Once you set up a sight and rest on your bow and you time and tune the bow, you should begin to sight it in. Sighting in your bow refers to the act of making sure your arrows hit a target where you are aiming - where your sight pins sit on a target when at full draw.
The Basics
The industry standard starting point is 20 yards for your first pin. If you have a single pin sight or are shooting a recurve, then this will be the only pin you use throughout this process. Once you are standing at 20 yards from your target, proceed to take at least 3 shots while aiming at the center of your target. The more shots you take, the better your group will represent how much sight adjustment is required.
Once you have shot a few of your arrows, you should begin to adjust your pin. If your arrows were all hitting high and to the right of where you were aiming, then you need to adjust your sight up and to the right. Regardless of what sight setup you are shooting, you will always 'chase' the point of impact. This is the same process when adjusting crossbow and rifle scopes, too. The principle is the same across all platforms.
A common mistake is when archers assume you need to move your scope down and to the left to compensate for shots that hit high and to the right - this is incorrect and will only lead to even more extreme misses.
Depending on what sight you are using, your windage (horizontal) and elevation (vertical) adjustment systems might look different. Regardless of the system used to adjust your sight, the idea is the same. Using our example above, you will incrementally move your first pin up and to the right. You should be taking multiple shots after each movement until you are consistently hitting where you are aiming.
Once you are hitting in the center of the target, you can fine tune your sight to make sure that the center of your arrow groups are in the center of the target.
The Specifics
The vast majority of archery sights on the market will include either elevation scales or a multi-pin housing. Many higher-end hunting sights even include both. Elevation scales refers to guide markers that can be applied to the side of your sight that allow you to adjust your scope to specific distances while ensuring your arrows still hit with your pins.
A multi-pin housing is a scope where multiple sight pins are present - this allows you to have multiple pins preset for various distances without needing to adjust elevation on your scope.
In cases where you have a sight that accepts scales (or tapes as they are commonly known), your sight manufacturer will include instructions on how to choose the correct scale for your bow system, and how to apply it to your sight. A common system is to apply the sight scale designated to determine the correct pin distances, shoot at both 20 and 60 yards, and line up those marks with the applicable sight tape.
This will allow you to use your pin accurately at any distance that is designated on your appropriate sight tape once applied. Your pin indicator is the small piece of the sight that points at specifics marks on your sight tape. This will determine what distance your sight is set to at any given point.
If your scope includes multiple pins, the process for sighting it in is quite simple. Many sights include either horizontal adjustable pins or the less common (but growing in popularity) vertical adjustable pins. If your top pin is set to 20 yards, begin to shoot with the second pin and walk back until you reach the point when you are hitting where you are aiming with the second pin. This distance is where that pin is currently set.
You will most likely be able to adjust the position of each pin via screws on the outside of your scope housing (commonly on the sight side of the scope). If you desire to have your first two pins set to 20 and 30 yards respectively, then move your second pin up or down until you are at 30 yards when hitting the center of your target. The process is the same for each subsequent pin.
Many multi-pin scopes have anywhere from three to five pins. Though this can vary based on your draw weight, draw length, bow speed, and arrow weight, many choose so set these pins in increments of ten yards: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.
Some hunting sights come with two or three pins on a single vertical post that cannot be individually adjusted. In this case, you simply do the walk back method from above to determine each pin's yardage mark.
Multi-Pin Sliders
Many intermediate and high-end hunting sights are called "slider sights." This means they include a lock and wheel system to quickly adjust for distance changes. They utilize yardage tape/scales that we covered earlier. A majority of these sights are available in various multi-pin scope options. You determine the sight scale the same way that we stated above, and you can adjust your pins the same way we stated above.
In most cases, individuals will set their pins to their desired distances: 20, 30, 40 yards in a three-pin scope, as an example. Their yardage indicator would naturally be set to their 20 yard mark, meaning when they move their sight elevation, they are adjusting what range the top pin is effective for.
A pro tip in cases such as this is to change the position of your indicator or scale to reflect the position of your lowest pin. This will allow you to accurately adjust for farther ranges without running out of elevation adjustment or worse having your scope make contact with your arrow. This is a simple and easily achievable way to get the most out of your sight.
For a quick walk through of this process, we are going to use the example from earlier in this paragraph. A three-pin sight with the pins set to 20, 30, and 40 yards will be used.
Make sure your 20-yard pin - the top one - is set on your sight tape to reflect the current 20-yard position. Once this is done, move your pin indicator on your sight tape to the 40-yard mark. If you cannot move your indicator enough, or cannot move it at all, then adjust the position of your sight tape.
You want your indicator to be positioned over the 40-yard mark on your sight tape. This will change your adjustable pin - the one indicated on the sight tape - to be your 40-yard pin. Since your sight is tuned to that sight tape, adjusting the position of the tape will not affect the effectiveness of the tape as long as you keep your indicated pin to its correct position.
Check out our 'How To' videos below for comprehensive guidance on setting up your bow sight: