Paper Tuning?

[shoot to kill]

I hear talk about paper tuning your bow and was wondering what is paper tuning and what is the function of paper tuning. In addition, I would like to know how to do it if it is valuable towards my own bow. Any people know about this?

[Fred]

Thank you for asking that, I don't feel so dumb now and will likely learn something too!:wink: :grin: Fred

[Dragginbait]

To paper tune your bow, you set up a piece of paper in front of your target then take a shot through the paper and then see how the arrow cuts through the paper. if the paper is torn with the fletch higher than the entry point, your nock is too high, if it is to the left or right, your sight needs to be adjusted left or right. Hope that helps.

[Nails]

Paper tuning is shooting your arrow at your target about 3-5 yards away. Having a sheet of paper and infront of the target so the arrow passes through paper before it hits the target. When the arrow passes through paper the arrows flechting/feathers will hopefully show perfect bullet hole with the fletching/feathers in perfect alinment. When your not tuned properly the fletching tears to the left or right and possibly up or down.
If the tears are up and down it is called porpoising. You generally adjust your noc up or down. Left or right tears is called fishtailing and is little more time consuming. Adjust yor arrow rest left or right, go to a lighter/heavier head, switch to a stiffer or weaker spined arrow, just to name a few problems.
Paper tuning is critical for proper arrow flight when using broadheads and scoring in the X ring. I hope this helps.

I was to slow getting this one out

[Walksalot]

Possibly the most important thing you can do to ensure hunting success with broadheads is to keep you bow well tuned. A bow that is not tuned will not shoot broadheads in the same place as field points.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/hunting_articles/hunting_library_pictures/paper_tune_rig.jpg
A rig like the one shown above can be used just in front of your target to hold old newspaper supported by binder clips under tension from rubber bands, fastened to a basic wood frame.
Tune your bow by shooting it through newspaper using field points at about 8 yards away. They should make a straight poke through the paper with just an X where the fletching went through. If not, your bow is out of tune. Tuning it is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your hunting success with broadheads. Broadheads will not fly anywhere near where your field points go if the bow is not tuned properly. Check your bow to make sure that both cams tip at the exact same time when you pull back.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/hunting_articles/hunting_library_pictures/arrow_tears.jpg
To correct vertical flutter (C), move your nocking point down or your arrow rest up.
To correct vertical flutter (D), move your nocking point up or your arrow rest down.
To correct fletch left (E), move your arrow rest away from bow.
To correct fletch right (F), move your arrow rest toward the sight window.
If you don't seem to be making progress,.. ie the tear seams to be getting worse - make sure you aren't on what I call a "second harmonic". Move your rest back past the point of where you started and try things there. It's possible that you have moved the rest SO FAR from where it needs to be that improvement is impossible.
After you have finished tuning your bow with field points, try a shot through the paper with a broadhead. Sometimes you will pick up wind planing with a broadhead that you wouldn't see with a field point. If the broadhead is giving you trouble, try shooting it in several different orientations to the vanes and see which works best for you.

[sealevel]

Thats a good way but i find if you use a bare shaft( no fletch) is away better start at 5 yards tune so you get a bullit hole then go out to 10 yards tune keep going out you can go out tell 30 yards if you like. If you get a bullit hole at 20 yards your broadheads will fly perfect. Oh if you shoot fingers paper tuning will not work on the close shots.

[tmarschall]

Tuning is very important, but most critical is tuning the broadheads. Getting them to fly like the field points can be an exhausting process.I followed the steps mentioned above, then went to broadheads. They flew nothing like the field points, and worse, the broadheads had no consistency. I was shooting 125 grain points on both. To make a long story short, cutting back to a 100 grain broadhead fixed the problem. This won't fix all problems, but just thought I would mention it. I never read anywhere where this was a recommended solution, just tried it in desparation. Maybe it will help someone else. Good luck... Tom

[sealevel]

You have to start out with good broadheads that are tuned and the same weight as your fieldpionts.

[Walksalot]

Tuning is very important, but most critical is tuning the broadheads. Getting them to fly like the field points can be an exhausting process.I followed the steps mentioned above, then went to broadheads. They flew nothing like the field points, and worse, the broadheads had no consistency. I was shooting 125 grain points on both. To make a long story short, cutting back to a 100 grain broadhead fixed the problem. This won't fix all problems, but just thought I would mention it. I never read anywhere where this was a recommended solution, just tried it in desparation. Maybe it will help someone else. Good luck... Tom

If tuning problems exhist they magnified one hundred fold when broadheads are put on.

I hope I have this this is correct, if an arrow is overspined then going to a heavier tip will sometimes correct the problem. If an arrow is underspined going to a lighter tip will sometimes correct the problem. One can do the same with drawwieght but that is something I don't like to do.

I always tune my field points with a bareshaft but when broadheads are strapped on it is difficult to use a bareshaft with a broadhead because they have to be shot into high density foam and I have snapped bareshafts doing this.

[tmarschall]

The broadheads were the same weight as the field points, 125 grain. The broadheads I am using is "Thunderheads". I bought the same brand of point in 100 grain, put it on the same arrow that flew crazy with 125 grain, and BINGO, hit the same as my field points with 125 grain. I don't know why it worked. Even the guy at the bow shop was skeptical. But now that it is not broke, I will stop trying to fix it!!!!

[tmarschall]

Walksalot... The guy at the bow shop selected the spine weights for my shafts when I increased the draw weight a few years ago. I did the fletchless tuning with the field points also. Geting heavier spined shafts might have fixed the problem, but lighter broadheads was definitely cheaper. I even considered going to mechanicals. I'm glad I found a fixed blade solution to the problem. Thanks for the posting... Tom

[buckslayer]

Thanks Walksalot for the excellent information i have paper tuned my bow before but was unable to find the info to check it this year. Now i have printed it off for permanent record lol.

[Walksalot]

Hey, what can I say, once and a while I do something constructive.:grin:

[Fred]

Now I know as well. I must have fluked it into being pretty close as my Muzzy's hit within mm's of the same point as my field tips. Well, truth be told, I can stay in about a 3 inch circle at a known distance. No danger of a "robinhood yet!! :redface: Fred

[BowSitter]

Thanks for the valuble infohttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif, I will also use it. Wisely I hopehttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[greybark]

:lol: Hey Walksalot , That is a good set-up, For years I have used a custom aluminum builts that used a Roll of paper to just a cardboard box with a cutout section and found they all performed well .
Sealevel has a good point - if on your first arrow you get a perfect bullet hole don`t jump for joy just yet . At that distance the arrow maybe in the center of its osculation , Try moving back in 5yd increments to confirm and have lots of patience it will be worth it.

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[Walksalot]

:lol: Hey Walksalot , That is a good set-up, For years I have used a custom aluminum builts that used a Roll of paper to just a cardboard box with a cutout section and found they all performed well .
Sealevel has a good point - if on your first arrow you get a perfect bullet hole don`t jump for joy just yet . At that distance the arrow maybe in the center of its osculation , Try moving back in 5yd increments to confirm and have lots of patience it will be worth it.

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

Greybark, I cannot take credit for that. I got it off the internet.

[huntwriter]

Never have tuned bare shafts, they are fletched. I like big fletching. All my arrows are fletched with 5" helical feather fletching. This makes the arrow a bit slower but stabilizes the arrow in flight better, and just as important controls the flight rather than the flight being controlled by the broadhead.

Having said that. I paper tune each arrow with a field point mounted, depending on how they fly I put them on seperate piles. The once that fly crooked I check for nock and point insert alignment. After I fix the alignment I shot them again and sort them again in different piles.

The arrows that fly streight I will shot with a broadhead mounted and proceed as above. I have found that arrows which fly streight with field point do also so with broadheads, not always must mostly.

Only if all arrows show the same crooked flieght pattern do I play around with the arrow rest or nocking point.

I have found that some arrows never will fly streight no matter what you do. I give such arrows to my wife to use as plant suporters in the garden. I also have found that this is true for some broadheads. Another fact I found is that some arrow broadhead combinations shoot better (streighter) than others. So before I play around with tuning I try to figure all this combinations and variables out until I find an arrow and broadhead that "marry" well. Never botherd about F.O.C. (Front of Center balance) and never found - after shooting way over 1000 arrows - that it makes not one iota of difference or the F.O.C. is in the middle, forward or none existent.

However, I find it very important to paper tune arrows at different distances, not only the usual 5 yards. Even if only occasionaly but I have found the odd arrow which might fly streight at 5 feet but goes all crooked at 10 yards. tunning arrows is a very tedious and time consuming task. It is also better to tune just a few arrows per day as shooting many arrows can adversly affect the tuning result due to shooters fatigue.

[BC4Bowhunter]

Paper tuning is a starting point in tuning a bow. The ultimate tuning technique is put fixed blade broadheads of the same weight as your feild tips and see how well they group and where they group in relation to your feild tips. Sometimes you get lucky after you papertune your broadheads group with your field tips but in some cases your will have to fine tune for broadheads. That's if you bowhunt. If you target shoot group tuning as well as walkback tuning will get you and your bow tuned.Some like to bareshaft tune and it works well too if you have good form and shooting technique. Good form and shooting technique is key for any tuning method to work. ;-)

[sealevel]

I just tuned my bow a little different here is the link it worked good http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=275245&highlight=walk+back+tuning