How to Sight In a Compound Bow, Step by Step

Learning how to sight in a compound bow is the step that turns a new setup into a bow you trust. The process is the same for any brand: start close, set one reference pin, then build every other yardage from it. Once you understand the one rule that drives it all, follow the arrow, sighting in a bow takes an afternoon and a few dozen arrows.

This Better Outdoors guide walks you through each step: safety, the 10-yard rough-in, the 20-yard pin, gang and gap adjustments, setting 30 through 60 yards, 2nd and 3rd axis leveling, peep alignment and the final broadhead check. It works for multi-pin sights and single pin sliders alike.

Before You Start: Safety and Setup Checks

Sighting in only works if the rest of the bow is consistent. A sight can’t fix a draw length that changes, a loose rest or a peep that spins. Spend ten minutes on these checks first.

• Draw length and draw weight are final. Changing either later moves every pin. If you are still adjusting, read our guide on how to adjust draw length first.
• Everything is tight. Check sight mount screws, rest screws, the quiver mount and the stabilizer. Use a little blue thread locker on the sight bracket if it keeps backing out.
• The peep and D-loop are set. Your peep should come to your eye with your head in a natural position (more on that below).
• Your arrows are matched. Same shaft, spine, point weight and nocks. Number them to spot a stray.
• You have a safe backstop. A target rated for your bow’s speed, a clear area behind it, and nobody downrange.

Bring a set of hex keys that fit your sight, a pencil, and a notepad or phone for recording yardages. A simple archery hex key set saves a lot of rounded screw heads.

The Golden Rule of Sighting In a Bow: Follow the Arrow

Every sight adjustment comes back to one rule: move the sight in the same direction as your miss. Archers call this “chasing” or “following” the arrow.

It feels backward at first, but you are moving the aiming point, not the arrow.

Step 1: Rough In at 10 Yards

Start close so you can’t miss the target. A new sight can be several inches off, and 10 yards keeps every arrow on the bag.

1. Center the sight housing on its windage and elevation travel so you have room to adjust both ways.
2. Stand at 10 yards and aim your top pin at the center of the target.
3. Shoot a group of three.
4. Follow the arrow: move the whole sight housing (or the whole pin block) up, down, left or right toward the group.
5. Repeat until your top pin hits close to center.

Step 2: Set Your 20-Yard Pin With a Gang Adjustment

The 20-yard pin is your anchor point for the entire sight. Get it exactly right before touching any other pin.

Move back to a measured 20 yards (use a tape or a rangefinder, not paces). Aim your top pin at the X and shoot groups. Now you make a gang adjustment: move the entire housing or pin block, not the individual pin. Gang adjustments move every pin together, which keeps the spacing between pins intact.

• Use gang adjustments for left/right (windage) on every distance. Windage is set once, at 20 yards, for all pins.
• Use gang adjustments for up/down at 20 yards so the top pin hits center.
• Shoot until three groups in a row land in the center. Then lock the housing.

Once the 20-yard pin is set, don’t touch the gang adjustment again unless your 20-yard pin goes off. If you move it, every other pin moves too.

Step 3: Gap-Adjust Your 30, 40, 50 and 60-Yard Pins

Now use gap adjustments: move individual pins inside the housing to set each distance. This is the “gang and gap” method that most pro shops use.

1. Back up to 30 yards. Aim with your second pin and shoot a group.
2. Loosen only that pin and move it toward the group (follow the arrow, vertical only).
3. Repeat until it groups in the center, then tighten it.
4. Do the same at 40, 50 and 60 yards with the next pins down.

Your pins will get farther apart as distance increases. That is the arrow’s arc: the farther it travels, the more it drops per yard. A faster arrow drops less, so its pins sit closer together; a heavier, slower arrow spreads the pins out.

Try the free Arrow Speed CalculatorTurn an IBO rating into your real-world FPS.

Arrow speed is why your buddy’s pin gaps look nothing like yours. Estimate your real speed before you start moving pins.

Single Pin Slider Sights and Sight Tapes

A single pin slider works the same way, just with one pin that moves on an elevation track. You still set 20 yards with the housing (windage and elevation), then set a second distance, often 50 or 60 yards, by moving the slider.

Most sliders use a printed sight tape that matches yardage marks to your arrow’s trajectory. You set two known distances, then pick the tape that lines up with both marks, or enter your numbers into the sight maker’s tape program. After that, confirm every yardage you plan to shoot. Tapes are calculated, so a quick check at 30 and 40 yards catches small errors.

Many western hunters like sliders because one pin keeps the sight picture clean at long range. Whitetail hunters often stick with fixed pins because nothing has to move when a deer appears. If you want to try one, look at a single pin slider bow sight with clear yardage marks and a positive lock.

Level Your Sight: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Axis Leveling

A sight that is not level makes misses that look like form problems. Leveling happens on three axes:

• 1st axis: the bubble level is square to the pins and the sight is plumb when the bow is plumb. Set this first.
• 2nd axis: the bubble stays centered when you tilt the bow forward and back, like aiming up or down. Off 2nd axis, your arrows drift sideways on steep shots from a treestand or on a mountain slope.
• 3rd axis: the bubble stays centered when you rotate the bow toward you at full draw. Off 3rd axis, your long-range pins drift left or right even though 20 yards is perfect.

The cleanest way to set 2nd and 3rd axis is in a bow vise with a string level, or at a pro shop. A quick field check: if your 20-yard pin is centered but your 60-yard group always lands to one side, suspect 3rd axis.

Check the bubble on every shot. Even a few degrees of cant pushes arrows off line, more so at distance.

Peep Alignment and a Consistent Anchor

Your peep sight is the rear sight. If it moves, your pins move. When you come to full draw with your eyes closed and then open them, you should be looking straight through the peep at the housing without moving your head.

• Center the sight housing (or the scope ring) inside the peep the same way every time.
• Keep the same anchor: hand position, face contact and nose-to-string touch.
• If the peep comes back crooked, the string may need twisting or a peep tube. Get it fixed before sighting in, because a twisting peep changes your aim.

Peep height is tied to draw length. That is one reason we always tell readers to finalize draw length first. Owners of older bows will find the specific cam steps in our 2016 PSE draw length adjustment guide.

Broadhead Tuning vs. Field Points: The Final Check

Field points and broadheads of the same weight should hit together. When they don’t, the broadheads are magnifying a tuning problem. Fixed blades steer like small wings, so any arrow that leaves the bow crooked shows up as a broadhead miss.

1. Shoot a group of field points at 20 yards. Mark the center.
2. Shoot one broadhead at a separate spot on a broadhead target, aiming the same pin at the same mark size.
3. Repeat at 30 and 40 yards if your broadheads stay close.

If the broadheads hit with the field points, you are done. If they consistently hit in a different spot, move the rest, not the sight. The common shop rule is the opposite of the sight rule: move the rest away from the broadhead impact (broadheads left, move the rest right; broadheads high, move the rest down). Small moves, about 1/16 inch at a time.

Mechanical broadheads usually fly closer to field points because their blades stay folded in flight, but you should still confirm them before season. At Better Outdoors we recommend a final broadhead check after any change to your rest, string or arrows.

Common Mistakes When You Sight In a Compound Bow

• Adjusting after every arrow. You end up chasing form errors around the target.
• Moving the gang after setting 20 yards. It shifts every pin you already set.
• Skipping the broadhead check. A perfect field-point sight-in doesn’t guarantee broadhead accuracy.
• Forgetting to re-check. Strings stretch, screws loosen and bows get bumped in trucks. Confirm your 20-yard pin before every hunt.

Final Thoughts

How to sight in a compound bow comes down to a short, repeatable routine: get the bow consistent, rough in at 10, nail 20 with the whole housing, gap the rest, level the sight and finish with broadheads. Write your yardages down, re-check before each season, and you will always know where your arrow is going. Better Outdoors has more setup guides in the Bow Tuning section if you want to keep dialing in your rig.

Frequently Asked Questions