my experience...you and others may adjust to the two len strengths just fine. May be an option to look into...
I am thinking about replacing by contacts with a god awful looking pair of glasses. See if it will help slow down all the beautiful women that constantly hit on me. Let me tell you it gets old always fending them off.
Pat, get contacts and your problem will be solved, make sure you carry a spare set and a small mirror with you hunting. PS they don't fog up either. Forrest
I tried it all contacts work the best.
I just had Lasik this past Friday after wearing glasses and contacts for 30 years, it is an absolute game changer for me. I was near sighted, so anything over a 18" was considered distance for me. I am 44 years old now so I may still need readers sometime in the future. I would recommend the procedure to anyone who is a candidate. The total surgery took about 12 minutes and recovery is almost immediate, just a daily drops for a while. I plan on wearing clear safety glasses for awhile on my walks to the stand just to prevent a stick from going into my eye.
It wouldn't mess up your season if you did it now, you will literally be hunting the following day with no concerns
No pain for me, just some pressure when using the device to hold my eyes open. My vision was slightly blurry immediately afterwards, they had me take a 3 hour nap as soon as I got home and when I woke up I could see clearly with my own eyes for the first time in 30 years. It's an absolutely amazing feeling!
From what I was told from my eye Dr is Lasik doesn't work well after 50..
I got progressive, bifocals whatever you want to call them when I turned 50. You're supposed to move your eyes not your head, I couldn't do it.
I was a roofer at the time. Carrying a giant copper eagle backwards down a valley I couldn't judge where my feet were. After that I went back to glasses for distance. I could look over the top if I have to. Beats falling
Good responses here. My experience is contacts for decades, glasses when I got scratch and infections with contacts. Not being eligible for Lazik due to scar tissue, I had to deal with shooting with glasses. Had trouble until learning to "face" target more than look with an angle through peep. At age 61, eight years after being told no to lazik, Doctor told me I was starting to develop cataracts that made me eligible for the newer, and more expensive, lens to be implanted. Had the procedures done within the past three weeks. (2 weeks apart) These new lenses seeing great and not needing readers for anything except the very smallest print like on a medicine bottle. Perfect at a computer and reading books. Perfect at a distance. Pat, I suggest the "facing the target" as to not look through glasses at an angle. 2nd, I'd suggest lasik, and thirdly, I'd say if lasik is a no, the cataract surgery may come into play. BTW, my eye doctor actually would rather see lazik done rather than deal with the problems he sees from contact use.
So, I started wearing progressive eyeglasses 5 years ago and they work great. However, I couldn't shoot my bow with them on. I shoot right-handed but with my left eye closed because I am left eyed dominant. Then I decided to get contacts for shooting my bow, and they had to tweak my prescription, so I see both my pins and my target. they work great shooting my bow in day light, but I have a huge problem with blurred vision in the evening. It doesn't seem to be a problem in the morning so much, but as it gets darker in the evening, I have to blink hard every 15 seconds to see good. Eye drops don't seem to help with the blurred vision at dusk. Does anybody know how to deal with that problem? It makes hunting with contacts a real problem in the evening.
For me personally, the lasik has drastically improved my vision at dusk, everything is much more crisp than it was while wearing contacts.
Lasik is the way to go. The only issue I had was early presbyopia. I have cheaters on the end of my nose all day at work now.
I can still see my target well and pin ok but don't really care as much about the pin. As long as the target is clear I'm good.
One other thing that helped me is a single pin. Being able to just focus on the glow in the middle of the scope helps.
I now need to wear glasses all the time. But when bow hunting i use contacts. I actually only wear them when i am hunting.
Also...I have thought about this thread and how many of us were posting in the earliest of Bowsite days and the discussion about aging eyes would have never happened then. The good thing is....we are all getting old together.
I wear progressives. First time I shot with them I was ready to trash them and the bow. Took the bow with me back to the eye doc and told him the problem. Said that we either fix the issue or he could keep the glasses. He then understood my priorities! He adjusted some point on the lens and had them redone. They work for me now. Although when target shooting, those bulls eyes out past 70 start to get a bit blurry.
Verifier and contacts for distance work for me. As above my progressives don’t work. Getting old sucks.
Single vision. Pick your poison. Fuzzy target or blurry pin. I use my single vision glasses corrected for far distance. I'll be interested in hearing others opinions and fixes.
When my son had lasik he instantly changed eye dominance. Great procedure.
Been wearing contacts since 1978. Problem is now at 56 years old, when I wear contacts, my close vision is no good. But I still can shoot no problem and my distance vision is great.
Multi focus disposable contacts. A small learning curve to get used to putting them in and removing them but once past that I don't even realize they are in. Can see just like I did 20 years ago. Can see both my target and my pins perfectly and no fogging or weather issues with them. Hate bifocals can see better without them.
My distance vision turned to crap around age 50 as well. I just use single corrective lenses for distance (I don't need glasses to read). Started hunting with them just a couple years back, since I shoot instinctive, I could always just put an arrow in the desired area in "the blur" before that.
But, I found myself busting game that I should have normally spotted before I got close.
Found contacts to be a pain in the ass, especially on a 12 day elk hunt. Glasses are nice, they darken up in bright sunlight, which helps sometimes. Just mild fogging issues with super cold weather, and when sweating hard.
Shooting 3D better than ever, and ended up executing a perfect shot, and taking a nice bull at 40+ yards this Season. I'm keeping Lasik as a future option as well.
I wear bifocals, and can't shoot while wearing them. The frame is in the way.
Simple solution for me..
I have a verifier in the peep. I'll wear my glasses with a lanyard. When a deer comes my way, I remove my glasses and let them hang.
Hello Pat. I found myself in the same predicament a couple of years ago. My perfect eye sight changed with age. My sight pins started to get blurry and it was difficult to shoot well (even though I have never shot great!). I consulted our good friend Steve Edwards, Optometrist in Mississippi, and he told me it was simple, get contacts. I did that and eventually started using just one contact, in my dominant eye, when I am shooting or bowhunting. It has worked very well for me. I put that one contact in before a hunt and leave it in for two weeks straight sometimes, without any problem. And in all kinds of conditions and elements; the sandy deserts in Mexico, Arctic temps of Alaska, running around in a skiff on the ocean with salt water, rain, and wind in my face, etc. The contacts that are available now work really well and you can leave them in for an extended period of time.
Another thing I've done is get TWO different sets of reading glasses made. One pair is just a normal set of prescription readers that I wear most of the time. The other prescription pair of readers are for when I have that one dominant eye contact in. This lets me read the GPS in the plane, read a map, read a book in a tent or cabin, etc.
It took a little getting used to, putting the contact in, but now I can do it fairly easy.
Contacts or lasik. Both are easy.
If you choose contacts always carry an extra set in your pack along with a small mirror. There is nothing worse than having one fall out at first light.
I will only get single lens scripts , no pro,split, or bi foc , crap. and i pick small frame glasses, yea and after 40 every thing takes a big crap
I can relate. I'm only 45 though. I'm screwed.
