1.) Rushlight - 09/16/2016

I just figured something out today that might help a few people with visual field loss and bow hunting.

I have partial vision loss in my right visual field, basically meaning I don't perceive things on the lower right side of my right eye (some small vision loss in lower right side of left eye as well, but not a problem.) This is a result of medical procedures I had several years ago.

I shoot right handed with a peep, so that means my "messed up" eye is the one I use the peep with. Your eye naturally finds the center of the peep's hole no matter your visual field. So, out to 20 yards, I'm sighted in and shooting darts.

However, I've noticed that at distances over 20 yards, my arrows tend to hit a couple of inches to the right. I have for years thought that there is something wrong with my form that wasn't noticeable at shorter distances but became exacerbated at the longer distances. I've wracked my brain trying to figure out why this was happening, asked people to watch me shoot, but we never could figure it out.

Today while practicing 25 yard shots, I decided to hold my pin to the left of the bull's eye by about 2 inches, and began nailing it. It occurred to me that, because of my skewed field of vision, the "center" my eye was detecting at that distance was actually incorrect. It wasn't what I was doing that was wrong, it was what I was seeing that was wrong.

My sights don't allow me to move an individual pin to the right or left. I'll have to decide how I will deal with that -- probably just holding to the left at longer distances.

I realize this might only be interesting to me, but I wanted to share in case someone else was having consistency problems as a result of visual field loss.

2.) billy b - 09/17/2016

My question is why won't your sight move to the left, is it out all the way? I suspect your problem is in arrow rest not being in center shot position & not a sight problem, move your rest one turn to the right & shoot it, see if that doesn't help.

3.) Swamp Fox - 09/17/2016

I think she might be saying she shoots a different pin past 20 yards, and they're all on a gang adjustment. She doesn't want to change her 20 pin's windage to accommodate a longer-range need.


I'm not an eye doctor, and I don't know why a problem with lower right peripheral vision would cause an issue with straight-ahead reference alignment that shows up in a difference between 20 and 25 yards.

I'd suspect a shooting or set-up issue before I'd suspect an eye issue, but a good eye doctor might be able to talk intelligently about what might be going on otherwise.

If everybody's like me, it's past time for an eye check-up anyway. :wink

4.) billy b - 09/17/2016

I misread, I see that now. Do you shoot fingers or a mechanical release? A mechanical release is always more accurate than fingers for most people. If you shoot fingers, I would move the gang slightly to the left & split the difference. No doubt if the pins are all inline, it's not the bow.

5.) Rushlight - 09/17/2016

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;44033]I think she might be saying she shoots a different pin past 20 yards, and they're all on a gang adjustment. She doesn't want to change her 20 pin's windage to accommodate a longer-range need. [/QUOTE]

That's correct, I use the same pin for 10 - 20 yards, and then have a different pin for 25 yards. I've never been comfortable shooting past 25 yards (although I do have a 30 yard pin set up), mostly because I've had trouble with arrow deflection from tiny little branches that I didn't notice between me and the deer while hunting in the woods.

billy: I shoot a mechanical release.

6.) crookedeye - 09/17/2016

easy billy...

7.) crookedeye - 09/18/2016

billy this isnt the 1840's anymore... everyone uses a mechanical release...lol..

8.) billy b - 09/19/2016

Just wanted to be sure, some people are into this retro stuff. Don't you have some roofing to do?
Good luck Rushlight but it sounds like you're shooting plenty good enough to harvest that Whitetail this year, & we would love to see pics after the kill.

9.) Jon - 09/19/2016

I would say that you have a center shot adjustment issue. If the center shot isn't adjusted properly, the arrow will do exactly as you described. I don't know your level of ability or mechanical aptitude but this is a simple adjustment and is part of archery 101 that has to be done.
The arrow rest needs to be in the absolute middle of the riser, left to right. If it is even a hair off either way, the arrow won't leave the bow correctly and will drift in the same direction the rest is out of center and get worse the farther away you shoot. This is where I would start.
You can do what we call a walk back tune which is an easy way to adjust the rest:
Start out at 10 yards and use the top pin, aim at the center of the target and fire one arrow.
Walk back 5 yards and using the same top pin, shoot another arrow. Do this several times, walking back 5 yards each time always using the same top pin.
If the arrows all hit in the same area, just lower each time you shot then your center shot adjustment is OK.
If the arrows start going further away from center as you walked back, the rest must be adjusted in the opposite way the arrows were going away from center.

I don't think you have an eye problem.

10.) Rushlight - 09/19/2016

[QUOTE=Jon;44076] I don't think you have an eye problem.[/QUOTE]

[ATTACH]544[/ATTACH]

Here's my last MRI, Jon. That black area is the mass of scar tissue involving my right visual field, as well as some other areas. (Note: MRI's are often inverted left and right. No I don't know why.)

So, yeah, I don't have an EYE problem. I have a BRAIN problem that doesn't allow the proper processing of what my eyes take in.

11.) Jon - 09/19/2016

OK, after I wrote that, I realized that it might be a statement that isn't necessarily true. I should have written that I believe your shooting problem might not be cause by your eye problem. I believe that you have an eye (or brain) problem affecting your vision BUT it might not be your shooting problem.
If you have not done anything to your setup similar to what I explained above, it's well worth the 15 minutes it will take to do. There could be other problems as well but lets start with that one.

12.) Rushlight - 09/20/2016

Thanks everyone for reading my post and for the responses.

I wrote it to try and help anyone who may have vision issues like I do. I know they may have done all the right things like I did (walk-backs, bow squares, paper-tuning, getting friends and pros to observe, etc). It can be very frustrating trying everything, yet seeing no change or improvement in shot placement.

Quit trying to "fix" it. The only thing left that can be wrong IS your EYES. Find a work-around. Maybe you need to switch from right- to left-hand shooting. Brian “Pigman” Quaca chose to keep shooting righty but moved his sights on the other side of the bow. It looks kind of weird, but it definitely works for him.

Shoot straight!