Broadhead Tuning Your Compound Bow for Field Point Accuracy

The best hunters are only those who are good at handling the bow. Does it feel like the broadhead is just going out of your hands and feels uncontrollable? Are you no longer able to aim properly?

Honestly, there is nothing to be worried about. This is just a sign of a non-broadhead tuned bow that needs some adjustment. Already wondering about what broadhead tuning is and how it is linked with the accuracy of your bow?

Well, broadhead tuning refers to a bow tuned for shooting broadheads with greater precision and expertise. So, without wasting time, let’s unlock this little secret that will make you a pro hunter in no time.

What Is Broadhead Tuning?

Broadhead tuning helps hunters achieve accuracy without working too hard. It’s a simple technique of screwing the broadhead onto the arrow and making it spin like a perfect top. As soon as it goes in the air, it’s nothing but a combination of deadly shots feasting on its prey.

It can make your shots more accurate and spot on the target. This ensures that your broadheads fall on the same point as your field points.

How To Broadhead Tune A Compound Bow

Following are easy steps to broadhead-tune your compound bow via a paper-tuning jig. Remember that this process does require focus, so try to do this with a fresh mind.

It is important to ensure that the bow meets the required specifications mentioned by the manufacturer about brace height and axle-to-axle measurements before starting broadhead tuning.
Now, it’s time to adjust the timing of your compound bow. If your cams are unsynchronised, press your bow, then twist or untwist the cables according to your preference to achieve the perfect timing.
Coming onto the paper tuning, get a properly spined arrow and paper-tune the bow. This is also referred to as macro tuning of the equipment.
Once you’ve done this, it is time to bare shaft-tune the bow. Don’t know how to? No worries; it’s pretty simple
Start by coating the field point of the bare shaft arrow with any kind of colored marker or slightly wet paint color. Now shoot the arrow and see the field point making its mark on the paper. See if the paper rip is proper or not.
If it’s not alright, it’s time to stop and make adjustments to get a perfect rip. You can start this from 8-9 feet and repeat it at 20-25 feet. This is the real micro-tuning of your equipment responsible for changing the way you hunt.
We have finally made it to the final part. Now, try to shoot the broadheads through pieces of simple paper. Yes, this will seem trickier initially because the broadheads make a substantial rip in the paper, making it hard to see the fletching contact on the paper. However, there is a solution for everything.
Similarly, again get a color marker or some watercolor and start coating the edges of your fletchings. As mentioned, the color helps the hunter understand where the fletching made its mark in alignment with the broadhead.
Now, to check if the bow has been adequately timed, you need to check again if the bow is making a perfect rip through the paper. Congratulations; your bow is bare-shaft tuned if it makes a perfect rip. However, if you are experiencing the tears of your nock left, right, or above or below the broadhead rips, try adjusting the loop, yokes, or cam shims. This should help you broadhead-tune your bow.

Usually, many hunters are satisfied with bare shaft tuning as it provides satisfactory results, but that’s not always the case. If things aren’t working with this paper jig, there is no need to worry about anything.

Here’s a video that might help you understand broadhead tuning in a better way:

Though you might need to go to a range, remember that this will ease your hunting experience.

Guessed it already? If you didn’t, let us mention the way for broadhead tuning your bow with the help of range.

How To Broadhead Tune Your Bow at Range?

To properly do broadhead tuning at ranges, you need to select a decent range with targets placed at a distance of 20 yards.
Shoot the broadhead arrow targeting the bullseye from 20 yards and keep repeating and observing the results.
Now shoot your field point arrow from the same 20-yard distance.
Keep repeating the same process and see the results.
If the broadhead impacts the right of the field point, adjust your rest to the right until it has the same point of impact as the field point.
You can also yoke tune or shim the cams by moving the string/cam/Powerstroke to the right if the bow requires to be moved for more than 1/8″ outside the recommended center of the shot.
You can do the same process if your broadhead hits left of the field point arrows.
Now if you want to adjust the vertical alignment, you need to adjust the d-loop of your bow. If the broadhead hits above the field point, try raising the d loop to such an extent until it is near the POI of the field point.
Similarly, if the broadhead is impacting below the field point, lower the d loop to the extent it shares the POI of the field point. If this doesn’t do the trick, check the bow’s sync/timing. If the timing is perfect, this should work with no errors.

Final Words

Broadhead tuning might sound difficult, but practically, it isn’t a rocket theory. We suggest you use the broadhead tuning through paper technique as it is more convenient and easier to approach.

Why are we saying this? Because the moment you micro-tune your broadhead, they will deliver a perfect rip at the range of 8 to 25 feet. Doing so will help you get the same POI of your broadheads and field points even at the range.

Finally, most people get confused with the micro tune and become frustrated. This frustration might cost you to start over again. So, taking a deep breath and checking for mistakes is a better idea.

We hope you liked this article and that it helped you with broadhead tuning in the best way possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If a bow isn’t broadhead tuned, there might be problems like poor arrow flight, lack of penetration, and bad aim. So, before going on the next hunt, it is recommended to tune your bow.

This is quite easy. Take a piece of paper at home and shoot the broadhead through it. If the broadhead hole seems fine and perfect, there is no need for a broadhead tune. However, you must tune the bow if the broadhead hole is not in perfect alignment.

Many people think that only the old bows require proper maintenance, but that’s not the case. A professional hunter prioritizes the cleanliness and tuning of his equipment regardless of the situation. So, even if you have a new bow and the broadhead flight doesn’t seem okay, you need to broadhead tune it right away.