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If your arrows keep printing groups somewhere other than where your sight is aimed, the fix is rarely what you think. I’ve watched archers spend hours chasing the arrow, tightening and loosening sight screws, when the real culprit was a slightly crooked rest or a torque they didn’t notice at full draw. A repeatable sight-in starts long before you ever touch a pin.
How to sight in a bow boils down to a simple sequence: square and level the bow, paper-tune for a bullet-hole tear, then start close at 10-20 yards and step back through your shooting ranges while moving each pin toward where your arrows actually land. The “follow the arrow” principle is the mental model – move the pin toward the group, not toward the bullseye – but it only works once your bow is fundamentally tuned.
This guide walks through that whole process from the ground up for 2026. It includes the pre-sighting setup steps most tutorials skip, the paper-tuning diagnostic that prevents wasted ammunition, and the whole-housing vs individual-pin adjustment distinction that confuses most beginners. Whether you’re sighting in a fresh bow, switching to broadheads for the season, or troubleshooting groups that won’t tighten, the sequence below will get you hitting consistent groups at every distance you shoot.
Good equipment isn’t fancy, but skipping any of these items will cost you time and accuracy. Lay everything out before you start so you’re not walking back to the truck mid-adjustment.
Every top bow-sighting resource – MeatEater, Argali, NBEF – opens with the same prerequisite work. Skipping this step is why so many archers end up adjusting their sight three times in one afternoon: their bow isn’t tuned, so the arrow isn’t flying true, so the group keeps drifting.
Before you move a single pin, give yourself 20-30 minutes to walk through the four sub-steps below. They will save you hours later.
“Squaring” means aligning the riser so the string travels in a straight line up and down the center of the grip. A misaligned string puts lateral pressure on the arrow at the shot, which throws left-right impacts that no sight adjustment can fix.
A canted bow sends arrows left or right consistently, regardless of how good your form is. The level on your sight helps during the shot, but you also need to verify that the level is correctly mounted to your sight.
The nock point determines where the arrow sits on the string at full draw, and it directly affects arrow launch. A nock point set too high or too low produces vertical paper tears that look like elevation problems but are actually arrow flight problems.
Paper tuning is the single most valuable diagnostic in archery. You shoot an arrow through a sheet of paper stretched in a frame (paper tuning fork or a cardboard frame) and examine the hole. A clean, round “bullet hole” means the arrow is flying straight. Tears in specific directions tell you exactly what to fix before you ever aim at a target.
Here’s how to read what the paper is telling you:
Don’t move on to sight adjustment until you have three consecutive bullet-hole tears. That alone eliminates the majority of “my sight won’t stay zeroed” complaints I hear from archers at the range.
The follow-the-arrow principle is the mental model for every sight adjustment you’ll make from here forward. It sounds backward at first, which is exactly why beginners struggle with it.
The principle is this: move your sight pin toward the group, not toward the bullseye. If your arrows are printing six inches high, move the pin up six inches (roughly). If they’re printing two inches left, move the pin left two inches. The pin is being dragged toward where the arrow wants to go – not pushed toward where you want it to go.
This works because the sight is mounted on the bow, but you’re aiming with your eye. When you move the pin, you change where your eye is looking, which changes your aim point, which changes where the bow is pointed. The arrow still flies on the same trajectory – you’re just changing the relationship between your eye and the bow.
The mnemonic that finally clicked for me after years of archery: “Move the pin to where the arrow is fighting to go.” If your arrows keep winning the fight and landing up and right, send the pin up and right to meet them.
Here’s where most beginners get tangled up. Modern bow sights have two distinct adjustment systems and you need to know which one you’re using at any given moment.
The whole sight housing is the main block that holds all the pins. It moves up and down (elevation) and left and right (windage) as a unit. When you adjust the housing, every pin moves together. This is what you touch for initial setup and gross adjustments.
Individual pins are small adjustments on each fiber optic or metal pin. Each pin moves independently of the others. This is what you touch when setting a specific distance’s aim point without affecting the others.
The beginner mistake is treating individual pin screws like housing screws. If your top pin (closest distance) and your bottom pin (longest distance) are both off in the same direction, the housing needs to move. If only one pin is off while the rest are perfect, that pin needs its own adjustment. Always start with the housing, then fine-tune individual pins.
With your bow squared, leveled, and paper-tuned for a bullet hole, you’re ready for the actual sighting sequence. Plan for 30-60 minutes for a complete multi-distance setup, longer if it’s a brand-new bow you’re unfamiliar with.
Starting at 10 yards is a deliberate choice. At this distance, minor form errors have minimal impact, and you can get arrows on the paper quickly. The other advantage is that you can see exactly how your bow is shooting at point-blank range – any pattern in the group is amplified and obvious.
Twenty yards is the foundation distance for most hunting setups. The majority of bow shots – both hunting and target – happen between 15 and 30 yards, so getting 20 dialed in is the single highest-value step in the whole process.
Confirm exact distance with a quality rangefinder for bow hunting – even small distance errors compound at longer yardages and undo all the work you did at 10.
With your 20-yard pin zeroed, you can work outward to your remaining distances. The process is identical for each new distance – shoot, analyze, adjust only the relevant pin. Don’t touch the pins you’ve already set unless something is obviously wrong.
Typical expected group sizes at each distance look like this:
If you shoot a single-pin adjustable sight, you’ll add one more step after setting individual pins: creating a sight tape. A sight tape is a graduated label that runs along the elevation track of your sight, marking exact yardages so you can dial to the right distance quickly.
Single-pin users can compare top models in our best single-pin bow sight roundup if you’re still choosing a sight.
The last step is verification, and most archers skip it. Shoot groups at all your set distances, starting at 20 and working outward. Look for any pin that has drifted from where you set it – sometimes pins shift during the process of setting adjacent pins.
Most sighting problems aren’t sight problems. They’re form problems, fatigue problems, or tuning problems that look like sight problems. Before you spend another hour adjusting pins, run through the diagnoses below.
If your arrows scatter across the target instead of grouping, the issue is between your ears and the bow, not in the sight itself. Common culprits include grip torque, anchor point drift, and inconsistent release execution.
If you move the pin and the arrows don’t follow, something mechanical is loose. Tighten everything in this order: mounting bracket screws first, then housing lock screws, then individual pin screws. Move the bow to a quiet spot and listen for any rattle when you shake it – that sound is your problem.
A consistent left or right drift across all distances usually means the rest is misaligned or the cam timing is off. Re-run your paper tune – if you don’t have a bullet hole, you don’t have a sighting problem yet, you have a tuning problem.
Argali Outdoors nailed this one in their guide and it’s worth quoting from experience: in my early years of archery I never realized this and would end up moving my sight down a tad because my arrows were low. The next day I was suddenly hitting high. The cause wasn’t the sight – it was fatigue causing my bow hand to drop slightly at full draw.
Solution: stop sighting in after 30-45 minutes regardless of progress. End every session with a final group, write down your numbers, and pick it up tomorrow with fresh muscles. Two short sessions beat one long, fatigued session every time.
Once you’ve nailed down the basics, these adjustments separate a sighted-in bow from a precision-tuned one.
Sights drift. It’s not a question of if, but when. Building a quick verification routine into your annual cycle saves you from discovering your bow is off during hunting season.
Your sight choice changes how you approach the sighting process. Multi-pin sights give you fast target acquisition and don’t require a rangefinder for known distances. Single-pin adjustable sights demand rangefinder accuracy but offer unlimited distance range and cleaner sight pictures. For a side-by-side look at top options in both categories, see our best bow sights roundup.
If you’re switching from multi-pin to single-pin, expect to spend extra time on sight tape calibration. The tape is what bridges the gap between “I know the distance” and “I have the right aim point,” and getting it dialed in is the entire point of the single-pin system.
Start at 20 yards as your foundation distance – this is where the majority of hunting and target shots happen. Set your 20-yard pin first and make it perfect before stepping back to 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards.
Yes. The follow-the-arrow principle means moving your sight pin toward where your arrows actually land – if they hit high, move the pin up; if they hit left, move the pin left. The pin is dragged toward the group, not pushed toward the bullseye.
For a 3-pin sight, set the top pin at 20 yards, the middle pin at 30 yards, and the bottom pin at 40 yards. Work from closest to farthest, adjusting only the pin you’re setting. Each pin moves independently of the others.
For most archers with decent form, a full multi-distance setup takes 30-60 minutes. Beginners should expect 2-3 shorter sessions. Paper tuning and pre-sighting setup typically add another 20-30 minutes if you’re starting from scratch.
Always start with field points. They fly more predictably and let you tune without damaging expensive cutting heads. Once your sight is set with field points, shoot a broad head group and make small corrections if the impacts differ – usually only windage.
Move the pin DOWN. This feels counterintuitive but follows the chase-the-arrow principle – the pin moves toward where the arrow is fighting to go. Lowering the pin raises your bow’s angle, which lifts the impact point on the target.
Three arrows is the standard. Fewer doesn’t show a consistent pattern, more causes fatigue that throws off later shots. Take a 60-second break between groups to maintain form consistency.
Sighting in a bow is one of those skills that rewards patience disproportionately. The archers I see shooting tightest groups at 60 yards aren’t the ones with the most expensive equipment – they’re the ones who paper-tuned first, verified their form wasn’t the problem, and stopped adjusting before fatigue took over.
Run through the pre-sighting setup, walk the follow-the-arrow principle through your distances, and document everything when you’re done. If you work through Step 0 (square, level, paper tune) and still can’t get a tight group at 20 yards after two sessions, take the bow to a pro shop. There’s no shame in paying for an hour of diagnostic work – it’s cheaper than a season of missed shots.
Bookmark this guide, save your sight photos, and revisit the seasonal re-sighting routine every fall. A bow that was perfect in October isn’t always the same bow in December. Stay ahead of drift and your sight-in will hold all season long.
