# Purpose of binoculars indoors?



## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

Is it just a habit to look at each arrow after the shot? Or is there actually some benefit to doing so?

I have only shot an indoor league once before 25 years ago and yes I used binoculars. Last week I brought binoculars to the first night of my indoor league but once I got there I decided to leave them in the case until I see a reason to use them. My thoughts are that they definitely could help during warm-ups if any sight adjustments need to be made. Or adjustments during the round but I rarely see folks moving their sight even after they spot every arrow. And I am shooting BH class so I am not allowed to adjust my sights during the round so I decided at least for now to not use them and just focus on the next shot and not where the previous arrow went. 

I was just curious what the main purpose is, I even see a lot of people look at their last arrow after the shot even though they are going to immediately walk down and look/score the arrows anyways. I am wondering if it is more of a habit or is there actually a good reason or benefit? Thanks.

edit - a further thought was that at 20Y even wearing glasses at 52 years-old I can see enough to get a pretty good idea where my arrow went without binocs. No I can't tell if it is in or out if close to the line but I can see if it is a little low, high, left etc... Like I said I try to forget about that arrow and focus on the next arrow so I don't spend much time looking but I can get a good idea where it is at with my eyes. Now outdoors this summer when I was practicing at 50 yards and beyond with skinny arrows I did use my binocs to see when sight adjustments were needed. But along with the distance outdoors we have the wind, and shadows/moving sun that caused me to want to tweak my sights occasionally so it makes more sense to use binocs outdoors to me.


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## moshe079 (Dec 11, 2019)

I have often wondered the same thing. I don't shoot competitively, so I guess I have always been able to wait on the results until I am pulling my arrows. lol.


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## 1/2 Bubble Off (Dec 29, 2016)

I wear my binos indoors more out of habit than anything else.... I almost feel "naked" if I don't have my binos on when I shoot... So, for me it's more of a mental thing....


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

Some people can’t see the arrow impact point, even at 20 yards. For a good shooter, even a tiny bit off center is significant - the X ring on the WA/Vegas rounds is the size of a dime, and you want to know if you need to adjust your sight.

As for the last arrow, you’re actually not supposed to check it on the line, but the rule isn’t enforced. But it’s pretty simple - it’s like that line by the bank robber in Dirty Harry: “I gots to know”.


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## Boomer2094 (Aug 12, 2016)

I can't see where my arrow landed on Target at 20yd.... that's why I have a bino with me. And after a while, It becomes a habit, like HalonShooter60X, It feels wrong without it.

Although, the true reason for me to carry a bino is that, ability to see where my arrow land provided me closure. If i am unable to see where my shot landed, I always have this "Where did I hit?" thought in my head... and that has messed with the next shot. It's a mental block, I know, but if having bino and able to see my shot remove that block, I will carry my bino for all my Compound shooting matches.

Boomer


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## mhill (Jul 11, 2011)

It to see when you missed the X. If your looking through the Binos a lot your missing a lot of Xs


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

Another thing - if you've shot a perfect arrow and you *know* in's in the X, it's still nice to have a look and see it. Positive reinforcement. Kind of like giving yourself a "LIKE" on Facebook.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

Stash said:


> Another thing - if you've shot a perfect arrow and you *know* in's in the X, it's still nice to have a look and see it. Positive reinforcement. Kind of like giving yourself a "LIKE" on Facebook.


LOL, a little dopamine hit haha! But what if it’s not in the X?

Thanks for the replies, the reassurance/closure thing seems to make sense. I am not sure about the needing to adjust your sights, that’s what I originally thought but I rarely see someone adjust. But I also haven’t been back in it very long.


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## Bow Rider (Jan 16, 2015)

They're not cheap. It's archery bling.


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## Caden (Jun 14, 2018)

Its a habit for me now to look through em fter every shot, gives me a little break from shooting so i dont over fatigue.


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## RCR_III (Mar 19, 2011)

I use mine to know if I need to make a sight adjustment before missing multiple x's/tens. If I make a really good shot and the arrow isn't where I thought it should have went I'll check it out through my binos to see POI for adjustment. Or, if I'm patterning on the target and favoring a side or height then I know I need to make an adjustment before it bites me.


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## Scottspot50 (Nov 21, 2017)

I used to look at every shot, still do at 50m. Indoors at 20 yards I don’t see any point in looking. Once the arrow has left the bow it’s gone. How good or bad it hit just gets in the way of attempting to shoot the next perfect shot. My bow will be tuned to the arrow I’m shooting before I get to the range. I’ll only change settings if I’m consistently off in some direction. I shouldn’t be off as those adjustments should have been made previously. I don’t even take binos to 20 yd any more.


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## huteson2us2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Just a couple of days ago I decided to work on indoors as our State Indoor and Sectional is in a few weeks. Forgot my binos in the car. Tried to shoot 20 yards and could not see if my good shot was in the center of the X. I finally had to go and get the binos as I found shooting at even 20 yards was useless without them. I wear them at indoor tournaments for the weight and to slow down my shooting. I may only want to look at about 10 shots during a 300 but sometimes I just want to see if that bad shot still touched the line for my peace of mind.

During the two warm up ends, it is crucial to see if your equipment survived the trip to the tournament and that the sight wasn't changed. One time, I flew to Vegas. I got in too late to practice on Thursday and had a 7:00 shooting time on Friday. My first practice arrow hit the 8 left. I used my binoculars on every practice arrow after that to get back in the ten. The airlines had bent my string guard while checking my bow case. I also get tired of spotting other peoples arrows in my group who decided that they didn't want the bother of bringing binoculars themselves because they didn't need them.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

That’s some good insight huteson, thanks.

I guess my eyes are better than I realized because I can see it pretty well. I am usually making adjustments during the warmup rounds but I can get in the center without binoculars.

Having said that, I plan to go to the club this afternoon for a practice round and I think I will use my binoculars and see if I find any benefit. A few guys mentioned they like to use them to keep them slowed down but my shot execution is slow as molasses anyways so for me that is one reason NOT to use them during a league or tournament.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

This afternoon I shot a practice round on an NFAA 5 spot target for the first time and do think it was more difficult to see my arrow with the eye than on a Vegas face. I did use my binoculars to feel it out.


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## fdog (Feb 17, 2018)

Stash said:


> Some people can’t see the arrow impact point, even at 20 yards. For a good shooter, even a tiny bit off center is significant - the X ring on the WA/Vegas rounds is the size of a dime, and you want to know if you need to adjust your sight.
> 
> *As for the last arrow, you’re actually not supposed to check it on the line, but the rule isn’t enforced.* But it’s pretty simple - it’s like that line by the bank robber in Dirty Harry: “I gots to know”.



For the life of me I can't find this rule either in WA or NAA. Any help? I have been guilty of doing exactly this (outdoors) when I had no sight marks except for a guesstemate, and needed to know how much I should move the sight...

All the best, James


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

> 13.9.1.
> All other athletes, with their equipment, shall remain behind the waiting line. *After an athlete has shot his arrows, he shall immediately retire behind the waiting line.*The athlete may leave the spotting scope on the shooting line between ends providing it does not create an obstacle for any other athlete.


Says you leave “immediately”. Not “immediately after spotting the last arrow”. 
Unwritten rule, don’t disturb another archer at full draw, so wait until they shoot before stepping off.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

Stash said:


> Unwritten rule, don’t disturb another archer at full draw, so wait until they shoot before stepping off.


This may be a dumb question - I know to wait until the folks on either side of me complete their shot before I leave the line. But what about drawing when on the line? Sometimes if I am getting ready to draw and I notice the guy next to me aiming I sometimes wait to start mine until their shot breaks. But I have a slow process myself so I don’t always wait because then I will be the last one and might be holding everyone up. I don’t notice others drawing when I am aiming because my concentration is all on the target so I am guessing that it’s ok to keep shooting but thought I would ask.


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## Stash (Jun 1, 2002)

That will depend on the situation. 

If you're shooting a timed event, shoot at your own pace, ignore what the others are doing. 

If it's untimed, sure, wait if you want. But you often see pics of top archers next to each other, both at full draw. I don't know of any archers whom it would bother, unless you're one of those guys who struggles and waves their bow all around when they pull back.


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## >--gt--> (Jul 1, 2002)

Stash said:


> Says you leave “immediately”. Not “immediately after spotting the last arrow”.
> Unwritten rule, don’t disturb another archer at full draw, so wait until they shoot before stepping off.


Stash is completely correct concerning this rule. 

As a practical matter, it's only an issue if you're the last shooter on the line and you insist on spotting that last shot like some kind of slack-jawed idiot.

(the Director of Shooting tends to get grumpy when you're selfishly taking up everyone's time spotting a last arrow, especially when the DOS can't tell if that is indeed the last arrow, and the clock is still running.)


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## dboeren (Dec 18, 2019)

I was shooting indoor 20y yesterday over lunch at the local range and ran into a binocular guy. He was shooting compound at a 3-spot target and checking after each shot. He may have been working on tuning his bow but I'm not sure. All I really know is that it slowed him down so I had more waiting than usual before he'd call "clear" and we could retrieve our arrows. Not a big deal in the evening but over lunch it took a bite out of the number of practice shots I could fit in before having to get back to work.


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## crate572 (Jan 4, 2016)

As you get older you find out why they are used


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## Scottspot50 (Nov 21, 2017)

I use fluorescent green nocks for indoor and can look through my 6x lens if I really want to see where an arrow went.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

crate572 said:


> As you get older you find out why they are used


I am in my 50’s and don’t use them but most of the people in my league are probably in their 30’s and even the teenage girl uses them. Using binoculars indoors is definitely not an age thing.


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## speedload (Apr 26, 2011)

I use them for shots that just feel marginal. Peace of mind to varify the shot was in.


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## TimberGhost74 (Nov 22, 2016)

Even myself, a BHFS shooter, I use binos indoors. I use it for peace of mind more than anything. If I make a good shot, but I see the nock is kicked out low left, I will take a look to see where it actually is at in the target. No way am I going to start my next shot wondering where the previous arrow hit. This last weekend, I had several arrows where the nock was kicked one way or another. Bales must have been beat up a bit or something. The second half of my 600 game, I was only 1 point down, and arrow 59, I could see the nock in the red, low right. The shot felt like it broke great, but seeing the nock down there, I had to look. Sure enough, the arrow was in the X ring. If I would have started shot 60 without knowing, it would have been on my mind during the last shot. Yes, you are suppose to shoot one arrow at a time, and let the past arrows stay in the past. Forget about it, and shoot your current shot. But, that is much easier to do if you know where it hit. 

I also use em for each arrow during practice, and make sight adjustments. Each club has different lighting, and your impact point can change a bit. After practice ends, I may only use them for a couple shots the whole round, but I still use em.


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## Trojan Archery (Dec 29, 2019)

As a recurve I use it for one as peace of mind and secondly because my eye sight isn't that good where I can barely make out where my arrows are on the target. 

For me if I see an arrow landed outside of the gold ring, than based on where it landed... I know exactly what my form flaw was that may have caused the issue and I can quickly adjust rather than fall into a hole of doing it 2 or 3 times in a row because I couldn't see the result or feel it quick enough.


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## Thefuzz011 (Dec 28, 2019)

Because my blind ***** cant see the arrow impact at 20yards! lol


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## bowstrapped1 (Oct 27, 2016)

As all said above and also a good pair of binos just comes in handy in general for other uses (sports, zoo, boating, etc )


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## Zanglha (Apr 25, 2019)

Honestly unless it is a practice round and I’m getting sighted in when I’m in a venue different than the shop in which I Shoot, I do not like looking at individual arrows, in fact there is rarely a point to look at them once they’re in the target. It my mind it just serves to mentally destroy your game. I mean, what are you going to do about an arrow that’s already sitting in the target? Now granted, if you have shot breakdown sometime during a shoot you can get sighted in again if you are doing something wrong consistently, but generally if you are focusing at the results in the paper, you’re generally already focusing on the wrong thing.


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## Tblodg (Aug 28, 2019)

Zanglha said:


> I do not like looking at individual arrows, in fact there is rarely a point to look at them once they’re in the target. It my mind it just serves to mentally destroy your game. I mean, what are you going to do about an arrow that’s already sitting in the target?
> 
> generally if you are focusing at the results in the paper, you’re generally already focusing on the wrong thing.


My thoughts exactly! For me personally I am focusing on the shot execution and not the result. Now I am not an expert and do not shoot completely clean rounds so maybe my thoughts would change if I didn’t drop any points. 

For now I actually don’t NEED to know where the last arrow went because I am now focusing on the next one. And like I said at the beginning I can see them fairly well with my naked eyes, at least on the ones where I executed well because I am concentrating on the X and that’s exactly where a good shot goes so it’s easy to see because that is where I am looking. If I didn’t execute perfectly it might be a 9 and sometimes those are not as easy for me to pick up with my naked eye but the last thing I want to be doing while preparing my next shot is to be thinking about a miss. 

But it sounds like you and I are definitely in the minority!


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## floyd.sanders (Apr 28, 2019)

What power lenses are folks using though? to really see detail at 20 I guess it doesn't matter too much, but I have seen some pretty high powered binoculars being used.


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## "TheBlindArcher" (Jan 27, 2015)

thefuzz011 said:


> because my blind ***** cant see the arrow impact at 20yards! Lol




wwwaaahhh...


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Well, I see no reason to burden my brain over a arrow shot. 5 spot; 5 arrows will give direction and then make adjustment (s) and the same for the Vegas face.

Rule; Movable sight class and adjustments can be made on the lime. Fixed class, sights can't be moved during the end.

If using binoculars there is the Time Limit to consider. DAIR  Time limit game. Last of each round (2), 1 minute to get 4 shots off. 

Okay, I am not a spot shooter. I quit and I'm staying quit. But, I've shot 7 State Championships and never used my binoculars after checking during practice and the practice ends of the tournament. I did good for my shooting, finishing 3rd and better in all.


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## Northwind (Apr 27, 2015)

Trojan Archery said:


> As a recurve I use it for one as peace of mind and secondly because my eye sight isn't that good where I can barely make out where my arrows are on the target.
> 
> For me if I see an arrow landed outside of the gold ring, than based on where it landed... I know exactly what my form flaw was that may have caused the issue and I can quickly adjust rather than fall into a hole of doing it 2 or 3 times in a row because I couldn't see the result or feel it quick enough.


In the same boat, I only use binoculars for finer adjustments to my sight.


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## GeorgiaArcher01 (Oct 7, 2018)

Stash said:


> Another thing - if you've shot a perfect arrow and you *know* in's in the X, it's still nice to have a look and see it. Positive reinforcement. Kind of like giving yourself a "LIKE" on Facebook.


^^^^^^


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