# small peep & losing focus



## buckshot087 (Mar 18, 2010)

Im used to shooting 1 3/4" scope with 3/32" peep. I shoot with both eyes open and never have any problems with losing focus or double vision. Im getting into indoor archery so I bought a new target scope today. Its 1 3/8" scope and Im now shooting a 3/64" peep. I shot this setup for a little while today outdoors. At first it was sunny and I didn't seem to have much of a problem, but the more I shot, especially when the sun started going down, the worse I got. Everything seemed dim, and I was having a hard time seeing. Things were blurry and I would lose focus almost every time. What could the problem be? I don't want to use a peep any bigger because that would be showing too much light around my scope. I haven't been able to shoot it indoors yet, but if I can't shoot it outdoors in the sun, I know Ill have trouble indoors.


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## carlielos (May 12, 2007)

Peep Rotation? With a tiny peep if the string rotates at all and its off by just a tad it will reduce light transmission, this is the only real issue I have with micro peeps.
Im courious why you went with a smaller scope, I can understand the smaller peep, but in general you should be able to shoot the same setup indoors as outdoors?


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## buckshot087 (Mar 18, 2010)

Yea I guess I could have kept the same 1 3/4" scope for indoors to and just switched the lenses, but I see that everyone else shoots small scopes for indoors so I figured there had to be a reason. I thought it would help with only letting me see the area on the target that you needed to see, and keep me from getting distracted by seeing everything around the target. Also a smaller scope equals smaller peep which helps clear up higher power lenses. But if I keep having these problems I'm go an switch back for sure.


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## mike 66 (Jan 21, 2010)

if you cant see it you cant hit it... change up..


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Mike is right. You have to see to aim. 

There are a lot of things that you have to balance to get your sight picture right:
- peep opening diameter
- scope size
- scope extension
- anchor point 
- draw length - the first thing I think of when someone says that their peep opening is too large 
- bow axel to axel - string angle 

In general, the larger the peep the more light it lets in. But a small peep also helps with focus if you are not using a clarifier peep.

IMO, the first two things to get right are your DL and posture. We've discussed DL before. Head erect and balanced over body mass helps with steadiest. Try shooting for a while without a peep to find your optimum head position. 

Then figure out the anchor point on your face that gives you the best alignment and allows you to pull through your shots. Most also want their nose to touch the string. You often have to adjust your bow's DL and the D loop length to get the best fit for you.

Then set your peep height so that it's right in front of your eye as you settle into full draw. You don't want to have to hunt for it and you want to be able to hold your head still from the beginning of your draw until you finish the shot. 

You can get a little forgiveness from the scope extension distance. There is an optimum distance for each archer and each setup that compensates for minor hand torque. It isn't a big deal for most, but you seem to have a goal of shooting on a pro level, so you will want to figure this out at this point.

Finally, you are ready to figure out scope and peep diameter. My preference is for the 1/8" peep since my older eyes need all the light I can get. But I also have found my best anchor is fairly low on my face, so my peep is further from my eye than if I had a higher anchor, so I need a smaller diameter scope. I confess that I haven't figured out my optimum scope extension, but that's on the list for this spring. I suspect that it will be pretty close to where it is now. 

The process of balancing all of these factors is why the Specialty Archery Super Peep is so popular with target archers. It's easy to change the peep opening diameter without removing the peep from your string. 

For the equipment part of the equation, getting your peep set up to fit you is second only to getting your bow's DL set to fit you. You can be sure that the guys on the line at the Vegas shooot-off have spent plenty of time on this. Of course they don't stop here. They spend time on every part of their form & equipment. That's how they got there. 

Hope this helps,
Allen


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## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention. It gets even more complicated when you are shooting outdoors at longer distances, you often have to bring the scope in closer to the riser in order to make the distance and you may have to move the peep height to a compromise position. The best peep height at 80 yards is not the best height for 20 yards. Depending on the game you are shooting, figure out a peep height that is close for most of the target distances.

Also, if you are shooting uphill and downhill shots, be sure to level the 3rd axis on your scope. The Hamskee (?) website has some good videos on that.

Sometimes it all makes me want to shoot bare bow!  

Allen


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