Bent sight pins?

[IdahoSpud2]

I'm fairly new to archery. Today was opening day and I hiked way back into the mountains. I called a nice bull in to 30 yards and took a shot. What should've been a fairly easy shot right into the vitals hit low left In his shoulder. The arrow immediately came out and he seemed almost unfazed. I trailed him for over 1 1/2 miles before it went cold.

I noticed half my sight pins were bent up and to the right. This is the first time I've taken my bow into brush. I bent them back down as close to where they should be as I could. After hiking out and getting to the truck I noticed they were bent again.

what the hell? Is this normal or do I have some really crappy flimsy sight pins? Does anyone know of some site pins that will not bend? I'm pretty bummed about not only losing my elk but also injuring one. I never want this to happen again.

 

[Dean2]

You must be catching the pins on something as you are walking. Most pins are not all that robust, if you are going to hike a lot you may need to look at a different type of sight or get a cover for this one. My concern would be, if you are catching stuff hard enough to bend pins, what other damage are you doing to the bow. To answer your question, bending sight pins is definitely not normal, I have never damaged any part of a bow while hiking, even in thick bush.

 

[IdahoSpud2]

You must be catching the pins on something as you are walking. Most pins are not all that robust, if you are going to hike a lot you may need to look at a different type of sight or get a cover for this one. My concern would be, if you are catching stuff hard enough to bend pins, what other damage are you doing to the bow. To answer your question, bending sight pins is definitely not normal, I have never damaged any part of a bow while hiking, even in thick bush.

Thanks for the reply. I understand no pin is going to be bulletproof. But I can easily been these pens with just the tip of my finger. That doesn't seem right?
That doesn't seem right?

my bow is a relatively cheap intro bow from G5. I definitely need a different site. Any recommendation on one that's going to be tough for taking on brush hunts, or even a cover?

I don't think I'm damaging anything else on the bow. But with such fragile pins any little twig or branch could easily bend them. Honestly the brush I was in was not even all that thick.

 

[Dean2]

Since you bought a budget priced bow I assume you have budget limitations. Most of the ones I would recommend are well north of $250. I would go to your local archery shop and see if they have a good used one like a Spot Hog, Axcel HD or the like. Most bow shops, if you are completely honest with them, will give you a lot of great advice and help. They want more guys in the sport and most are just generally good guys to start with. If you can easily bend the pins with your finger that is not going to be a good site for anything but range use.

 

[IdahoSpud2]

Since you bought a budget priced bow I assume you have budget limitations. Most of the ones I would recommend are well north of $250. I would go to your local archery shop and see if they have a good used one like a Spot Hog, Axcel HD or the like. Most bow shops, if you are completely honest with them, will give you a lot of great advice and help. They want more guys in the sport and most are just generally good guys to start with. If you can easily bend the pins with your finger that is not going to be a good site for anything but range use.

I just wanted to make sure I liked archery hunting before I dropped a bunch. The guy at the shop said there was no problem using it for hunting. It was still 5/$600 I believe. Had I known it would cost me a bull I would've got a better one from the start.

thanks. I'll check those out.

 

[XSIVSPD]

I dunno how it is down there, but up here in AK the pawn shops seem to be a good place to find nice bow sights for pretty cheap

 

[CVCOBRA1]

Are they protected at all or are they just sticking out there? I would think a good bow shop should have some used ones also. Guys are always trading stuff around looking for something different. Might even check out fleebay.

 

[IdahoSpud2]

Just with the little ring housing thingy.

 

[XSIVSPD]

If you have one around, I've found some decent deals on bow stuff in the bargain cave at cabela's too fyi

 

[Dean2]

Just with the little ring housing thingy.

Ya, that sucks as a sight. Even for target work. If that cost 20 bucks to make I would be surprised. Just vibration from carrying will bend that crap.

 

[XSIVSPD]

I have one of these on my primary bow. I have the pins set for 30/40/50 and I keep the dial set at 60.for anything more I can run the dial up or down. I've been super happy with it. My bow if fairly fast, but I've shot it out to 110yds at a local archery range and still have room to dial for further.

G5 Optix XR Bow Sight Review

Looking for a new bow sight? Put the G5 Optix on your list of sights to check out. Its easy to use, lightweight and very high quality.

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[IdahoSpud2]

I just looked around sportsman's. What a joke of a sight G5 put on this thing... the pins are like half the diameter of a tooth pick on mine while every single one on the shelf there was either 5x as thick or more of a flat bar.

 

[ascig]

Go with a quality sight and you won't worry about that again. Black golf or spot hogg.

 

[Dean2]

What did you finally find for a replacement sight and are you happy with the new one?