5 pin vs Single pin

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Just wanted to give my two scents after running a fixed 5 pin sight and a solo pin sight on and off for the past 6ish years and my take ways from both and what I prefer. So for the past 3 seasons I have hunted exclusively with my HHA tetra solo pin and the last two years I was in Illinois hunting the rut and the same thing happened to me both trips that made me walk away from my solo pin and go back to my fixed five pin. So on both these week long hunts we were in buck action like crazy each day and both trips consisted of four guys and we filled two buck tags each season with really nice bucks. In the midst of these hunts I had bucks rutting all over, pushing does, following hot trails, and fighting, the biggest issue I had was during the rut (when I put most my time in the deer woods although I still hunt the early season a good bit and a lot of pre rut) things happen fast, like really fast, and in several occasions I had bucks coming straight to me fast on a string and going past me just as fast and I was hunting a lot of cover so when I would go between ranging and then messing with my dial all while trying to stop a buck and not get the hot does or just doe in the area to notice me it was a lot of moving parts and rarely did a buck stay still long enough for all this to come together. The practicality of a solo pin just isn’t there in my opinion in a real hunting application vs all the bucks I’ve killed with my five pin because I can get in my stand and right at first light I’m ranging everything and making mental notes and I know it’s matter of barely moving a set pin up or down depending on the in between yardages. In my opinion the five pin is so much more practical in a hunting scenario, now granted I’m only good out to 60, but then again my local range only goes out to 60 and my backyard only gives me 40 and realistically I’m not shooting at a whitetail at 60, sure when I go out west those 50 and 60 pins are in play but I wanted to know your guys opinions and thoughts on solo pins vs fixed 5 pins. Thanks and good luck this season!

 

[Bump79]

I've never tried single pins for the reason you mention. I have a 4 pin slider now and I'm satisfied.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

I've never tried single pins for the reason you mention. I have a 4 pin slider now and I'm satisfied.

Yep exactly. Now I will say you can get insane accuracy on a solo pin out to 100 yards but again in the woods your targets are rarely at a perfect yardage stationary things happen quick and I like a simple setup that I don’t have to make a lot of movement to achieve my yardages and that’s why I role with 5 pin now. That 4 pin slider you like it? 4th pin is a floater I’m assuming?

 

[butcherboy]

The mistake most people use with a single pin slider is that they want to move the sight in a hunting situation. Don’t
move it for anything under 40 yds. Set it at 30 and leave it there. With the right set up you will be able to aim right at the animal all the way down to 10 yds. Learn your arrow trajectory for those quick shots if they move past the set distance. If the animal moves from 35 to maybe 46 then you can just aim a little bit higher. If you have multiple
pins and one is 50 then you will have to quickly think about that and know that you will need to aim low or use the 40 and aim higher. I’ve used a single pin sight set at 35 or 30 long before moveable sights dating back to the late 80’s. It’s never cost me an animal. I only move it during practice or if the animal
Is further but it has to be a calm animal. I think the best of both worlds is a 2 pin vertical. Set one at 30 and the other at 50.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

The mistake most people use with a single pin slider is that they want to move the sight in a hunting situation. Don’t
move it for anything under 40 yds. Set it at 30 and leave it there. With the right set up you will be able to aim right at the animal all the way down to 10 yds. Learn your arrow trajectory for those quick shots if they move past the set distance. If the animal moves from 35 to maybe 46 then you can just aim a little bit higher. If you have multiple
pins and one is 50 then you will have to quickly think about that and know that you will need to aim low or use the 40 and aim higher. I’ve used a single pin sight set at 35 or 30 long before moveable sights dating back to the late 80’s. It’s never cost me an animal. I only move it during practice or if the animal
Is further but it has to be a calm animal. I think the best of both worlds is a 2 pin vertical. Set one at 30 and the other at 50.

So I guess that’s where I feel more comfortable with a 5 pin is I have all these known yardage pins, and anything ranged between I just split the pins, and anything a yard or two more I can adjust slightly higher or lower and I practice those in between shots a lot with my 5 pin sight and I worked on my trajectory shots with the solo keeping my pin at 20 and shooting the bow at 30-50 yards to see the drop but I’ve always felt more comfortable with the five pin because it narrows it down a lot more at-least in my head vs shooting my solo pin set at 30 and I’ve got a buck at 47 and I’m using one pin and moving it up on a bucks vitals trying to guess where the 17 yard drop will be that just seems like a lot of room for error no matter how much you practice when things move so quickly and while I practice everyday after work with my bow I never got as comfortable with the estimates using my solo pin like I am with the 5 pin but I do get what you’re saying and I can see how that works for people.

 

[Taudisio]

I've never tried single pins for the reason you mention. I have a 4 pin slider now and I'm satisfied.

3 pin slider. I love it. 0-50 yards with the top pin set at 30. Past 50 and I need some more time for the shot anyway, so sliding shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Shoot it out to 110 yards pretty comfortably.

 

[JK47]

I went from 5 fixed pins to a 3 pin slider. I liked it so much I bought a second one. Bought both off the classifieds here.

They’re the triple stack Spot Hogg. I ain’t going back.

 

[bruno747]

I use a 5 pin 20,40,50,60,70, and the top of the level in my sight is 80 yards. I dont have enough practice, or maybe discipline yet to feel comfortable about shots beyond that. My only complaint is the size of the pins. They are plenty bright, but I would like to have the super tiny diameter pins. at 70 yards that pin is covering a lot of real estate.

Sadly the outdoor range I had a membership to around here closed at the beginning of the year because the city wanted to connect two bike trails across the middle of the ground the club leased for the last pile of years.

I was just starting to get acceptable at 90 and 100 when the wind is calm.

 

[Taudisio]

I use a 5 pin 20,40,50,60,70, and the top of the level in my sight is 80 yards. I dont have enough practice, or maybe discipline yet to feel comfortable about shots beyond that. My only complaint is the size of the pins. They are plenty bright, but I would like to have the super tiny diameter pins. at 70 yards that pin is covering a lot of real estate.

Sadly the outdoor range I had a membership to around here closed at the beginning of the year because the city wanted to connect two bike trails across the middle of the ground the club leased for the last pile of years.

I was just starting to get acceptable at 90 and 100 when the wind is calm.

I was the same way. The slider is a game changer.

 

[rclouse79]

I went from 7 fixed pins to a one pin slider and settled on a three pin slider. Ranged my elk this year at 40 and it was game over in seconds. It feels like the best of both worlds to me. I do like the vertical pins on a Fast Eddy.

 

[butcherboy]

So I guess that’s where I feel more comfortable with a 5 pin is I have all these known yardage pins, and anything ranged between I just split the pins, and anything a yard or two more I can adjust slightly higher or lower and I practice those in between shots a lot with my 5 pin sight and I worked on my trajectory shots with the solo keeping my pin at 20 and shooting the bow at 30-50 yards to see the drop but I’ve always felt more comfortable with the five pin because it narrows it down a lot more at-least in my head vs shooting my solo pin set at 30 and I’ve got a buck at 47 and I’m using one pin and moving it up on a bucks vitals trying to guess where the 17 yard drop will be that just seems like a lot of room for error no matter how much you practice when things move so quickly and while I practice everyday after work with my bow I never got as comfortable with the estimates using my solo pin like I am with the 5 pin but I do get what you’re saying and I can see how that works for people.

I understand. You have to shoot what you are comfortable with and confident in. I tried multiple horizontal pins one season and I used the wrong pin and shot right under a nice buck. If I tried multiple pins again it would definitely be two vertical pins on a slider. The vertical pins just work so well for me and really open up the sight picture

 

[dtrkyman]

I like the single, do not like the look of a 5 pin but with a center pin red and the rest green it would be ok.

For whitetail stand hunting maybe a double pin or 3 pin.

I do as butcher boy, pic a distance and leave the sight there, 25-30 yards is a good range, shoot it at the setting you choose on the range from zero to 45 or so depending on your velocity and arrow weight.

Much past 40 I am going to move my sight if possible, I do not want to aim over an animal to compensate.

I put a dot with glo paint on the stem of my single pin, with my sight set at 20 it is good at 30, sight set at 30 it is good at 40, farther than that things get weird!

I just prefer the sight picture of a single pin!

 

[CowboyD]

I have both type sights on bows and lean toward the single pin because I don't like the clutter of multiple pins in the sight window and found it easy to pick the wrong pin under pressure.

 

[Skerhunter]

3 pin slider is my favorite set up, cleaner sight picture and covers 0-40 yards. For treestand hunting and turkey hunting this covers 99% of my shots without having to dial. I can still practice longer distances.

I use a 5 pin because I want the ability to range and draw when elk hunting from 0-60, without having to dial.

Keeping the number of steps needed to a minimum works best for me. I usually only get one good chance at a bull or the buck I am after each year and I don’t want to risk messing it up. This year was a good example I would have been spinning my wheel like I was on wheel of fortune for the buck I killed. He stopped multiple times inside 20-40 yards and never gave me a shot. Finally stepped out at 32 yards quartering away. Just had to range and draw.

I think I could make a single pin work if all my shots were on the ground spot and stalk style.

 

[NXTZ]

Glasses and my astigmatism plays hell with multicolored horizontal pins-I could make it work but the sight picture drove me crazy. I’ve been liking the double vertical spot Hogg sights. Like butcherboy I set the top pin at 30, second pin is about 43, and bubble is around 50 (depends on setup) but I try to practice out to 50 without dialing.

 

[wapitibob]

My single pin worked great, right up till it didn't. I switched to 5 pins this year but it was so busy I went back to the single, and it bit me again this year. I'm going to 3 pins for next year.

 

[Sizthediz]

I use a double pin. Set my second pin on 40yrds. Top pin falls somewhere inside of 20/30yrds. Everything is either a "heart" shot or a "lung" shot depending on distance and pin. I agree about things happening fast and only having 1 pin though. 45/50yrd shots are rare where I hunt though.

 

[work765]

Had a 5 pin and botched a shot on a big elk with the wrong pin. Hit him way high and he boogied off to fight another day.
That being said, I now have a single pin slider.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DiabeticKripple]

i run a 2 pin slider.

i set the top for 30, bottom is 46 and then i can slide it for anything further.

Shoot the 30 pin at 10 and and 20 and take note of how high the arrows hit on the target, then no need to slide for those ranges.

 

[roadrunner]

2 pin fixed, both with blue fiber optic.

35 yds and 50 yds. You'll always float a pin somewhere on the animal out to about 60 yds, further than I care to shoot anymore.