Single Pin Vs. Multi Pin Bowsights
By Mark Melotik
One component of better deer hunting is choosing the right gear, and these days there are a lot of quality choices. One of the current hot topics in bowhunting is sight selection, a debate that boils down to two main categories: single-pin and multi-pin. Which is right for you? That depends, especially when you consider hybrid models that combine both concepts. Confused? Don’t be.
Fixed, multi-pin sights are how most of us learned this game, with models holding three to five horizontal pins, each set for a different yardage. With such a model, sighting-in and aiming are fast and easy, but there are a few challenges. Especially with five- or six-pin sights, your sight picture is somewhat cluttered, and for close-up shots, you’ll be using just the top of the sight picture, versus framing your target in the middle.
Also, with multi-pin fixed sights you must learn to shoot gaps. If your target buck stops broadside at 35 yards, you must bracket your aiming spot between your 30- and 40-yard pins. Not a huge deal for sure, and it’s something you get better at with practice. Once mastered it’s almost second nature.
Single-pin slider sights make use of a single vertical pin that offers some nice advantages, maybe first and foremost is the uncluttered sight picture that has you aiming with the middle of the sight window, like a riflescope. I’ll never forget the incredible, effortless accuracy I could achieve the first time I used a single-pin slider. I soon realized it was due to my relaxed, increased focus on the single pin in that beautifully uncluttered sight window. It was a revelation.
Single-pin sliders also let you experience increased accuracy because you’re able to dial-in to the exact yardage. If your buck is broadside at 37.5 yards and you’ve dialed for that distance, you should be able to hit the hair on which you’re holding. Of course, the downside to achieving that extreme accuracy is that you must adjust your sight with your target animal in sight, a dicey move. That’s why most treestanders simply keep their single pin dialed for, say, 25 or 30 yards, and hold a bit low or high depending on the known target distance.
As a bowhunter who spends the majority of the fall chasing Midwest whitetails from treestands, these days I find myself gravitating mostly to foolproof fixed-pin sights. Since I always range landmarks once I get into my stand, having multiple pins allows me to easily follow the unpredictable path of always-moving rutty bucks, and always have a pin option ready when a shot presents itself.
However, I’m also a fan of many of the newer hybrid movable-pin sights, models that incorporate two or three pins. With one of these, I can use it as a standard fixed-pin sight for most treestand work, and I’ll also have the option to dial in longer distances during early season trips out west to hunt elk, mule deer or pronghorn.