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Paper tuning
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
Rsquared 20-Jul-21
Tilzbow 21-Jul-21
carcus 21-Jul-21
Grey Ghost 21-Jul-21
tm 21-Jul-21
tm 21-Jul-21
Rsquared 21-Jul-21
Tilzbow 21-Jul-21
JL 21-Jul-21
Slinging shafts 21-Jul-21
Rsquared 21-Jul-21
jstephens61 21-Jul-21
GF 21-Jul-21
Grey Ghost 22-Jul-21
GF 23-Jul-21
Rsquared 24-Jul-21
From: Rsquared
20-Jul-21

Rsquared's embedded Photo
Rsquared's embedded Photo
How's this look? From 6ft away... I swear my arrows still do something a little funky . Might be an illusion from the sunlight tho. From the cover in the trees and my arrow going from shade to sun light. I'll have to find an open area just to double check, bcs this is what u want when shooting through paper, right?

From: Tilzbow
21-Jul-21
Looks fine. Back up to 15’ and see if that’s good too.

From: carcus
21-Jul-21
Now time to shoot broadheads and see where they impact and finish up the tune if needed

From: Grey Ghost
21-Jul-21
This^^^. Paper tuning is just a starting point for tuning. It shows arrow flight at just one specific distance from the shooter. Even a badly fish-tailing arrow will shoot a bullet hole thru paper at some point down range.

I prefer bare shaft tuning out to 30-40 yards to get the final tune on my bows.

Matt

From: tm
21-Jul-21

From: tm
21-Jul-21
I quit paper tuning years ago, now I broadhead tune to 80 yards. Not that I would shoot game at 80, but long range practice does help a lot with sub 40 yard shots.

From: Rsquared
21-Jul-21
Ya but if u paper tune from 6ft away and get a bullet hole and the arrow still fish tails down range then it's something to do with that particular arrow then, right? Ill shoot the same arrow and it will be like ah dart but every once in awhile I'll notice ah shot that does something a little funky. From the same arrow. It would have to be from hand torque, right?

From: Tilzbow
21-Jul-21
No on your first comment. Down range fish tailing is probably a tuning or grip issue and not an arrow issue. Yes on your hand torque comment.

As with others I quit paper tuning years ago and go right to bareshaft tuning. Once that’s dialed in at 40 yards I validate with broadheads to 60. Bareshaft tuning can be tricky though and shooting form will have an impact on the bareshaft even with a perfectly tuned bow. I also pay as much, if not more, attention to the bareshaft’s orientation to a fletched shaft shot at the same distance as I do where the bareshaft impacts. The bareshaft should align the same as the fletched shaft. For example, if the bareshaft’s nock is lower than the fletched then lower the rest or raise the nock point and so on until the bareshaft is parallel to the fletched in both the vertical and horizontal planes.

From: JL
21-Jul-21
Me thinks if your fletched arrows do a "perfect" hole on the paper close in and then begin to fish tail further down range....that would suggest an "arrow-dynamics" issue. The influence of whatever is off on the arrow takes a bit of travel downrange to overcome the straight flight you see on the paper close in. I would try several arrows to see if the flight is the same on each arrow. If some fly true downrange and some fishtail....I think it would indicative of an arrow issue.

21-Jul-21
Nock tune

From: Rsquared
21-Jul-21
I shot through paper from like 10 yards away today and got ah perfect bullet hole both shots. It has to be my grip I think bcs I can shoot the same arrow say 5 times 4/5 will fly like darts and then the 5th will have a very slight "wobble" to it. Im very very picky so if it doesn't look like a laser guided missile it takes my confidence away. I just hate the inconsistency. I'll shoot a handful of times and it will boost my confidence and then I'll get that one shot that doesn't look exactly right and it messes with my head bcs it's the same arrow and I didn't know why it was doing it but it has to be something I'm doing

From: jstephens61
21-Jul-21
Try rotating the nock. I fletch all 3 the same color so it doesn’t mess with my OCD.

From: GF
21-Jul-21
“ I prefer bare shaft tuning out to 30-40 yards to get the final tune on my bows.”

^^

By 40 yards, if you have any significant issue… you’ll know. But when in doubt, you can always back up another 5-10 steps, right? They don’t run down the middle out to 40-50 yards by taking some screwy detour along the way.

From: Grey Ghost
22-Jul-21
GF,

In my experience, beyond 40 yards the slight difference in weight and air friction between the fletched and bare shaft starts to show up in the point of impact. Being slightly lighter and more aerodynamic, the bare shaft starts to impact higher than the fletched arrows beyond 40 yards, even though the bow might be perfectly tuned. YMMV.

Matt

From: GF
23-Jul-21

GF's embedded Photo
GF's embedded Photo
Point taken.

But I don’t give a rat’s ass about high or low unless the arrow is clearly taking a sudden dive or heading into an unexpected climb.

A well tuned arrow will track right down the middle, unfletched, and will land right in with fletched to the best of my ability. When I get it right, it looks kinda like this…

Admittedly, these were 3 outta 8 or 9, but for 60 yards and a longbow, that ain’t all bad. Matched arrows group tighter, and TUNED, matched arrows are a bit of a revelation.

And arrows that track straight on their own out to 30 don’t pull any weird shtuff when fletched, because the minor correction the fletchings impart is ample, they settle quickly, and not much Bad Juju can happen after that….

From: Rsquared
24-Jul-21
Well Im pretty certain I figured out what my issue was, face pressure on the string... I shot today and I really focused on my face pressure and every arrow flew like ah dart

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