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Posted: 2/1/2016 6:54:40 PM EDT
Getting ready for my first year of archery hunting.  I have had the bow for a few years just never gotten to hunt with it.  I am hoping to do spring turkey but if I dont get the bow tuned may not get too.

I am getting tuning method overload.

Paper tuning
Broadhead tuning
Walk back tuning
Yoke Tuning etc etc etc

I ask the shop what to do and they tell me Paper tune.  So I get my bow all paper tuned up then my broadheads are hitting 5 inches left of the Field points.  Shop then says I need to broadhead tune.  So I BH tune and get my broadheads cutting vanes off of field points.  Now my paper tune is out of whack.  Shop tells me to re-paper tune, well you guessed it BH tune is now off.  

Am I missing some key information?  When I get the bow braodhead tuned I dont notice the arrows hitting the target at weird angles.  Can I just broadhead tune and ethically call it good?
Link Posted: 2/25/2016 8:13:23 PM EDT
[Last Edit: IIRC] [#1]
Link Posted: 10/26/2016 3:56:31 PM EDT
[Last Edit: VBC] [#2]
^ Same here.  That is where the ultimate test is, since that is what you'll actually be hunting with.  The blades of a fixed blade broadhead will steer the arrow away from the field points, if there is any misalignment between the arrow shaft and line of flight as it leaves the bow.

Paper tuning is a rough method to get you close enough to begin broadhead tuning.  So when they told you to go back to paper tune, you were taking a step back again to square one for no reason.  I also like bareshaft tuning (shooting field tip arrows with no vanes).  If you can get a bareshaft to shoot straight and group with your fletched arrows, then your tune and shooting form is probably as good as it will ever get.  Note that with bareshaft tuning, you want to keep the target distance to 10 yds and less to start out, because the bareshaft might go flying wildly if you aren't already in perfect tune.  Then once you get it dialed in at 10 yds, you can try stretching the bareshaft target distance out to 20 and 30 yds for further fine tuning.  If you're shooting bareshafts straight out to 20 and 30 yards, then your fixed blade broadheads will most definitely fly true.

The way I begin is to set the rest at perfect center shot vertically and horizontally and set my nock point so the arrow shaft is perfectly level (using bow/arrow levels).

Then I paper tune.  However, I don't adjust the rest.  I adjust the yoke angle and cam synchronization/timing until I get a bullet hole or very close to a bullet hole.  If I got a perfect bullet hole, then I'm done paper tuning and move on to BH tuning.  If I can only very close to perfect bullet hole, then I will make small final micro-adjustments to the rest to achieve a perfect bullet hole, then move on to BH tuning.  Once BH tuned, I try shooting bareshafts.

When broadhead and bareshaft tuning, only use very very slight micro adjustments of the rest.  And only make one change at a time, or else you begin chasing your tail.
 
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 10:12:34 PM EDT
[#3]
I recommend bare shaft tuning out to 20 yards or so before you fletch them. That way they won't fix themselves and you can see the problems a lot easier than paper tuning. Just remember that all the tuning in the world can't fix bad form.
Link Posted: 8/23/2022 7:54:06 PM EDT
[#4]
I have never personally seen a bow that was paper tuned actually BE tuned. Like already said, it's a way to get started, but honestly provides such limited information I don't worry about it. I'll use a walkback or french tune to get the center shot set, combined with group testing to fine tune the dynamic spine. To be clear, I don't actually SHOOT a group of arrows, I shoot a bunch of shots and compare where they land, I basically never shoot more than one arrow at a time at the same point of aim. Even if it's not my arrows, having them bump each other can make for inconsistent results even if you don't have damage to the arrows.

Once you have that done, pick a broadhead and see how it flies. Odds are really good it'll hit about the same.

The main reason I see for folks having trouble with their broadheads is a horrible tune and poor arrow choice. By horrible tune I mean they're so far out of whack you can see it immediately and wonder how they get arrows on target at all. For wrong arrows, usually it's people thinking the spine number is a weight or that stiffer is always better. Or shorter and stiffer, which results in even more overspine in their setup. Too stiff an arrow gets twitchy, particularly if you make any little errors. Too soft tends to be inconsistent no matter what you do, but for me has always been better than too stiff in the sense that it just makes for larger groups, not a stray arrow that's way outside what I expected. I'm all for erring on the stiff side, but if the chart says you need a 400 cut 2" over your draw length, don't decide to shoot a 300 cut at your draw length unless you have some crazy heavy point or plan to stack on draw weight soon.
Link Posted: 6/1/2023 10:01:33 AM EDT
[#5]
Not a fan of paper tuning at all.  It only shows a snapshot of what the arrow is doing at one point.  Bareshaft to get it close than go from there.
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