Centering sight ring or center pins?

[HellsCanyon]

Ok pretty elementary question/poll here. Just curiosity mainly.
I got into archery 9 years ago and pretty much learned as I went. I started out by centering whatever appropriate yardage pin in my peep on the target and letting it fly. I thought the sight housing was just to protect the pins.
Then 4-5 years ago I was shooting with a friend and we couldn't hit nothing with each other's bows. Turns out he was taught to center his sight ring in his peep and use whatever pin was appropriate. While they both worked for me I have since switched to centering the sight ring and my shooting has definitely improved.

Am I the only one that started out that way?

Mike

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I started the same way, centering pins. It wasn't until 2 or 3 years into it that I learned to center the ring.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Glad I'm not the only one. In thinking about it you are forced to change your form if centering pins by raising/lowering your front arm. While centering the ring allows you to maintain form and bend at the waist.... Correct?

 

[Nick Muche]

My peep matches my sight housing perfectly when at full draw. I line the two up so there is no "daylight" showing and go from there. It's way easier to adjust yardages if the animal moves when you do it this way versus centering the specific pin.

 

[TEmbry]

Centering the housing is definitely the better method. When I started into archery at like 12 I centered the pins because no one taught me better. Changes your form and as nick said it is much harder to pin gap/change pins when the yardage changes for a shot.

 

[Nick Muche]

The other reason I would suggest not to center the pin (nothing too terribly wrong with those that do) is because in order to do it with any consistent accuracy, you'd need a small peep which would reduce your sight picture at full draw... I like to draw back and see what is going on, not lose my line of sight trying to center my peep on a specific pin.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Changes form and it's way easier and more accurate to center the housing. Once you get used to it you'll wonder how you ever managed the other way.

 

[charvey9]

Center the housing, otherwise you are changing your anchor point for every pin.

 

[realunlucky]

Also center the housing and peep.

 

[Tilzbow]

Man you guys must be young! When I started there was no round pin housing. Some sights had pin guards but they were all rectangular. I shot a Fineline Crosshair Sight for years and definitely centered each Crosshair in the little peep. I went trad for about 10 - 15 years and when I started shooting wheels again about 8 years ago I discovered the round sight housing and the big peeps. Now I shoot by centering the large Spott Hogg housing in the big peep and it's so much better, especially in low light.

 

[DWarcher]

Man you guys must be young! When I started there was no round pin housing.

This was my first thought as well...glad I'm not the only old-timer on here!

 

[SDHNTR]

Matter of personal preference. I've tried it both ways and shoot better with a tiny peep and centering the pin.

 

[charvey9]

Man you guys must be young! When I started there was no round pin housing. Some sights had pin guards but they were all rectangular. I shot a Fineline Crosshair Sight for years and definitely centered each Crosshair in the little peep. I went trad for about 10 - 15 years and when I started shooting wheels again about 8 years ago I discovered the round sight housing and the big peeps. Now I shoot by centering the large Spott Hogg housing in the big peep and it's so much better, especially in low light.

I remember similar on my first bows. Had a rectangular bar around the sight pins. I would center my peep on the middle, 30 yard, pin on each shot for consistency and then hold the appropriate pin on the target. Was an "aha" moment when someone came up with the idea of round housing to match the round peep.

 

[tipsntails7]

This was my first thought as well...glad I'm not the only old-timer on here!

Ya mean like this
View attachment 16950View attachment 16950

 

[dangerousD]

Man you guys must be young! When I started there was no round pin housing. Some sights had pin guards but they were all rectangular. I shot a Fineline Crosshair Sight for years and definitely centered each Crosshair in the little peep. I went trad for about 10 - 15 years and when I started shooting wheels again about 8 years ago I discovered the round sight housing and the big peeps. Now I shoot by centering the large Spott Hogg housing in the big peep and it's so much better, especially in low light.

That's exactly what I was thinking. For years I shot with a rectangular frame sight with cross hairs and a tiny peep. Big wild dual cams and steel control cables. Horrible draw cycle, spongy back wall, lots of hand shock...It's amazing how far wheel bows have come!

I was amazed when I made the switch to a larger peep, round sight housing, and parallel limb bow. Centering the housing in the peep is just natural now.

 

[dreamingbig]

I center the housing. Works well for me.

 

[littlebuf]

Huh. I'm a self taught archery guy myself. When I started it never really crossed my mind. Peep was round, housing was round and they lined up real nice when I drew back to get my sight picture. I do however shoot with a smaller peep (3/16) and a smaller housing on my sight . Personal preference but I feel it focuses better for me

 

[bigeasygator]

Center the sight ring with the peep hands down. Like others have said, we didn't always have that luxury. I'm visiting my grandparents and they still have my first bow hanging up in the basement. This was a Christmas present over 20 years ago. Definitely no round housing on the sight!

 

[mt100gr.]

Huh. I'm a self taught archery guy myself. When I started it never really crossed my mind. Peep was round, housing was round and they lined up real nice she. I drew back to get my sight picture. I do however shoot with a smaller peep (3/16) and a smaller housing on my sight . Personal preference but I feel it focuses better for me

This.

It made sense to me like aiming through a scope (whole sight picture, same every time) but holding a different aiming point, mil-dot, hash mark, etc., on the "spot"

 

[OR Archer]

When I first started there were no round sight rings like a lot of guys have already stated so centering the pin was the thing to do. But as many of you already know centering your sight ring is much easy and much more consistent.