Bow Maintenance and DIY Tuning

After I posted yesterday, I reviewed my bow hunting to-do list. Tuning my bow and routine maintenance was at the top. I knew I needed to swap get my new Piranha bow strings on my other Bear Anarchy HC, but knowing I needed to hit the archery range on Tuesday night, I needed to work on my current bow first. I waxed my bow string (do this often) and after that, I turned my focus to tuning.

For weeks, I have noticed my arrow was pointing right due to my rest being set too far to the right. I also noticed that my sight level seemed off from my ‘internal’ balance. What do I mean? Have you ever been aiming at the target and your sight bubble is level, but you feel like it is off? That is what I am talking about. While this can sometimes seem I am just being difficult, other times it can mean I am correct and that my 2nd axis is off. How was I going to figure all of that out? Before I get to figuring it all out, I knew that in order to make any of the adjustments, I needed a bow vise. I researched and found a decent one online that seemed solid, constructed well, and far less expensive than many on the market. I purchased it and mounted it to my work bench. So far it is working well and I like it.

Getting back to the axis adjustments, a couple weeks ago I won a DVD from Jerry Eulitt, who most of you might know as “Ike”, from Ike’s Outdoors. He has put together a very comprehensive and easy to follow DVD of how to set up your bow, tune it properly, and have it driving tacks in no time. Plus he offers many extras on the DVD. Much of the DVD was an excellent refresher for me, but the French tuning part was something I had never tried before. Here’s a short clip of what he is offering:

While I know how to adjust my 2nd and 3rd axis on my HHA King Pin sight, I wanted to see what Ike shared and to refresh my memory before I started tweaking anything. He does a great job of making things simple and sharing what you need to do to better your set up. I gathered up my Allen wrenches, a headlamp, and poured a strong cup of coffee in preparation. I am sure I spent more time than I needed to making sure everything was spot on and level. I measured and leveled two and three times to be 100% sure it was correct. Once I had it done, I felt like I had a brand new bow. It is very reassuring when you can do much of the fine tuning by yourself and not have to rely on anyone else.

While this is mainly about tuning and adjusting my 2nd and 3rd axis, this is also about the DVD that Ike put together. If you want to start working on your own bow or making the adjustments at home, this DVD is an excellent tool to assist you. You can buy the DVD for $20 from his website (http://www.ikesoutdoors.com/shop.html) and he offers free downloads for tuning. After getting my bow properly set up, I am confident my arrows will fly truer and my shots will be accurate. Good luck getting your own bow tuned and set up for hunting or 3D! 

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