What is the best sight position?

[mk1]

How far you have your sight extended is really up to you. The ultimate extension would be 18m then you would really know whether you were pointing at the gold! The further out is better as more accurate, but then that could also depend on the size of your sight ring and your eyesight etc etc! Certainly if you have to bring the sight right in so it is very close to you eye you can only circle a fairly large part of the target.

One of the things to watch out for if you have to bring your sight in for long distances is minimising the sight adjustments you have to make at the change of distance. So if you have to bring it in for 90, and still can't put it all the way out for 70 put it out as far as you can for the 70 and then leave it there for the other distances so you only have to move the sight block up. It can be so easy to get a sight change wrong I always think you should keep it as simple as possible. YM2pW

[Quadratus]

In theory, having your sight a long way out gives you more accurate alignment and (some believe) can help counter torque. In practice, I wouldn't worry too much about either so-called advantage.

If possible, avoid moving your extension in and out - it will change the balance of the bow slightly and may well change your windage a lot (very few sight extensions are exactly parallel to the axis of the bow). More important, as others have pointed out, its just one more thing to mess up at the critical moment. Find the maximum extension that gives you comfortable clearance at your longest distance, and leave it there.

[john heff]

I've read in some of the old threads on Archery-Forum where James Park and Marcus said to determine the correct length by shooting 3-arrow groups as follows:

1. shoot an arrow at 18M using your "normal" hand placement and pressure-contact (call this "centered"),
2. shoot an arrow at 18M placing as much left-torque as you can on the grip,
3. shoot an arrow at 18M placing as much right-torque as you can on the grip,
4. Repeat this process with your sight-bar set at different lengths until you find the optimum length (i.e. smallest group). - John