Paper Tuning A Bow 101

This is a perfect tear through paper from an arrow shot off a bow that is perfectly tuned. It is one hole. The back of the arrow goes through the same hole that the point created. The 3 scraggly lines coming off the hole are created by the vanes.

This is an example of a bad tear from a bow that is not properly tuned. The point went in on the left and tore an elongated hole to the right where the back of the arrow completed the hole.

These two holes were created by the same bow. The problem with the bow were many - the cams were out of time; the drop-away rest was not correctly positioned at centerflight; the string suppressor was off-center and was shifting the bowstring to the right (and in turn, the nock end of the arrow) causing the back end of the arrow to kick to the right at the end of the shot cycle; the strings and cables were reaching the end of their life and will need to be replaced next year - the list goes on.

When a bow is paper tuned, windage will be consistent from 10 yards to 60 yards and beyond. If not, the arrow will shoot to the right or the left at further distances. In the example above, the bow before tuning will have shot the arrow to the right due to the string kicking the arrow to the right, at further distances, even though the shooter may have the bow sighted in at 20 yards.