# hooter shooter arrow tuning tricks



## stoz (Aug 23, 2002)

I bought a hooter shooter with intention of using it for sorting and nock tuning arrows. Was wondering if there have been discussions on best techniques to do this. I have heard bolt it down to floor and some use a laser and spotting scope others just use sight. Any tips are appreciated.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

I have a shooter and have tried a few different aiming methods including a bow mounted laser but what I generally do most of the time is just sight aiming. I think the laser has promise but a bracket to hold it securely to the bow is absolutely a must. I don't secure mine but do hang a bucket full of water from center mass sometimes. I haven't noticed a big difference though.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

With a hotter shooter you don't use the sights, all you do is shoot a arrow and then shoot that same arrow again and see if it hits the same bole the first arrow hit.

Intakes a while to learn bow to get your hooter shooter to hit the same hole with one arrow.

1. Your grip must be a smooth grip with no grip tape.

2. You must choose one arrow as your control arrow. It is used to get it perfect and then as you group tune the other arrows you shoot it to make sure the hole hasnt moved.

3. I use pencil marks on the hooter shooter to mark everything to make sure that it is perfect every shot.

4 I have a little rod that allows me to quickly check the cant of the bow.

If you want to call me and talk about just pm me.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

I had a hootershooter for arrow tuning, it was working great but not perfect so ended up selling it years ago with that in mind I will build one "perfect" machine what didn't happened so far but is on top of my lists.
I do FITA long range competition shooting and the machine was a very valuable experience. 
I have learned quickly to start arrow tuning at 50 meters and move the target back to 70 along the progress otherwise the damage is greater then the gain. I have seen folks using the HS in a basement or short ranges as 30 yards and like that, this is absolutely pointless, you shall do arrow tuning at the maximum distances these arrows are designed for... 
I was pretty much satisfied with everything how the hootershooter worked but the total weight....I was taking it 90% outdoors deep in a wind proof portion of the forest, try to strap it down or anyhow make it don't move but still I had to re-aim every single drawing the bow...After every major FITA or Field tournament I re-checked my arrows, very time consuming but the high payback. Hanging baskets full with sand didn't worked well enough, I have nail the legs down on the platform still was moving, the most design flaw part is a "V" shaped grip holder to hold and align the grip/bow consistently time after time.
It was still my real pleasure working with the machine, teach me a lot...the most important is how to hold the bow neutral, also from that point the stabilizer setup just became a way easier life, I could just grab the bow from the machine and start scoring without re-adjusting anything.
It also switched my attitude towards buying bows, I don't care anymore for speed or how the equipment is popular but the maximum how they can perform in both tune-ability and accuracy. 
Since 2011 I shoot DST's, shoot through cables and shoot through riser bows, currently setting up a abs40.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

I wonder how many bows or how much damage has been done to a bow or sights or stabs from using a shooting machine? Had my bow shot using a shooting machine and scared to death every time it was fired.....


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

SonnyThomas said:


> I wonder how many bows or how much damage has been done to a bow or sights or stabs from using a shooting machine? Had my bow shot using a shooting machine and scared to death every time it was fired.....


I never had any damage to the machine or bows or any equipment, toke my time and play safe, 
I have busted some arrows in the beginning until I moved the target out to 70...those my thin arrows are pretty expensive, and the pin/point/vane parts costs even higher specially if you don't have several bags in your pocket and the tournament is just right tomorrow!!!
Looking back to that time I spent at least 3+ hours an average tuning a single dozen arrow on the machine only, plus the time to doublecheck me shooting them again, for every each tournament...


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## stoz (Aug 23, 2002)

I noticed with rear stab on it cants alot. Should I take it off.my one buddy used a laser and a spotting scope and bolted it to the floor. I tried with a pin sight shooting it and couldn't get same arrow to hit an x even.


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## EPLC (May 21, 2002)

stoz said:


> I noticed with rear stab on it cants alot. Should I take it off.my one buddy used a laser and a spotting scope and bolted it to the floor. I tried with a pin sight shooting it and couldn't get same arrow to hit an x even.


The grip is critical along with some sort of leveling device to assure repeatable bow position. I'll post up some pictures of mine later if I get a chance.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

I was mounting the bow as I used to shoot with it with full stabilizer setup, front and dual side rods. When finished (with arrows - also I did french tuning as well 5-50 meters - ) what I wanted to do,,,, I grab the bow and I started direct scoring, no re-adjusting anything (no rest no sight at all). I have learned to hold the bow same way as the machine, most human possible -> neutral.... This is a point investing big bucks into these "toys".........


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## stoz (Aug 23, 2002)

Thanks for help . I've heard its a process to get it right.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

stoz said:


> Thanks for help . I've heard its a process to get it right.


How far would you go to gain more points?


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## stoz (Aug 23, 2002)

I am looking to make sure all my arrows are hitting same hole


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## va MTN MAN (Jan 24, 2003)

bigHUN said:


> I never had any damage to the machine or bows or any equipment, toke my time and play safe,
> I have busted some arrows in the beginning until I moved the target out to 70...those my thin arrows are pretty expensive, and the pin/point/vane parts costs even higher specially if you don't have several bags in your pocket and the tournament is just right tomorrow!!!
> Looking back to that time I spent at least 3+ hours an average tuning a single dozen arrow on the machine only, plus the time to doublecheck me shooting them again, for every each tournament...


hey bighun
Just wondering what arrows you were tunning?


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I have group tuned my bare shafts with my stabs on the bow and with them off the bow and I really can't tell a difference, I do know that I tune my bows with the stabs on the bow and when you take the stabs off the bow the arrow flight is not the same so basically when you take them off the bow and then try and group tune the arrows you are sending arrows poorly to the target at a angle that would show up as a bad tear in a paper tuner to do your group tuning. Like I said I can't really tell a difference but it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have heavy weight on my stabs and I have extra on the side so my bow wants to cant when in the hooter shooter is why I take them off sometimes but I may find a way to fix it next time.


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## N7709K (Dec 17, 2008)

you can partially nock tune, but thats all... and even if you could do more, you wouldn't want to if you want your setup to be optimized for you. A hooter shooter won't show you issues with arrows(talking dynamic spine, build spec, etc), setup, tune, etc; all it will do is show you is if a certain arrow doesn't play nice with others. 

Nock tuning takes at most an hour; less if you are a consistent shooter and know where the arrow should have printed in relationship to where you dot is and the quality of the shot you shot.


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

My bow is left handed so the rear bar is on the right side of the bow next to the hooter shooter front leg so I am going to use a string to tie onto the riser on the bottom and the extra weight on my bow will pull into the string and keep it perfect.


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## nochance (Nov 27, 2008)

bigHUN said:


> How far would you go to gain more points?


I know of no one that works harder(and has a full time job) than stoz


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## Padgett (Feb 5, 2010)

I only use the hooter shooter in my shop to group tune arrows, it takes me longer to get it to hit consistently than it does to tune the arrows and lately I have had a couple of sessions where I failed to even group tune because I couldn't get it to shoot good enough.

1. I don't tune my bow with a hooter shooter

2. I don't look through the peep or use the sights

3. I don't care where it hits the target, I only care that I can make it hit that same hole over and over.\

4. The grip area where it contacts your bow is the source of most of the issues that don't allow you to shoot perfectly every time.

5. Not having it bolted to the floor is the second biggest issue. I use sand bags to weight it down and this is iffy to say the least.

6. It needs a wall to crank into so that you can crank back to a specific draw length, the clicks on the winch aren't very accurate and change between each draw depending on how the rope winds on the winch and how much friction you have pinched into the sliding part of the machine.


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

va MTN MAN said:


> hey bighun
> Just wondering what arrows you were tunning?


CX nano XR's in 450 and 410 spine for Field and nanp pro's in 400 spine for FITA


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## bigHUN (Feb 5, 2006)

With a hooter shooter you can:
- find a perfectly spine match to your bow shooting bareshafts and fletched
- do spine planning....I have a 27.72" long CX nano 450's hitting the same vertical line at 70 meters same as the nano 28.74" 410's from the same bow, no changing rest or sight or anything....
- french tune the bow to any given arrow in a reasonable spine range 
- group - or lets call it nock tune the arrows
- earlier years I had specific arrow sizes for different games but realized the total cost jumped up aggressively, also that attitude need dedicated bows as well....no bueno cost too much so I have downgraded to a single arrow size for all my games, the bow setup is easier to maintain, and the total cost is way more affordable (btw I don't play 3d but only rings)
- I have seen some of my nano's were perfectly grouping at 70 but won't group that so much tight at 50 or 90 and wise reverse....I have marked these and collect into bundles and not using for anything else but to that fixed distance only...
If you can afford the machine and you are into tournaments I would say worth the money and effort, with a little tweaking and tightening that hootershooter can be a very valuable tool....


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## montigre (Oct 13, 2008)

bigHUN said:


> CX nano XR's in 450 and 410 spine for Field and nanp pro's in 400 spine for FITA


Haha, great minds think alike. This will be my 2nd season using CX Nano XR 630s for field and Nano Pros 600s for FITA... Great little arrows!! :smile:


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## stoz (Aug 23, 2002)

nochance said:


> I know of no one that works harder(and has a full time job) than stoz


Thanks Dan!


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