# What Yardages??



## Arrow (Aug 30, 2002)

OK, I have been playing this game for many years and learned something new. A fellow archer told me that when he sights n for his computer software that he uses 30 and at least 60 for outdoor marks.

What do all of you use for yardages? Do you shoot 5? shoot 3? 30 and 60? 30 and 80?

Arrow


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## IGluIt4U (Sep 22, 2004)

I shoot mine thru a chrono.. then print the tapes, and test to be sure they are right... at 80... :wink: If they are right at 80, they should be correct all the way down the line.. more or less.


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

It depends on what I feel my GOOD marks that I shot in where....

But I don't use 20yds if that is what you are asking :wink:

Usu sally I don't use a mark under 35-40yds. At 20yds the margin for error is HUGE. So I shoot and get marks 20-30-40-50-60...then go shoot a half...and fine tune and get at least 3 solid yardages. I don't care what they are....35-50-65....40-50-70...it doesn't really matter.

Then put them in OT2 and print out a sight card...not a tape...then do it again...to fine tune the marks.

In between getting the initial marks and putting them in OT2 sometimes I will do this over a couple weeks tweaking and fine tuning...


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

I site in dead on the line with a 3/4" wide horizontal tape at 30 yards and a 1.5" wide horizontal tape at 60 or 65 yards. I also chronnie the bow and make sure that is in the program too.

Siting in on the horizontal line takes "guess-work" out of a setting....with my bow, I can still be in the "X-ring" on a 30-yard target at 30 yards and very by 14 clicks on the site..>NOT CLOSE ENOUGH, IMHO.

So, with the horizontal line method....I can get it down a LOT closer than that.

Always remember...garbage in, garbage out...those tapes are only as good as the "numbers" you put into the computer program.

field14

field14


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## Arrow (Aug 30, 2002)

Thaks folks. I had not though of the tape line or even using a reference card to check all of the yardages.

Arrow


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

I do the same as Brown Hornet. Try as I might I was never able to get a sight tape from two or three marks ..or using a chrony. I just shot my bow in at every ten yards from 30 on out...then generated a card for the inbetween distances.


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## jarlicker (Jul 29, 2002)

I will shoot in a perfect 65 or 80 yard mark. Use that. Then shoot in a 25 yard mark. Program that in. Test the mark by shooting my 20 foot shot. If off at all. I will get a perfect 20 foot mark then tweak my 25 yard mark until the computure gives me that same 20 foot mark I shot in. Then I have a perfect set of marks. Then I write em.


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## RchurE (Mar 20, 2007)

I went on Field14's advice last year and used the horizontal tape method and solved all my woes. Since then I've came up with my own variation of it and I only use 20 and 30 yards to do it. 

I shoot at the bottom edge of a piece of paper and I don't quit until half of my point is on it and half is off of it. I do that at 20 and 30 and then input those mark + click values and my tapes (3-D) and charts (Field) have been dead nuts every time. 

I only use 20 and 30 because I feel I can get the most accurate settings there using the fine edge of the paper. It just seems I can split my scope dot well with that edge. 

One of my buddies sighted in his marks yesterday for 20 and 30 and he uses Archer's Advantage. He couldn't figure out why his program was calculating is bow 16 fps slower using those marks. I told him, to try and prove a point, to enter one mark more on his 20 (actually not a full mark, his setting was 10.4 and I told him to enter 11) and then one mark less on his 30 (15 instead of 16) and see what it did to the calculated speed. It made a difference of 34 fps. Now yours may not be that much, it's according to what your sight radius is but he extends his bar all the way out.

This showed him that his marks were fair but not perfect. If you have a good chrony and have cross checked it with another good one then when you get good marks the calculated speed of the program should be within a foot or two per second of the chrony. 

Sorry to ramble but thought that story might help.


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## The Swami (Jan 16, 2008)

I use 2 marks, 20 yards and 60 yards in Archer's Advantage. My marks on spot on at all yardages. I have never had any issues doing this. I never use a chrony for my marks. I let the program do it. That is the best way for me. 

Remember on these things, garbage in, garbage out. Details matter and so does being meticulous.

There is a post of mine from way back that explains how I set up my sight and do my marks if you search for it. 

Ok, I went beyond the grave to find this one. It sure stunk in the crypt. 



Ok, this is what I do with AA.

I shoot a movable sight like the Shibuya Ultima CP 520. It is a 24x20 sight.

I don't use a sight tape so I feel this next thing is very important if you are using the scale side of your sight....

Zero out your sight. To do this, dial your sight to a numbered line on your scale side of your sight. They are bigger lines usually. Get that indicator pin so it is dead on the middle of that line. When you do that, look at your knob you use to move your scope up and down. The knob should be on the number zero. Most of the time on a new sight it isn't. You could be several clicks away from zero. If you leave it like this and use a sight mark sheet and the scale side of the sight, you are not necessarily setting your sight on the exact setting your sight card is telling you.

When you have the indicator pin dead on the line and the knob is not at zero, turn the knob to zero and then adjust your pin so that it reads dead on the line of the scale side of the sight. Move the pin up and down the scale on several numbers of your sight frame. Anytime you are dead on a line, that knob should be at zero.

Once you have done this, anytime your pin is on a line, your knob is at zero. This will help when you use the scale side of the sight and a sight card with all your marks on it to ensure that if your card says 62.55, you are actually setting your sight exactly at that number instead of being a few clicks off. That is too much slop at longer yardages.

I then make sure that all my axis settings are good and then I make sure that my sight frame of my sight is on the same plane with the riser of the bow, not the string. I shoot the bow with no cant, so I make sure the sight frame is on the same plane as the riser. That way as you move the sight down the frame, your windage doesn't change.

I build my bow and my arrow I am using with exact measurements and then of course I add my parallax info too.

I then shoot a 20 yard mark. This takes me some time as there a range of settings that gives you be dead center of the target and you could click up or down and not move it much. I move the sight until I see the arrow move then go back to the other way until I see the arrow move that way. I then use the middle of those 2 settings as my 20 yard mark. Kind of tedious eh? 

I then shoot a 60 yard mark. This one doesn't take as long because a click or 2 shows up more at this yardage.

Once I input my 20 and 60 marks to AA, I print them out and go shoot a 4 yard shot. If I am dead in the center, I know my parallax is good. Most people can hold very solid on a 4 yard shot and aim at a very small dot to check this. Easy shot to do.

I have always gotten perfect marks when I do this. If my marks turn out to not be good, then it was my bow changing or the way my shot changed. 

For your lower mark, it might be easier to use a 30 like someone else mentioned. But if you are a very good shot, then you will be able to get an accurate 20 yard mark, it just takes some time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

Swami's directions are perfect....and that is pretty much the long version of what I do..we talked about this last summer

If you follow these directions your tape will be the best tape you can make....and if you print off a car/sheet whatever you want to call it....your results will be even better IMO.


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

The other little secret is to be careful that you do NOT stretch the paper when you put the site tape onto the bowsite!

You MUST check to make sure that when you mount that site tape...your NUMBERS MATCH UP again after you have put the tape on....it is easy to stretch the paper as you press it down...since most people will naturally put the tape down and then press it in from the mark you set it at up and down the tape itself...NOT WISE.

BE CAREFUL...or even if the site tape is a good one...your site numbers and the tape lines won't match up!

I put my "double stick" tape on the back of the site tape by applying it directly down onto the paper. Then, before cutting out the tape...I also put my "transparent tape cover" directly down onto the site tape print-out. This prevents you from stretching the paper....BUT...in addition to that, once I put the tape onto my site aligned with the setting reference I use...normally 60 yards...I carefully put that tape down using the eraser end of a pencil and straight down without pulling or pushing that site tape.

field14


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

field14 said:


> The other little secret is to be careful that you do NOT stretch the paper when you put the site tape onto the bowsite!
> 
> You MUST check to make sure that when you mount that site tape...your NUMBERS MATCH UP again after you have put the tape on....it is easy to stretch the paper as you press it down...since most people will naturally put the tape down and then press it in from the mark you set it at up and down the tape itself...NOT WISE.
> 
> ...


another reason that I don't use tapes:wink:


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

Brown Hornet said:


> another reason that I don't use tapes:wink:



I have a tape on the bow...as a BACKUP in case I lose the "placard" that I have the PRINTED NUMBER SETTINGS on. This placard is mounted on a piece of thin plastic and velcroed onto my site extension bar...I use it as my PRIMARY set of settings and rarely look at the site tape. All I do is enter the "numbers" into an excel spreadsheet and the printout is "sized" to fit the placard.

ALWAYS have a backup...cuz you never know when something is gonna happen

That is one reason I cannot believe nor condone anyone using a palm-pilot to calculate every site setting during a round....and NOT having a site tape on the site bar. If that palm-pilot crashes....then whaddaya do? CANNOT claim "equipment failure"...they won't give it to you for a 'computer failure.'

Cross-checking your settings is one thing...but relying on a computer for your sole source of information....not wise, IMHO.

field14


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

field14 said:


> I have a tape on the bow...as a BACKUP in case I lose the "placard" that I have the PRINTED NUMBER SETTINGS on. This placard is mounted on a piece of thin plastic and velcroed onto my site extension bar...I use it as my PRIMARY set of settings and rarely look at the site tape. All I do is enter the "numbers" into an excel spreadsheet and the printout is "sized" to fit the placard.
> 
> ALWAYS have a backup...cuz you never know when something is gonna happen
> 
> ...


I still have yet to shoot with anyone using a Palm pilot for marks......or see one for that matter

But I already thought about loosing my marks....I keep one in my release bag (that is my main one)...one in my quiver pouch...and one in my wallet no way I am loosing 3 of them


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## swerve (Jun 5, 2005)

30 and 80 yard marks and start tweaking. Using my chrono just doesn't seem to work for me.


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## The Swami (Jan 16, 2008)

field14 said:


> The other little secret is to be careful that you do NOT stretch the paper when you put the site tape onto the bowsite!
> 
> You MUST check to make sure that when you mount that site tape...your NUMBERS MATCH UP again after you have put the tape on....it is easy to stretch the paper as you press it down...since most people will naturally put the tape down and then press it in from the mark you set it at up and down the tape itself...NOT WISE.
> 
> ...


Make sure you have good printer and you have calibrated it.

I do not, will not use tapes. Too many factors for inaccuracy. Too much guessing for me.

I print out at least 3 sight cards and stash them in different places.


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## RecurveArcher99 (Mar 18, 2008)

Arrow said:


> OK, I have been playing this game for many years and learned something new. A fellow archer told me that when he sights n for his computer software that he uses 30 and at least 60 for outdoor marks.
> 
> What do all of you use for yardages? Do you shoot 5? shoot 3? 30 and 60? 30 and 80?
> 
> Arrow



18M and 50M

iam about to move my but and make a 90M:wink:

i love 50M and i do my best at 18M


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## r49740 (Dec 7, 2006)

Don't mean to hijack, but was inquiring on a bit of help for this same thing myself. I use On Target2 as well. How do I set it to print a card instead of a tape? How do you actually use the card in a 3d shoot? 

When you say you get a mark for 30 and 60, what do you mean by that? Do you put a pencil mark on the sight where it is hitting those marks, then line up the "card" with it until you find one that lines up with the pencil marks?


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

r49740 said:


> Don't mean to hijack, but was inquiring on a bit of help for this same thing myself. I use On Target2 as well. How do I set it to print a card instead of a tape? How do you actually use the card in a 3d shoot?
> 
> When you say you get a mark for 30 and 60, what do you mean by that? Do you put a pencil mark on the sight where it is hitting those marks, then line up the "card" with it until you find one that lines up with the pencil marks?


You know what sucks is I had my marks saved on my work computer from last year and a card in my wallet....I just cleared my puter and threw the old card out the other day..otherwise I would have posted them:doh:

I haven't made a card since June/July so I don't remember what the button is you click without looking at the program so I will let someone else steer you in the right direction for that...

You use the card for 3D, field or FITA the same way.....when you print the card out each yardage from say 10yds to 100yds or whatever you set yours at...yes I mean EVERY YARDAGE....10, 11, 12, 13...25, 29, 42 etc will have a number next to it. Say you are shooting a 42 yd target...look at the card and find 42...it will say something like 29.16...look at the scale on the back of the sight bar...move it to 29...and then turn the elevation knob 16 clicks...now shoot :wink:

When I say I use 30 and 60...what I do if starting from scratch is go to 30 yds and sight in...then I pull out a card...piece of paper whatever and right down my #....20.09. Then I will work my way back to 50 or 60 and do it again....then write that # down...say it's 35.15....

Then I will go shoot some with the marks that I have and fine tune them all down a little...then I put them in OT2 and print them off and go back and shoot and tweak.:wink:

Sometimes you will notice that OT2 tweaks your marks for you slightly because as people say trash in trash out....so you will need to tweak them a little or at least double check to make sure that they are correct. But in the end I have found that using this method will give you MUCH BETTER marks then a standard tape will plus nobody can look at your tape...and you also don't have to worry about marks running together at your shorter yardages...if you want to shoot a 32 yd target there is no close enough with a card...you set it for 32yds..not some place between 30-34 yds...you can be exact.:wink:


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## CHPro (May 21, 2002)

32yd......its just about dead center between 30 and 35 . While I'm sure most of you touting the use of cards only have never :wink: mis-set your sight to the wrong number, I still recommend a person put a tape on their bow that shows the 5yd increments. 3 good reasons to add the tape: first, easier to do a quick double-check just before you draw back to make sure you set your sight correctly, or for that matter remembered to set your sight; second, works much faster for cutting yardage on targets, imo, when shooting hills (i.e. need to cut 1yd or 2yd, easier to estimate visually than to try ciphering on the fly how many clicks = 1yd); and thirdly, and possibly most importantly, if something isn't quite right with your marks on a given day its much easier to visually see how much above/below each of the lines you need to go to correct rather than looking at a bunch of printed numbers on a card and then trying to cipher how much to adjust each of those individual marks. Reasons I'd suggest also adding a sight tape anyway. Maybe just me, I like to visually see the pattern and can more readily adjust/adapt on the fly should something occur if I can "see" the 5yd line gaps and how much each of these are off.

As an fyi on the topic, I usually use 30yd and then something longer like 70yd to set up my sight marks. 30yd because I know if I'm hitting the x at 30yd I'm pretty well dialed in. Doesn't take many clicks at 30yd to move from center of the x to "tweener", unlike 20yd where it may take several clicks to move even from center to upper x-ring with outdoor bow speeds. 70yd for me on the upper end because then I'm usually good for everything between 20 and 70 with those 2 marks entered into the programs (AA for me, but the others are similar I believe). Then I check the 80yd and get specific marks for 15yd and under (for field). I haven't done any of the measurement things to get the marks inside the sight parallax, instead preferring to double-check those myself. Been shooting long enough with my set-ups that I know 10yd-15yd can be shot with the same mark, 25ft birdie for 18yd-19yd setting and 20ft for roughly 22yd setting.

As an additional fyi, hard to believe, but I pretty much don't use anything but 5yd increment sight tapes (actually a rubber band, but that's a different story ). I figure I don't hold steady enough to tell the difference in a click or two, nor are the targets always necessarily measured to the exact yard marked on the stake anyway .

Just to add a few thoughts...............

>>-------->


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

Jeff...why did you have to put that bad vibe out there.....the miss setting of the sight....:doh:

I double and triple check my settings:wink: but now I am sure that I will mess it up and shoot a ZERO or something this year

But I always have a tape on my bar also:wink: But for you guys that also shoot 3D...if you run into me....don't look....a ZERO or 5 at best will soon follow :wink:


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## redman (Feb 22, 2003)

*sight*

i do 30 and 60 yards at start and then i do 30 and 80 or 90 yards


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## Hinkelmonster (Oct 25, 2004)

I shoot at 30 and 50, then I enter those into the program and check the 80 mark.

The reason for this is:

30 is the furthest even distance at that target and the 50 the same for that target face. 

Also if your 80 is good then everything else will be dead nuts!


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## AKDoug (Aug 27, 2003)

> I still have yet to shoot with anyone using a Palm pilot for marks......or see one for that matter


I shot with MauiWes in Darrington and he was using a palm pilot..for part of the day  No backup card, no sight tape  He still shot pretty damn good by blind ass guessing. Water and palm pilots do not mix.

I carry three sight cards. One clipped to my quiver. One in my release pouch. One in my backpack with all my other crap. I'm paranoid.


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