Whats the IN equipment for archery these days?

[jchunter62]

Hey all, new member here so first post. I recently decided to upgrade my archery gear from a 2013 PSE Brute X, to a 2022 PSE EVO XF 33. I have pretty much been absent from the archery market since 2016 when I last upgraded components on my Brute X. Going forward I am moving to a drop away arrow rest from a whisker biscuit. I heard QAD was the best on the market for hunting applications. I am looking at HDX model or custom PSE model. Any others I should be looking at?

Also looking to get a new sight. I think I'm going to keep a 5-7 fixed pin, as I mainly hunt out west in Idaho and Montana. I like the idea of a slider pin, but in hunting situations it seems highly impractical. I'm looking at black gold sights right now, either the base model or the Pro FX as goHUNT has a good sale.

Any opinions on this?

 

[DWD]

I run a HHA virtus drop away rest. It’s been reliable. I hear good things about Hamskea rests but have never used one.

I was on the fence too regarding a slider coming from fixed pin but recently installed an Axcel Landslyde 3 pin slider and absolutely love it.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

My setup, and a lot of other guys, are shown in action here:

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rokslide.com

I prefer spot hogg to mbg sights, and hamskea to qad rests. 5 pin slider sights are my favorite.

 

[Pheasanthnter1]

5 pin slider for me. 20-60 yards locked in while hunting, then out to 120 while at the range. Getting good at long distance makes a 40-yard shot feel like 10.

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[sickles107]

As far as rests, QAD and hamskea are the two big players. You can go down the rabbit hole and guys will argue till the end of time which one is better. Biggest differences being qad is cable driven, and hamskea is limb driven. I have ran both, they are both good, currently have a QAD r2 integrate on my v3x simply because I like being able to have the rest up and "cocked" when on a stalk. Also think micro adjust is unnecessary.

As far as sights, spott hogg and black gold are the two big players. Again both are good, and have there own features and differences. Both make a simple multi pin sight, and different variants of sliders. Have ran both. Currently have a black gold single pin slider non micro adjust on a integrate bridge lock bar. I like the way black gold does their sight tapes over spott hogg, flat and straight, rather than round. Easier to make/adjust, and use/read.

 

[joshdidthis]

I would suggest a slider sight, not sure why you think they're highly impractical? Get a 5 pin slider and you can have 20-60 covers and slide the rest. You can also dial to exact yards and not have to pin gap. Also would consider a limb driven rest

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[jchunter62]

Thanks for the input guys, good stuff. I am leaning more towards the QAD as my local archery shop sells them and installs them, Ill have to see if they carry Hamskea products.

I'm on the edge of using a slider sight, if you have a 5 pin slider, to you set it 20-30-40-50-60? When you slide for whatever yardage you want to shoot, do you only shoot then top pin or does your new position change for 10 yard increment IE, slide for 75 yards so top pin in 75, second is 85, third is 90 and so on?

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Thanks for the input guys, good stuff. I am leaning more towards the QAD as my local archery shop sells them and installs them, Ill have to see if they carry Hamskea products.

I'm on the edge of using a slider sight, if you have a 5 pin slider, to you set it 20-30-40-50-60? When you slide for whatever yardage you want to shoot, do you only shoot then top pin or does your new position change for 10 yard increment IE, slide for 75 yards so top pin in 75, second is 85, third is 90 and so on?

You designate which pin you want to be your slider pin. They'll all move but the tape will only be accurate for one of them. Most common setup is using your bottom (furthest) pin as the slider. So In this situation you could have ,20,30,40,50,60 and your 60 pin would be your slider so your tape will start at 60. Some guys will center a middle pin as their slider. I much MUCH prefer a verticle multipin. Spott hogg makes mine and it is a double pin slider but one single post. Mine has two indicating arrows so the tape is accurate for both pins! This has been my favorite setup. I have had 5 pin non slider, 3 pin horizontal slider, and now 2 pin vertical slider. You couldn't pay me with free sights to go back to horizontal pins.

The vertical pin centers your top pin in the middle of the housing so that the your eye naturally puts the peep centered on the housing eliminating errors from improper peep alignment. You view off to each side of the animal is also completely clear, think center post type scope. It's so much more natural to shoot.

Another thing to think about...with these modern bows they are all so dang fast that with only 2 pins you can be good from 20 to 42-45 yards. Set top pin at 30 while hiking around and bottom pin should be somewhere in the 40s depending on arrow weight/draw weight. That top at 30 will only be off by 1" or so at 20.

Food for thought. I recommend trying a vertical pin setup and see if it is for you. They also make a 3 pin vertical but I am happy with 2!

 

[DanimalW]

I was always set on fixed pins too, but gave the MBG Dual Trac a try on my new bow. I’m happy I did. See and shoot better with the one vertical pin (technically 2). Realistically, I should be able to shoot out to 45-50 yards with two pins shooting gaps or holdover if needed. Really not an issue sliding a sight when animal is 40+ yards away. And I’m probably not taking a shot longer than that unless the animal is sitting still and giving me the time.

 

[Insomnia]

I was always set on fixed pins too, but gave the MBG Dual Trac a try on my new bow. I’m happy I did. See and shoot better with the one vertical pin (technically 2). Realistically, I should be able to shoot out to 45-50 yards with two pins shooting gaps or holdover if needed. Really not an issue sliding a sight when animal is 40+ yards away. And I’m probably not taking a shot longer than that unless the animal is sitting still and giving me the time.

I have mine set up at 25 and 40 yards, the pin gapping is super easy out to 50 yards. At 20, I aim an inch low. At 30, I aim an inch high. At 35, I aim 2 inches low with the second pin. At 45, 2 inches high, at 50, 5 inches high.

 

[Coues hunter]

I really like my QAD. I bought my MBG 3 pin slider a number of years ago and thought it was too busy. Pulled the middle pin out and made a 2 pin slider before they became popular. My 2 pins are set at 30 and 45. That covers me from 0-55 yards (closer to 60 with a bull elk). I always figured if an animal is farther than 55 I better have time to range and slide. If I don't, I should not take the shot. I majority of my hunting is in southern AZ chasing Coues and Muleys. It has worked for me for about 5 years and would not change a thing.

 

[billysmals]

I have used QAD and Hamskeas. Both are good and worked great. Besides the way they operate (cable vs limb driven) the other different not mentioned is the ability to tune the drop timing on the Hamskea limb driven. By attaching the limb cable at a different spot on the limb your launcher will drop and rise at a different times. Roughly the closer the limbe cable is to the end of the limb near the cam the earlier it rises and falls where closer to the limb pocket will rise and drop later. This can be helpful if you wanted to adjust how long the launcher is supporting and stabilizing the arrow. It's not a thing I would choose the hasmkea over the QAD, but just wanted to mention it as it is something that can't be done with a QAD due to the way it operates. For what it's worth I have shot a hamskea for the past 4-5 years and it has been bulletproof for me. I wouldn't hesitate to by another QAD though and it is nice to pre-flip the rest up. Running the hamskea where I hunt (out west) it hasn't stopped my spot and stalk without the ability to flip up the rest.

As far as sights go I have run various 2,3,4, and 5 pin sliders. From MBG-custom 3 and 4 pin horizontal, Spot Hogg- triple stack and the fast eddie xl 2 pin vertical, Ultraview-UV3XL 2 pin vertical, Tru Ball Axcel Landslyde (used it with the UVXL.) I started with MBG then dabbled in the vertical picture with spot hogg and UV, and then went back to MBG horizontal.

The thing you have to watch for with the vertical pin styles is that the vertical pin post may interfere with finding the fiber optic. This is what happened to me. Because the vertical post also surrounds the fiber optic pin end, I had trouble seeing the fiber optic and it blurred the pin for me, especially at the lower pin in low light. It caused me to focus on sight housing and pin and not the target. If there is insufficient light getting to the end of the fiber, the pin color of the fiberoptic gets lost in the black pin housing. The top vertical pin wasn't a problem, it was the pin buried in the post. At certain back grounds that lower vertical pin got lost in the post. I wanted to like the vertical pin style, and ultimately sold both the spot hogg and the UV to go back to a MBG horizontal slider. The pins were brighter for me and easier to locate in low light because each pin had a separate housing and I wasn't trying to a find a fiber and thus my aim point inside a post. So even if the pin was dim you can locate the end of the pin housing and que your eye to find the fiber.

I know this might just be my experience (and also nit picking) and may not be a common thing. I tried two different brands in the vertical style to experiment and had the same problem. For what it's worth I prefer .10 size pins, so that may have been part of it. Out west where I hunted mostly (Oregon) sight lights are illegal so I couldn't just throw a light on to fix the problem.

If you can try both in different situations, back grounds, and low light settings. It wasn't obvious at first but developed after using it in hunting situations. This isn't something you will notice test shooting at the indoor range under brightly lit fluorescent lights.

 

[joshdidthis]

I have used QAD and Hamskeas. Both are good and worked great. Besides the way they operate (cable vs limb driven) the other different not mentioned is the ability to tune the drop timing on the Hamskea limb driven. By attaching the limb cable at a different spot on the limb your launcher will drop and rise at a different times. Roughly the closer the limbe cable is to the end of the limb near the cam the earlier it rises and falls where closer to the limb pocket will rise and drop later. This can be helpful if you wanted to adjust how long the launcher is supporting and stabilizing the arrow. It's not a thing I would choose the hasmkea over the QAD, but just wanted to mention it as it is something that can't be done with a QAD due to the way it operates. For what it's worth I have shot a hamskea for the past 4-5 years and it has been bulletproof for me. I wouldn't hesitate to by another QAD though and it is nice to pre-flip the rest up. Running the hamskea where I hunt (out west) it hasn't stopped my spot and stalk without the ability to flip up the rest.

As far as sights go I have run various 2,3,4, and 5 pin sliders. From MBG-custom 3 and 4 pin horizontal, Spot Hogg- triple stack and the fast eddie xl 2 pin vertical, Ultraview-UV3XL 2 pin vertical, Tru Ball Axcel Landslyde (used it with the UVXL.) I started with MBG then dabbled in the vertical picture with spot hogg and UV, and then went back to MBG horizontal.

The thing you have to watch for with the vertical pin styles is that the vertical pin post may interfere with finding the fiber optic. This is what happened to me. Because the vertical post also surrounds the fiber optic pin end, I had trouble seeing the fiber optic and it blurred the pin for me, especially at the lower pin in low light. It caused me to focus on sight housing and pin and not the target. If there is insufficient light getting to the end of the fiber, the pin color of the fiberoptic gets lost in the black pin housing. The top vertical pin wasn't a problem, it was the pin buried in the post. At certain back grounds that lower vertical pin got lost in the post. I wanted to like the vertical pin style, and ultimately sold both the spot hogg and the UV to go back to a MBG horizontal slider. The pins were brighter for me and easier to locate in low light because each pin had a separate housing and I wasn't trying to a find a fiber and thus my aim point inside a post. So even if the pin was dim you can locate the end of the pin housing and que your eye to find the fiber.

I know this might just be my experience (and also nit picking) and may not be a common thing. I tried two different brands in the vertical style to experiment and had the same problem. For what it's worth I prefer .10 size pins, so that may have been part of it. Out west where I hunted mostly (Oregon) sight lights are illegal so I couldn't just throw a light on to fix the problem.

If you can try both in different situations, back grounds, and low light settings. It wasn't obvious at first but developed after using it in hunting situations. This isn't something you will notice test shooting at the indoor range under brightly lit fluorescent lights.

I'm kinda in the same boat, thinking about switching back to a horizontal 3 pin slider. Currently have the triple stack, and I don't think I shoot as accurate with just a fiber coming out of a post.

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[jchunter62]

I decided to try a 3 pin slider... I went with the Black Gold Ascent Mountain Light and QAD Ultrarest HDX. I went with a basic 5 arrow trophy ridge Quiver and am deciding on a stabilizer now. I'll post some pics hopefully tomorrow when it's all set up. Thanks for the input eveyone