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Archery “ballistic” calculator?

1.4K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  trail_hopper  
#1 ·
To preface my inquiry; I am shooting a 60lb rx-7, 28.5” draw with 460gr arrow doing 254fps. This is my treestand bow. I do not shoot whitetail beyond 30 yards, I have but I don’t anymore or need to where I frequently treestand hunt. My quest is to figure out the best zero for my one pin to get from 0-30 yards, or should I be more in the 0-25 yard range? Is there a good app or program where I can input my arrow weight/speed and move the zero around to find that sweet spot? Archers advantage has something like that but it isn’t very straight forward.
 
#2 ·
Just go shoot it from zero to 30 with it set at different yardage, 27 yards is often used but those folks are likely shooting more than 30. I would start at 25 and play with it.

I use a slider, out west I set it at 30, when treestand hunting in the midwest 25. I shoot with it set at those ranges and figure out my hold over/under. If I have to aim off animal it's too much!
 
#3 ·
If I have to aim off animal it's too much! [/QUOTE said:
This is a good observation/ suggestion.

The sight isn’t a slider so cranking the bolt back and forth at different yardages can get arduous. I’m at 27 now and it seems to be working. Would just like to play with a table to speed things up a bit.
 
#5 ·
This includes drag in the equation. However its based on my arrows, so there will be some differences with your setup. But it will be close for you to look at. Personally you are always better and more acurate if you have time is to set the pin at the aim point.

Image
 
#6 ·
There's two.
Precisioncutarchery.com
And
Pro archery ballistics which is an app for iPhone and Android.

Ive only used precisioncutarchery and it's great.
 
#7 ·
Another option is to make another dot on the pin post, glow paint works. I marked mine with a silver sharpie but it only works in bright light. But basically at 2o setting the sharpie mark is 30 and at 30 it is 40, after that it starts to change and give odd ranges so I only use it for those two settings.
 
#13 ·
One pin for a 254 fps setup isn't going to be easy if you don't want to split the middle and accept you will have to mentally adjust your point-of-aim. A multi pin setup might be a better option for you if you want to get away from having to make sight adjustments...unless you go with a lighter arrow build to try and flatten out your trajectory.
 
#11 ·
The reason these charts/tables are few and far between is because there are too many variables. (amount of helical/offset, vane specs etc)

The only way to know for sure is to get out and shoot.
 
#12 ·
Very true, that's why I've found the Precisioncutarchery one pretty useful since since I used downrange velocity data to build the profile and it compensates for that.

The pro ballistics app let's to mess with ballistic coefficient, but that might take awhile.