# Need Good Sight Tape



## Unclegus (May 27, 2003)

You can get AA and make your own custom sight tapes. Lancaster offers a sight tape that will work also. Just shoot in a few marks, and line them up with one that's the closest, peel it off, and presto....


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

what ever happened to shooting em in?

the time it takes to figure out all the ins-n-outs of getting a tape printed, you could have shot 80% of your marks in.

on top of getting marks, it's practice.


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

rock monkey said:


> what ever happened to shooting em in?
> 
> the time it takes to figure out all the ins-n-outs of getting a tape printed, you could have shot 80% of your marks in.
> 
> on top of getting marks, it's practice.



Agreed. I can shoot in my marks out to 80 yds. in roughly 30 min. 

. . .and I also get to work on my form the whole time. (Lord knows I need it, too. . .)


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## C Doyle 88 (Sep 1, 2007)

The only way I'd have 100% confidence in my sight tape is if I shot it in


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## 2005Ultramag (Apr 3, 2005)

Make your own, like I did.


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## Mathewsju (Jan 19, 2008)

rock monkey said:


> what ever happened to shooting em in?
> 
> the time it takes to figure out all the ins-n-outs of getting a tape printed, you could have shot 80% of your marks in.
> 
> on top of getting marks, it's practice.


Not when I have only a week to sight in from 20 feet to 80 yards!


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

Mathewsju said:


> Not when I have only a week to sight in from 20 feet to 80 yards!


2 hours for a full set of field marks on saturday

1 hour to shoot in a full set of hunter marks on sunday.

not sure why it's gonna take longer than that, but ok, if you say so.


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## longbows101 (Feb 26, 2008)

*tape*

2005ultramag, that looks good! but how'd you print that? thanks


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## 2005Ultramag (Apr 3, 2005)

longbows101 said:


> 2005ultramag, that looks good! but how'd you print that? thanks


We have a little hand held Brother label maker at work that prints on vinyl tape.

I typed in 20- 30- 40- 50- 60- and then printed it out.

Then I cut the numbers apart with a razor blade, and sighted in, puting the pieces on the slide with the dash marks where they needed to be for each distance. It's tough to see the seams in the picture, but each number is a seperate little sticker.

You can probably have the label done at an Office Depot pretty cheap if you don't know anyone with a label maker.

BTW, since I took that picture I reset the scope on the sight, and resighted in from 20 to 80 yards. The 20 mark is now near the bottom of the slide, with an 80 mark near the top. I used the same label maker to redo the whole thing.


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

Mathewsju said:


> . . .Not when I have only a week to sight in from 20 feet to 80 yards!. . .


A week isn't enough time?! 

Whoa.

If it takes longer than an hour to sight in out to 80 yds. in 10 yard increments, then I think your sighting routine may need some tweaking. The longest it's ever taken me or anyone I've shot with was 2 hrs.

What do you do that takes so long? :set1_thinking:


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## Mathewsju (Jan 19, 2008)

WrongdayJ said:


> A week isn't enough time?!
> 
> Whoa.
> 
> ...


A week is enough time, I'm just not used to shooting at 80 yds and want all the practice I can get. Also, I'm a freak because every yardage has to be sighted in perfectly, or I won't allow myself to move back.:wink:


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## RHINO (Jul 15, 2002)

Well, your best bet for a custom sight tape quick, is to download a program from one of the sight tape web sites. I am using TAP-www.thearcheryprogram.com and I am very happy with it. There are some others that work well too.


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## SteveWilliamson (Feb 26, 2008)

Is it me or does your 40 to 50 look closer than your30 to 40yards?


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## Macaholic (Mar 18, 2004)

Mathewsju said:


> A week is enough time, I'm just not used to shooting at 80 yds and want all the practice I can get. Also, I'm a freak because every yardage has to be sighted in perfectly, or I won't allow myself to move back.:wink:


do you have....or have access to a PALM?
if so...then download Archers Advantage for PALM...get it activated then head to the range to get just '2' sight marks...I like a 30yard and 80 yard...shoot for best groups till you feel comfortable. Then pick another distance, say 20 feet...shoot it in, but before you change your sight from 80 yards aim at the bottom dot on the birdie target, shoot, it will impact high but what you're checking is center shot. (this can be a different post, I mention it here cuz it's part of my routine) if the arrow impacts inline above your aiming point then don't worry about it.

you need a buddy to help you get measurements on your bow a full draw - sight length (center of peep to center of scope rod) and peep height (center of peep straight down to center of arrow shaft), try to be very accurate with these numbers.

next is a total weight of you arrow in grains. Plug these numbers into the program and MAGIC....all the other numbers become instantly available, get a card to write them down and you're good to go. sorry, with PALM you cant print a nice, neat tape or card but you do get a very portable device to run your numbers quickly, and if you're like me they change......a lot, everytime I tweak this or that so I find it much more convenient to generate my sight marks this way...
Good luck with yours.
Mac


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

WrongdayJ said:


> Agreed. I can shoot in my marks out to 80 yds. in roughly 30 min.
> 
> . . .and I also get to work on my form the whole time. (Lord knows I need it, too. . .)


all of them....really? :embara:

I can't shoot ALL of the marks I need for a field round in 30 mins.....

most people can't even get on a range all the time to get ALL of the marks. I have to drive quite aways to get to a practice range that I can pound 80+ yds on that is on flat ground.

But with OT2 I can go to the range and shoot for a little while and get 3 or 4 GREAT marks...30-40-50-60 and get everything I need from the bunny out to as far as I want to go.:wink:

Now you do need to learn to use the programs CORRECTLY...and 99% of the people that have problems with ANY of the programs are putting "junk in" so they get "junk out". It doesn't take more then 1/2 hour to figure out how to use any of the programs to the point that you are good enough with it to get good marks out.

I would much rather get ONE-THREE GREAT marks and go shoot and not worry about anything but making a good shot and get good practice in then....spend the time getting marks. Because you can't practice for "real" and sight it...just like you can't work group tuning and creep tuning at the same time.:wink:


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

Macaholic said:


> do you have....or have access to a PALM?
> if so...then download Archers Advantage for PALM...get it activated then head to the range to get just '2' sight marks...I like a 30yard and 80 yard...shoot for best groups till you feel comfortable. Then pick another distance, say 20 feet...shoot it in, but before you change your sight from 80 yards aim at the bottom dot on the birdie target, shoot, it will impact high but what you're checking is center shot. (this can be a different post, I mention it here cuz it's part of my routine) if the arrow impacts inline above your aiming point then don't worry about it.
> 
> you need a buddy to help you get measurements on your bow a full draw - sight length (center of peep to center of scope rod) and peep height (center of peep straight down to center of arrow shaft), try to be very accurate with these numbers.
> ...



and that is why when I get my new phone it will be the PALM Centro:wink:


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

SteveWilliamson said:


> Is it me or does your 40 to 50 look closer than your30 to 40yards?


Nope...it's not just you.

that is a HUGE reason why a lot of people have problems with OT2 or TAP...they don't believe the marks that the program gives them...and the program is right.

But when the shooter puts that pin on 40 or 50 which ever of their two marks that is wrong...they have something built into their shot that they are doing at that distance that is WRONG and they are adjusting for the difference. IE...they hold off naturally (low or high), or they drop their arm, or something. Therefore they hit with those marks but they aren't actually correct marks for their setup.


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## pragmatic_lee (Jan 19, 2008)

Brown Hornet said:


> and that is why when I get my new phone it will be the PALM Centro:wink:


BH, the Centro "does" use the Palm OS - so you should be OK. Many of the newer Palms use a different operating system - just because it says Palm on it, doesn't mean it will run AA.


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

pragmatic_lee said:


> BH, the Centro "does" use the Palm OS - so you should be OK. Many of the newer Palms use a different operating system - just because it says Palm on it, doesn't mean it will run AA.


I noticed that but thanks for the heads up most more then likely wouldn't pick up on that :wink:


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

i use aapalm on a zire31. its not the flashiest newest hitechiest palm out there, but it does have a few features that work for me. it runs palmos ver 5.2x. not sure how well supported the zire31 is by palm, but it's a stable os. the unit itself is a little dated compared to what is available today

can run aapalm
runs mp3's
no camera, but does have a photo viewer. resolution isnt as good as the lcd on a camera.
an sd card slot
an available pdf app so i can store and view pdf files like rulebooks, created sight tapes, notes, personal tune chart settings and other reasonably important documents. just doesnt have a search function for the pdf files


tucows.com has quite a few available palm apps. some free, some shareware, some buyware

i always shoot my marks in....just a way to be absoltively posilutely sure. i compare them to what i get on aapalm, and 95+% of the time, everything is good.


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

Brown Hornet said:


> . . .all of them....really? :embara:
> 
> I can't shoot ALL of the marks I need for a field round in 30 mins.....
> 
> ...



To be quite honest. . .I've shot all of them in 30 minutes twice. Most of the time it takes me a bit longer - 45min. to 1 hour. Depends on the sight and how 'nutz' I want 'em. 

Also- I am blessed to live next to the Usery Mountain Range- quite a nice facility with a Killer Practice/FITA range that has Target Faces out past 80 Yds. If you're ever in AZ- please drop in.


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

WrongdayJ said:


> A week isn't enough time?!
> 
> Whoa.
> 
> ...


It depends on if you are shooting pins or freestyle. For pins you can shoot in your 5 pins + bubble in a couple hours on a calm day. If you are shooting freestyle there are 36 different distances you need to sight in for which takes about 6 times longer


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

WrongdayJ said:


> To be quite honest. . .I've shot all of them in 30 minutes twice. Most of the time it takes me a bit longer - 45min. to 1 hour. Depends on the sight and how 'nutz' I want 'em.
> 
> Also- I am blessed to live next to the Usery Mountain Range- quite a nice facility with a Killer Practice/FITA range that has Target Faces out past 80 Yds. If you're ever in AZ- please drop in.


I imagine if I really wanted to I could get most or all of them in under an hour....but when I have OT2....

Why would I want too? :noidea:

I just get some rough marks and a couple good ones and punch em in....actually most times I get a few rough ones and shoot a field round. That is why I want a new PALM


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

Brown Hornet said:


> . . .but when I have OT2....
> 
> Why would I want too? :noidea:
> 
> I just get some rough marks and a couple good ones and punch em in....actually most times I get a few rough ones and shoot a field round. That is why I want a new PALM . . .


Good point. I agree.


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

SuperX said:


> It depends on if you are shooting pins or freestyle. For pins you can shoot in your 5 pins + bubble in a couple hours on a calm day. If you are shooting freestyle there are 36 different distances you need to sight in for which takes about 6 times longer


the math i learned in school was that 15 was between 10 and 20. if i have 6 marks between my 10 and 20 settings, halfway between the 2 would be my 15, agree? shoot in the 0's, guestimate the 5's and shoot an end or 2 to verify....speeds the process up a bit.

the only marks that get tricky are the ones for the bunny stakes.

hunter marks, once you develop a system and have a feel for your marks, guestimating isnt that difficult. lots of times your home marks will vary a little bit, like a click or two, when on the road so getting them dead-on sure isnt always gonna yield perfect results. dont forget you can also get a different setting just by the viewing angle of the pointer.

lots of variables involved when shootin. just like you have a shot routine, a 'sighting routine' plays a role.


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## 2005Ultramag (Apr 3, 2005)

2005Ultramag said:


> Make your own, like I did.



This is a little different than some of the sight tapes I saw over the weekend. :nod:


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

rock monkey said:


> the math i learned in school was that 15 was between 10 and 20. if i have 6 marks between my 10 and 20 settings, halfway between the 2 would be my 15, agree? shoot in the 0's, guestimate the 5's and shoot an end or 2 to verify....speeds the process up a bit.
> 
> the only marks that get tricky are the ones for the bunny stakes.
> 
> ...


actually because of the turn over between 10 and 20 you can't say 1/2 way is correct. and shooting the 11y and the birdies often involves shooting for much longer yards - for example my 20f mark is the same as my 54y mark. Plus, what do you do if you are shooting a bit high or low one day - a yard and a half off? How do you know how much that is between 60 and 70y when you are shooting the 62y shot? How do you compensate? Anyway, my opinion is that if you care about your score, you will have a perfect mark for every distance. 

If you don't care, you can wing it all you want but you can bet that ragsdale didn't shoot a 560 with 10y increments


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## rock monkey (Dec 28, 2002)

i guestimate what the marks are, and then go shoot em and verify. for the attentive deficient, i do this before im at the shoot.

i'll say it again in bold letters *I ALWAYS SHOOT MY MARKS IN*. just in case the selective readers missed it.

i dont point blank say its this number. taking into consideration that gravity has a lesser effect on the close distances than it does on the long distances and the loss of arrow velocity over the distance, my spacing between 30 and 40, and the spacing between 70 and 80 will be different. but i always have a starting point. kinda like the eyeballing centershot thing people get all bent about.

but..for the sake of discussion, if my 40yd mark is 44 and my 50yd mark is 50, a good start to verify would be 47 for the 45yd mark.....halfway in between. shoot at 45, make sure of the mark and record it. that leaves 3 scale marks for 5 yds, well....wouldnt 42yds come out to about 44 and a half? what about 44yds? that would be a tad under the 45yd mark FOR STARTERS....set the sight, shoot a few and adjust before recording.

doin the mathmagix, you can get an idea of where to start at once you have some accurate marks. same thing the programs do, just not as much of a whiz-bang way. read the 21st post.

like i said before.........*I ALWAYS SHOOT MY MARKS IN*


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

rock monkey said:


> . . .i guestimate what the marks are, and then go shoot em and verify. . .
> 
> . . .but..for the sake of discussion, if my 40yd mark is 44 and my 50yd mark is 50, a good start to verify would be 47 for the 45yd mark.....halfway in between. shoot at 45, make sure of the mark and record it. that leaves 3 scale marks for 5 yds, well....wouldnt 42yds come out to about 44 and a half? what about 44yds? that would be a tad under the 45yd mark FOR STARTERS....set the sight, shoot a few and adjust before recording. . .


This is very similar to the technique I use. I get the 10 yd'ers in good and tight. Then I 'rough in' (guestimate) the off-yardages, and go shoot to fine-tune them in. It is fast, efficient, and quite effective. In the end, I end up with marks for every yardage, it just takes way less time to get there.


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

WrongdayJ said:


> This is very similar to the technique I use. I get the 10 yd'ers in good and tight. Then I 'rough in' (guestimate) the off-yardages, and go shoot to fine-tune them in. It is fast, efficient, and quite effective. In the end, I end up with marks for every yardage, it just takes way less time to get there.


I have some questions... make sure I am getting this right. To start with we started out with 30 minutes to shoot in all our marks, then it was 1 hour but only 10 yard increments, then it was at most 2 hours. Now you are saying we have to rough in all of the off yardages? What is that like 20 marks or so? I am getting confused, is this in the same hour? 

So after the roughing in, we need to fine tune them in too or can we just divide everyting by 2? Also is the fine tuning also in the same hour or is that were the 2 hours comes in? Sorry for the stupid questions but how many arrows at each off yard does it take to consider a mark "fine tuned and do they have to be consecutive or can you miss a few then put a few in there and call it good? Oh and do we have to hit the X or is the whole 5 ring good enough?

Also, do you have to fine tune in every yard out to 80? Like if there is a big cut and it falls in the area where there aren't many marks do you just do math until you get a number?

I almost hit submit then I wondered how do you do it for the animal round? Those targets are within a range of yardages and don't have a specific distance... like you don't have to see the moose at 60y it could be 57. Do you just get to the 58y mark and take a couple clicks off? What if it is 57 but then really down hill? Do I need a calculator? 

Sorry if I seem surprised by this, I interviewed Terry Ragsdale and he shoots in his marks too, but he made the comment that it sometimes took a couple days of calm wether to get them where he wanted them to be. If Terry wasn't the finest field shooter who has ever lived I would suspect he wasn't such a great shot. 

:tongue::wink:


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## WrongdayJ (May 22, 2008)

SuperX said:


> . . .I have some questions... make sure I am getting this right. To start with we started out with 30 minutes to shoot in all our marks, then it was 1 hour but only 10 yard increments, then it was at most 2 hours. Now you are saying we have to rough in all of the off yardages? What is that like 20 marks or so? I am getting confused, is this in the same hour?


I am sensing a bit of an abrasive tone. I am not trying to argue with you, Super X. It takes me _anywhere from 30 minutes to roughly an hour _to dial in the 10 yard increments. I go out to 80 yards. Make no mistake, I am not Mr. Ragsdale, nor do I pretend to be. He is a world class archer and therefore _should _take longer to sight in than me.



SuperX said:


> So after the roughing in, we need to fine tune them in too or can we just divide everyting by 2? Also is the fine tuning also in the same hour or is that were the 2 hours comes in? Sorry for the stupid questions but how many arrows at each off yard does it take to consider a mark "fine tuned and do they have to be consecutive or can you miss a few then put a few in there and call it good? Oh and do we have to hit the X or is the whole 5 ring good enough?


Once I am dialed in on the 10 yd increments, then I will test the off yardages. Rarely (if ever) have I had 45 not be approximately 1/2 way between the 40 and 50 marks. Depending on the set-up it may move a bit up or down. . .and it only takes an arrow or two to determine this. I suppose I could try grouping two dozen shots and move my sight tape mark .002" to correct my off yardage shots, but so much can happen to an arrow between when I shoot it and when it hits the target (wind, form errors, etc.) that there is no real way to be certain that my correction would be. . .well. . .correct. Capishe? 



SuperX said:


> Also, do you have to fine tune in every yard out to 80? Like if there is a big cut and it falls in the area where there aren't many marks do you just do math until you get a number?


Hehehehe. No.



SuperX said:


> . . .how do you do it for the animal round? Those targets are within a range of yardages and don't have a specific distance... like you don't have to see the moose at 60y it could be 57. Do you just get to the 58y mark and take a couple clicks off? What if it is 57 but then really down hill? Do I need a calculator?


I will answer this question with a question (if I may). . .Do you sight in differently to do the Animal round vs. the other rounds? This seems odd to me. Perhaps I do not understand where you are going with this question.



SuperX said:


> Sorry if I seem surprised by this, I interviewed Terry Ragsdale and he shoots in his marks too, but he made the comment that it sometimes took a couple days of calm wether to get them where he wanted them to be. If Terry wasn't the finest field shooter who has ever lived I would suspect he wasn't such a great shot.


Mr. Ragsdale is a fine Archer and a hell of a man. What I do is in no way even close to his level of skill and proficiency. I believe that Archery should be fun. If stressing about every little detail makes Archery fun for you. . .have at it. 

If you don't like my routine, then by all means- please don't use it. What works for one Archer is not what works for all.

And let's be honest here, Super X. . .99% of the time when an archer misses the X-ring. . .it is because of the Archer, not the sight. I've seen Pro's, who were 'dialed in to the n-th' hit the X ring one round and then miss the next. Was it the sight? No. 'Twas the Archer.


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## SuperX (May 21, 2002)

WrongdayJ said:


> I am sensing a bit of an abrasive tone. I am not trying to argue with you, Super X. It takes me _anywhere from 30 minutes to roughly an hour _to dial in the 10 yard increments. I go out to 80 yards. Make no mistake, I am not Mr. Ragsdale, nor do I pretend to be. He is a world class archer and therefore _should _take longer to sight in than me.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You're right I was being abrasive. I did it because you acted like people who do it differently are somehow doing it wrong so I tugged your tail a little bit. :wink:


> A week isn't enough time?!
> 
> Whoa.
> 
> ...


I guess there is a difference between sighting in and just getting marks regards.

:cocktail:


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