Paper Tuning your Bow

When paper tuning your bow, it is critical to have some of the following tools available. First you need a means of suspending a newspaper in front of your target. It will need to be at least 36" away from the target or far enough away from the target to allow the arrow to pass completely through the paper before it begins penetrating into the target. The key to paper tuning is making sure the paper is taunt. The easiest way to set up your newspaper is to tie a string from two spots (trees , posts etc) parallel to the front of the target. Tape or staple the top of the paper to the string and tape fishing weights or a heavy dowel rod in the bottom of the paper allowing gravity to pull the newspaper tight. Before you shoot, make sure of these three things:

1. keep your grip consistent.

2. make sure you are shooting straight arrows.

3. try to use consistency and repeat the shot every time.

When you shoot through the paper, you will want to be at least 5 yards away from the paper. If you stand too close, the arrow does not have enough time to correct itself and you will end up frustrated over the fact that you may never get a perfect "bullet hole". In picture #1, I shot my first arrow and found that the point was kicking to the left and the vanes were tearing to the right. The vanes are not always easy to identify, but the point is always going to be an almost perfectly round hole (as long as your paper is tight).

Picture #1

Picture #2

In order to adjust for kick shown in picture #1, I moved my arrow rest to the left. In left and right kicking situations, you ALWAYS, move the rest towards the point. My next shot, (shown in picture #2) I found I over adjusted the rest and now the point was kicking to the right and the vanes to the left. In order to adjust this, I use the "move towards the point" rule of thumb and moved my rest back to the right. Finally after 10 or so more shots, I finally was able to obtain a perfect "bullet hole" as seen in picture #3.

Picture #3

I outlined the arrow shaft and vanes with a white pencil to exaggerate the tears in the paper. I did not have, in this example, a problem with up and down arrow kick. Up and down arrow kick is easily corrected by moving the NOCK (not the rest) towards the point. For example if my point would have been at the top and the tear below it, (see picture #4 & #5 ) I would have had to move my nocking point up. (For more pictures of tear combinations see below) If you prefer to make your adjustments on your rest, then just think of the opposite of what you would need to move on the string. Therefore if I would have had to move my nock point up, then the reverse on the rest would be to move the rest down. This is not the only adjustment, however, for up and down kick.

Picture #4

Picture #5

The spring tension is also a factor (for rests like the Tiger tuff, Bodoodle, Mathews, Golden Key etc.) If your rest does not have a spring tension adjustment, and you are unable to get a fairly close bullet hole, then you may be in need of a new rest. Although inexpensive flipper rests and springy rests work great, they are a little harder to tune. Many of my friends swear by springy rests ( a rest that looks like somebody uncoiled a spring and sat an arrow on it) The easiest rests to tune are rests that have the two "fingers" or prongs that project up from underneath the arrow OR one one the bottom and one one the side. They usually need to be configured to allow the cock vane or nocking vane to be positioned directly towards the ground in order to allow the arrow to have complete clearance when shooting throught the rest. Rests that have one prong or the bottom and one on the side are just the opposite and your cock vane will point straight up.

Using these types of rests, you can easily make up and down, left and right and spring tension adjustments. Getting back to spring tension, however, can be sensitive to how hard the arrow is pushing against the rest while being released. Normal spring tension for most prong type rests is set just tight enough to support the arrow when the arrow is nocked on the string at its resting position (not drawn back) This spring configuration will work with most setups 90% of the time.

If you are finding that you are getting up or down kick, and moving the nocking point does not seem to help (making sure to move in small increments to see any change) then start trying to adjust the spring tension in small increments. Make sure you always move everything in small increments. In my previous example where I moved from a drastic left point to a drastic right point, I excessively moved the rest in order to show the effect of moving from one extreme to another. Once you have obtained a perfect bullet hole, try moving back to 10 and 20 yards again shooting through the newspaper. You should again see a perfect arrow flight hole. If you do not, you may be getting a slight cross wind if shooting outdoors. Once you have set your bow to shoot a perfect bullet hole, LEAVE IT !! Regardless of how funny the arrow may look positioned on the bow, this is where the bow and the arrow are in perfect alignment. Not all people will obtain a perfect bullet hole however. The reason for this is due to the many underlying circumstances that consist of obtaining a perfect bullet hole. If you get your bow to shoot very close to a perfect bullet hole, leave it go also. Sometimes close counts in archery as well as in horseshoes. Some of the main causes why people do not achieve a perfect bullet hole is due to some of these problems:

Gripping The Bow: If you grip the bow, the bow may not recoil correctly. This would be the same as trying to shoot your bows while mounted in a machine press and not allowing it to kick or recoil when you shot it. If you are a victim of gripping the bow, you need to purchase a bow sling for your bow hand and learn to shoot with your hand open. If you do not think you grip the bow, a quick and easy test will determine whether you do or not. Tape a tack to your bow at the position where your fingers normally grip the riser with the point sticking out. If you find yourself with sore, bloody fingers, you are gripping the bow. If you do not grip the bow, you will find that you can not shoot your bow without a wrist sling. This is because the recoil of the bow will cause the bow to jump out of your hand and fall on the ground. A wrist sling will keep your bow from falling to the ground and allow you to "catch" it as it falls.

Wrist Sling Too Tight: If you do shoot with a wrist sling, make sure it has at least 1/2" clearance between your wrist and the sling while at full draw. You may need the help of a friend to check this for you. If you do not, you are not taking advantage of the sling and you may as well be gripping the bow. Plenty of clearance is required. On my bow, I use a simple piece of 1/4" diameter nylon string. I tie it through a hole in the riser and over my wrist. I always allow around 3/4" of an inch clearance when shooting. I guarantee it will not fall out of your hand or on top of your deer as you shoot from your stand. I've shot lots of arrows out of my stand like this and my bow has yet to hit the ground.

Arrow is Under or Overspined: If the arrow shaft is too heavy or too light for the bow you are shooting, the arrow will not flex correctly as it is being released from the bow. A perfect sign of whether or not your arrow is too light is if your arrow, while sitting on the rest way out to the left (for a Right Hand person) and it is still tearing with the point to the left on your newspaper. If your arrow is too heavy it may ( but not always) sit on the rest with the arrow almost touching the riser of the bow (again for a right handed person). Your arrow needs to be cut to match your draw length as well as matched up for the draw weight of your bow as well as the type of bow (compound with cams, compound with wheels or recurve). If you do not know what size shafts to use, see a qualified archery dealer and take him your bow and tell them you need to match up your bow with the correct size arrows.

Standing too close to the paper: If you have been working at paper tuning your bow all day but it doesn't seem to help, try moving back some. Move to at least 5 yards or 10 yards. Sometimes because of a combination of the problems mentioned above, you will not get you bow to shoot consistently. If this happens, try buying some arrows with more helical. (vane twist) The more helical an arrow has the more it will straighten out your shooting problems. The only disadvantage to an arrow with more helical is the loss of speed. Additional helical acts as a wind drag and will slow your arrows down faster over longer distances. Over short distances, however, it will not be as noticeable.