I've read where matching your peep size to your sight is proper. Meaning when you look through your peep, you should see the full circle of your sight, but not much more. Not knowing at the time I bought my peep with a verifier, at the largest made, 5/16". Figured more light is a dusk situation. With a new sight, I see much more than just the circle. So in hunting situations, say less than 30 yds, would centering the sight circle in the peep be good enough, or should I try and match the sight with a smaller peep? PS I'm 73 y/o, so the more I can see, the better, rather than having to squint. Thanks!
Peep for hunting?
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Maybe in the off season try a smaller peep that fits your sight housing and do some back yard shooting and then decide if you are more accurate, less accurate, or stay the same. That would help you decide
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Specialty Archery makes one called a podium peep and has different size apertures so you can adjust the size of your peep to fit the site. I use Clarifiers or verifiers depending if I'm running a lens or not they work great. Do not try their Hunter peep it's horrible it weighs 30 grains and will introduce horrible vibration into your string. I only lasted 3 shots before it got taken off and returned for a podium peep.
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I would say do some shooting and see if you can still shoot it fine with accuracy. Your eye should still center the sight housing in the peep. If you struggle to shoot well, then I like hray's suggestion the most. You like the size of the current peep for light gathering, so get a dovetail mount for your sight (if you don't already have one) and adjust the sight itself so they match up better.
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I run a large peep for hunting as well. I can see day light all around my sight housing. I have not had any issues with accuracy. Your brain will naturally center things up for you. The extra light coming through the peep at first and last light is more important in my mind.
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For 30 yards or less, you could experiment and get rid of the peep entirely. I tried this last year and was surprised my accuracy didn't really suffer. I use a kisser and a nose button which gets me dialed in elevation wise, then I line my string up with the right side of my sight housing which gets my windage set. For a pure hunting setup, it is nice to have a wide open sight picture. When I got my buck last year, it was dark enough that I'm not sure I'd have been confident to make a shot if I had to locate him through a peep. There was just a few minutes left of legal shooting light. At 27 yards, that arrow went through the heart and both lungs, and the buck crashed within 15 yards from where he was hit.
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If the peep you have now has a verifier; then it probably has thread-in aperture options as well. So you could keep the same peep and put in a smaller aperture.
That being said i don't think accuracy will suffer all that much by centering the housing in the peep; not at shorter distances like 20-30 yards.
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I use the Specialty peep with removable apertures. I moved my sight out from the riser to achieve a suitable pin gap, then sized my peep to eclipse the sight housing. I had to make a custom aperture since I was in between the apertures that Specialty sells. I literally started with the closest small aperture and started stepping it up with drill bits till I got to the size I needed. Was very easy and I can still see in low light as good as ever before.
Same here.
About the most perfect size peep I have found for hunting which matches most 1-3/4" to 2" sight housings at typical mounting distances and typical peep distances from the eye....is 7/32", still allows decent accuracy and light in. I have to order them seem to never find one in stock anywhere. I have used Fletcher tru peeps and Radical 38's. Black.
RAD Super Duece 38 Peep
RAD Super Duece 38 Peep
PSE PerformX 40/50#/Axcel Achieve XP/AAE Pro target, PSE Emabark/60#/Fully Nocked
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I've ran both types, oversized and right at the scope housing. It's really personal preference and how well you shoot it. Another poster mentioned the Podium from Specialty, and it's a great system, you can adjust depending on conditions or your mood. Specialty also now has the PXS system which is an updated version of the Podium and has better lens (clarifier/verifier) retention and they also make a Hunter version of the PXS. Both systems can be spendy, but offer really great versatility.
I should have pointed out that I am a new sight shooter. Always shot barebow but quit bowhunting 10 or more years ago. getting back into bowhunting, I don't have the time to dedicate needed to shoot barebow. First sight I bought was a 4 pin and I couldn't focus well on the pins, I'm 73 y/o old! So I went with a peep and a verifier. I'm shooting a new Elite Ritual 35 now and have a single pin sight. I think I'll see how well I can shoot this without a peep. I've got a kisser and a nose button so that help. If not, I'll get the 5/16" peep installed and see how that works.
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I know it goes against the grain, but I moved to a 5/16 verifier and center each pin, not the housing, in the peep. The 5/16 is big, true, but the move was specifically for gathering light in hunting situations. At 54, the verifier became necessary and I love it. I could tighten pinpoint accuracy at long distances with another setup, but for hunting shots at my preferred under 40 (generally 30 and in), this is a combination that works for me.
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