Anchor Sight

[dougedwards]

I have three compound bows and a crossbow and I promised myself I wouldn't spend any more money on an accessory for any of them. Things were just getting out of hand with always wanting the newest and best but someone talked me into trying this new gadget that would allow me to dislodge the peep sight from my string and throw it away. I am glad that I did.



All this little thing does is allow you to align your bow at full draw the exact same way for each shot. When the little dot fills the cirle in the middle of the sight you are ready to shoot. Drop your chin or raise your elbow and you will see the result of the change. It takes a little time to set up but this little thing has improved my shooting dramatically. I am now shooting 5-6 inch groups consistently at 70 yards with my Rytera Alien X and almost as well with the other two. The Anchor Sight can set on the shooters side of the riser like this.

Or it can be installed most normally on the sight side of the riser.

The benefit of the consistency is obvious but the other benefits of the Anchor Sight include the enhanced ability to visualize your target in extremely dim light as you won't have to be restricted to looking through a little peep. Also you will pick up a few feet per second of arrow speed as the absence of the peep will lighten up the string. The Anchor Sight is also lumenescent and is highly visible even in the dark. The manufacturing company, ArcheryInnovations, guarantees a full refund if returned within 30 days if not satisfied. But believe me......you won't be taking it off once mounted. I wasn't planning on spending $75 for some experimental gadget but I can say with no reservation that this gadget is the best value of anything on my bows.
www.archeryinnovations.com/

Doug

[Harley]

Doug, I'm not very happy with you. I did follow that link to the Anchor Sight, then called Lynn Asher after reading all the info on the web site, finally ordering the aluminum model a few minutes ago.

You cost me money.

Harley

[dougedwards]

Apr 19, 2010 15:48:51 GMT -5 Harley said:

Doug, I'm not very happy with you. I did follow that link to the Anchor Sight, then called Lynn Asher after reading all the info on the web site, finally ordering the aluminum model a few minutes ago.

You cost me money.

Harley

As someone told me previously. If you ever put one on you will never take it off.

Doug

[sagittarius]

Doug,

I have longed thought about trying an Anchor Sight as I despise it when my peep rotates.
Might have to finally get one.

[dougedwards]

Apr 20, 2010 8:36:55 GMT -5 sagittarius said:

Doug,

I have longed thought about trying an Anchor Sight as I despise it when my peep rotates.
Might have to finally get one.

That will happen as your string stretches. It is more than irritating.

Those really close and straight down shots from treestands are difficult because it is hard to maintain proper form when shooting at such an extreme downward angle. The Anchor Sight will show you that something is off so that you can correct before releasing the trigger.

Doug

[dougedwards]

Not to complicate things but here is an actual bow sight with a "no peep" made in to and part of the sight. Never talked to anyone who used one.
www.iqbowsights.com/

Doug

[Harley]

I just looked at the iq web site; that looks neat and clean, but a deal breaker for me is that you are limited to using their bow sight; my new Vital Gear ProStar Slider has all the bells and whistles not available here.

The postman just delivered my new Anchor Sight; I ordered it Monday, it's here Wednesday. How about that for service?

Now, I've got to see if I'm smart enough to mount it.

Harley

[dougedwards]

Harley....I think the Vital Gear Slider has the angled pin. If that is so, how do you like it? It looks rather weird.

Doug

[Harley]

Doug, I'd never even heard of Vital Gear until I saw this sight, and I REALLY like it a lot. The angled pin doesn't look weird to me, it looks cool! More importantly, by being angled it seems to allow a better view of my primary target, deer.

It also has a .019" sight pin, which doesn't cover the target even at extreme range; fibre optics that glow in the dark without any "fire wire" manipulations or any battery power, and the yardage indicators (on the slider) are also fibre optics, so you can even adjust the range in the dark.

Harley

[Harley]

Okay, so this morning I began to install the Anchor Sight. I carefully read and re-read the four pages of instructions and reviewed the two additional illustrations. It was made a little more complicated for me because I am mounting it left handed, and the bow sight is a Slider type with a single pin.

First, the extra-length screws were too long and bottomed out in the riser of the Z7, so I had to grind them a bit. I found I couldn't mount the Anchor Sight forward of the riser because my bow sight is too close to the riser, so I mounted it behind the riser. I also couldn't mount it low, but it fit comfortably in the high position.

I then more or less zeroed the bow at 20 yards, using the peep sight; then, I pressed the bow and removed the peep. I made a few preliminary adjustments to the Anchor Sight and shot two arrows, which touched at 20 yards. By then, my torn shoulder was complaining enough that I quit; but, I really do think this thing is going to be great.

BTW, mounting the Anchor Sight is easy--- once you know how.

Harley

[dougedwards]

I thought that the Anchor Sight had miserable instructions and the illustrations were almost funny. I have an HHA slider and had to mount it on the shooters side of the riser. The Z7 has a parallel limb system as does my Alien X. Another guy actually cut the bracket so that it would fit on his Hoyt Katera with a slider sight.


Mounting and setting the Anchor Sight up is the hardest part. The instructions don't recommend sighting the AS with the peep first but that seemed to be the easiest way to get in the ballpark for me. Eventually you will be capable of using the AS as a rangefinder of sorts by moving the dot up or down by lowering or raising the bow. Keep us posted on your progress.

Doug

[deadeye]

doug & harley,please post your comments on this gadget when you get to spend some time with it. my hoyt katera xl might want one of these in the near future! ;D

[Harley]

Deadeye, I am posting a couple of photos of the Anchor Sight mounted on my left-handed Mathews Z7. I've only had it mounted a short time, but am certain it will make a better archer of me.

Now that it's set up correctly, I first draw the bow, then check the Anchor Sight to be certain the dot is centered in the circle. That confirms that my form is correct and without torque. Then, I place my sight pin on my target, confirm that the Anchor Sight indicates vertical alignment, and trip the trigger.

It's becoming more and more natural and takes only a second to do it all.

Because I have two badly damaged shoulders, I reduced the draw weight on my bow from 60# to 50#. I've since decided that would be a good thing for everybody to do as they become familiar with this new sight because it makes it easier to hold the bow in alignment for a longer period of time.

So far, I've only shot at 17 yards in my basement; pretty soon I'll get brave enough to go outdoors.

As Doug said, the directions are not as easy as they might be; if anyone is interested, I'll be happy to outline a simpler way to go about setting it up.

Harley

[dougedwards]

Harley......how do you like the Z7? My local archery shop keeps urging me to shoot one because they know that I will have to walk out of there with one. I haven't budged so far but everyone that I know that shoots one loves it.

Doug

[Harley]

Doug, do not, under any circumstances, shoot the Z7! It will cost you money.

I have no doubt it is the finest bow I've ever shot; I had thought the Switchback XT was as good as it got, but I gave that one to my son after I tried the Z7.

Smooth pull, secure wall, absolutely silent, no vibration whatsoever. Today, I reduced the pull to 55 pounds because my shoulders were complaining. It still groups just as tightly as it did at its designed 60#, and clocks 281 fps.

Interestingly, I fully tightened the poundage screws, then backed them out 1/4 turn. This 60# bow registered 65# at that setting; I have also loosened it to 50#, and it shot at 250 fps, still grouping tightly.

I had always heard that a bow shoots best at its designed limit; not so with the Z7.

Doug, I don't know if you saw my post on the "peep" thread, but today I ordered another Anchor Sight to surprise my son for his Switchback XT. You're STILL costing me money.

Harley

[dougedwards]

I recently sold a Mathews Monster6 on ebay for over $800. A blazing fast bow but not a pleasure to shoot. I like smooth and steady with no hump in the draw. Add in some speed and I will fall in love. These are the characteristics that have been describing the Z7. I will NOT shoot one because I have little will power. Well, maybe close to Christmas time I will.

You did your son a great favor Harley! The Anchor Sight implores us to maintain proper form. Did he choose the Switchback or did you?


Doug

[Harley]

Doug, I guess you could say he "inherited" the Switchback after I bought the Z7 for myself.

Harley

[dougedwards]

nice inheritance

Doug

[Harley]

I've had my son visiting with me for the past three days, and we made archery our number one project.

In mounting his Anchor Sight on the Mathews Switchback XT we discovered that, just like with my Mathews Z7, it would only mount in the high position on the shooter's side of the riser. Neither one of us was satisfied with that, because it seemed to interfere with the down-range sight picture, and caused some confusion between the dominant and non-dominant eyes.

We decided to make our own mounting brackets. We started at one end of Home Depot and walked the aisles looking for a thin, light-weight, rigid flat piece of aluminum. I found it - an insert intended for barbecue grilling. It was large enough to make two brackets, and that's what we did. The whole project took about three hours.

So, now the Anchor Sight is mounted in the high position on the forward side of the riser. This position is so close to the sight pin that we don't even have to glance away from the pin when aiming.

In shooting, I pull the bow, confirm that the dot is centered in the Anchor Sight and shift my attention to the aiming pin. That's it.

Late yesterday evening we went outdoors for the first time to calibrate the sight pin for various distances. It got too dark to shoot before we finished, but my son had his single pin HHA slider sight calibrated at 10 yard intervals out to 50 yards.

I'm saving the best for last.................. I calibrated my Vital Gear single pin slider to 60 yards and was working on 70 yards when it got too dark to see the target. Along the way I lost one arrow and another one shattered on a buried rock; BUT, reliable deer-killing groups at 60 yards? I never would have believed it, and it's all due to the Anchor Sight. Remember, I have two damaged shoulders that cause me considerable pain every time I draw the bow; because of this I haven't shot outdoors since last September. I'm relatively weak and shaky, but because the Anchor Sight eliminates every sighting varible except placing the sight pin where you want to hit, I look like a very competitivve archer.

My Z7 is so fast that I still have two sight pins left to calibrate; I'll do them at 70 and 80 yards.

BTW, the new brackets were made by simply tracing over the old bracket and adding one inch to the forward mounting area. That allowed the Anchor Sight to clear the front of the riser. It could be that all Mathews bows would need this type modification to the bracket for forward mounting; I don't really know.

Harley

[dougedwards]

Harley......you think about things in an innovative way. I also thought about making my own bracket but thought better of it. I always seem to botch things up but you seem to have a handle on it. I am surprised that you are shooting so well this soon. Especially with hurt shoulders. Even with an Anchor Sight the release and follow through is important. If you are shooting decent groups at 60 now you will have no problem at 70 and 80 especially with that Z7

Doug