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Confusing Results or Walk Back Tune

1K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  fgignac 
#1 ·
Hi all!

First of all, I would like to thank everyone on here for the wealth of knowledge I have gained sifting through these pages. I am new at archery, and there isn't a decent pro shop within 100 miles of where I live so I have had to learn to do everything myself (which is what I like to do anyway). This has been a major source of wisdom for me.

That being said. I have been trying to walk back tune my bow and have been getting results that I don't understand. I have tried searching through the forum and can't seem to find anyone information on my particular issue. I am shooting at 60# with 31 1/2 inch Gold Tip Velocity Hunter 300s. I have paper tuned until I got bullet holes. I have also done the modified french tune and everything looked great. But today I decided to try a Walk Back tune just to double check everything. The problem I'm having is that my arrows are hitting in a "zig zag". They are left at 20yds, right at 25yds, and then left again at 30 yds. I thought that this might be a consistency problem on my part. But I shot it 5 or 6 times with the same result every time.

Does anyone had this happen to them or know what is happening here? I'm not sure what to do. :confused:

Thanks in advance to anyone with input!!!


Francis
 
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#2 ·
certainly sounds like it could be your grip to me .. are you torqueing the bow or do you have a nice relaxed grip with just your thumb and index finger ? just a thought
 
#3 ·
1. What type of sight do you have? could the pins be out of alignment?

2. If you are shooting wearing bifocal glasses, you may be seeing a distortion from the lens.

or 3. The one that has caused this for me: Uneven ground at the different distances which changes my stance. I have to really concentrate on keeping the top half of my body and the bow truly vertical and relatively square to the target as the slope angle and direction changes.

Go
 
#4 ·
I appreciate the replies!

@Ohio: Thanks for the input. I don't think that my grip is the problem. I put the handle on the "meaty" part of my hand and have my fingers relaxed. I don't even fold them over the handle. Also, if grip torque was the problem I don't think that my arrows would be hitting consistently. Every time I have shot they have gone left at 20yds, right at 25yds and left again at 30yds.

@gofor:

1. My sight is a Cobra Bushwacker. But I don't think pin alignment can't be the issue because I am using the same pin at all three distances
2. Fortunately I don't need glasses
3. That is a really good point. I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to shoot later and I will test out your theory. Thanks!
 
#5 ·
The problem I'm having is that my arrows are hitting in a "zig zag". They are left at 20yds, right at 25yds, and then left again at 30 yds.
Francis, if that is reproducible, your grip and form are actually very good.

To get an arrow to fishtail, you have to start the shaft with a lot of lateral displacement. To get that sort of random action every time, you must be doing it exactly the same every shot. The arrow is coming off the rest out of alignment due to center shot out of whack, clearance at the rest is a good possibility, and I've tried a couple releases that gave me fits. From time to time, the release can hang on the loop or string, and not all nocks are doing everything right.

I don't think it's a spine issue, it could be a cam alignment problem.

Have you tried a bare shaft at 6' or so by any chance?
 
#6 ·
Sounds like your being inconsistant... also most of the time a walk back tune is 20,30,40 all shooting a 20 yard pin. but in order to tune this method you must be able to make a quality shot at 40 yards.
 
#7 ·
What does the bow do after the release. If it waggles around there is some torque or grip problem. It is very possible to consistently move the bow around in a repeatable way. I had a similar issue and it turned out to be my grip which was way too wrist high which had the bow pivoting around the web between my thumb and first finger with very little contact with my hand. I built out the grip to contact more of my palm in the meat below my thumb and the side-to-side impacts went away. The bow was steadier during the time the arrow was still on the bow. Move away from the paper and see what you get. It is very likely to tune the bow for a single distance, say 2 yards, where the arrow is moving to go through the paper as a bullet hole. Move back another 2 yards and there is a tear.
 
#8 ·
OK so I was finally able to get out shooting today and it would seem that my problem is indeed related to my grip. I had never really paid attention to weather my grip was wrist high or low. Turns out it was wrist high. I concentrated on shifting most of the pressure down lower on my palm and I started getting much better results. Thanks Snowshovler for the great advice. I will play around with this some more to see if I need to build up my grip, like to said.

Also thanks to everyone else who pitched in with ideas. Gave me a lot of stuff to think about!
 
#9 ·
Glad I was able to help. I still use a high wrist but I was saying, the grip has been built up so there is good contact on the palm. I am going to finish a new grip this weekend and will post pics if this helps. The test grips were just a wedge of wood taped to the grip along with strips of tape to fine tune it. When I had a build up I liked I copied the size and built a mold to produce a carbon fiber grip. The tape and wedge worked fine I just like the look of the carbon
 
#11 ·
i paper tuned my bow at 6 ft it tears nock low badddd......15 yds it improves greatly.....20 yds a perfect tear which tells me the arrow is recovering well farther it gets down range do I need quicker arrow recovery or am I on point any advice out there
 
#12 ·
i paper tuned my bow at 6 ft it tears nock low badddd......15 yds it improves greatly.....20 yds a perfect tear which tells me the arrow is recovering well farther it gets down range do I need quicker arrow recovery or am I on point any advice out there


"Isaiah 53" Exaltedoutdoors.com "Romans 12:2"
Exaltedoutdoors sports and archery
 
#14 ·
I would think it may be to your advantage to try a bare shaft tune. Paper tuning is a good place to start, but most folks only do it at one distance, and usually too far.

The closer you paper tune (maybe 2 or 3 feet) the better idea you have of how the arrow is coming out of the bow. The farther you paper tune the more time the fletch has to do it's job and the less you learn.

I rarely use paper simply because it's usually too windy here. For me, it's a modified French tune and on to bare shafts.

If you should decide to bare shaft, start close -- maybe 5 yards -- and move back in 5 yard increments until you're happy with the results. If you can get bare shafts hitting with fletched shafts out to 25 or 30 yards you should be good to go.

Love your avatar. Best of luck to you.
 
#15 ·
@bbjavelina

I really should do that... the problem is that I was a little over zealous when I got my arrows and fletched them all... so now I have no bare shafts to work with :no:
I do have a couple of arrows that I have put aside because the fletching is damages though. So I will probably just strip those and keep them bare until I get all tuned up.

Thanks for the compliment on my avatar. The picture is from my wedding last summer. My wife and I did some "symbolic" archery during the ceremony. More for fun than any symbolism really :wink:


Thanks again for the advice
 
#16 ·
If I did not miss it in the other posts in this thread does your sight have a level in it,is it level with the bow and are you using it? that is a very important part of walk back tuning.As far as paper tuning you may want to look up Tim Gillinghams paper tuning insruction/method depending on where you find it there is also a section on bare shaft tuning.Good luck and have fun
 
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