From: ut-emx!shawn@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Shawn Boyd)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Peep Sights
Date: 17 Aug 92 15:06:12 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu

In article <1992Aug12.083600.17249@doug.cae.wisc.edu> nick@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Nick Leiterman) writes:
>In article <1992Aug10.084830.18027@doug.cae.wisc.edu>, 
>rigg@osnome.che.wisc.edu (Tim Rigg) writes:
>> I'd like the net.opinions on peep sights.  My partner swears by them.

  [detetions... SB]

>> tim

>Two years ago I put a peep sight on my .54 TC Renegade BLack powder
>rifle.  I also drilled out the hole.  On the bench I can get about
>a 3 inch group at 100 yards.  I found that in the fiels I can get 
>on target really fast, and the peep sight covers up less of the target
>than a regular iron sight.

 Interesting.  With a bow, this is not the case.  Archers rely primarily 
 on the notion of "anchor" to lock the back end of the "launch platform"
 in place, and by doing so, can give up having a rear sight (other than that
 which is provided by the naked eye) and instead use what, for lack of a 
 better term, something that is called "instinct."  Without the barrier of 
 a rear sight more light gets by, so many archers, especially bowhunters, are 
 often inclined to dissuade others from the use of a peep sight.  

 If a front sighting mechanism, such as a pin or set of pins, is left off 
 the bow, then you begin to enter the realm of "instinctive shooting," and 
 many archers are extremely effective shooting this way.  It is awesome to see 
 an archer draw, anchor and release on a target the size of a "largish" apple  
 70 yards down range, and hit it consistently.  I'm not that good.  I use a 
 peep and front sight crosshairs.

 For truly well practiced instinctive shooters, the lack of need for sighting 
 mechanisms is so pronounced, that their use is sometimes criticized, and 
 occasionally even scorned.  By the way, these sorts of debates do not exclude 
 other tackle in favor of sighting mechanisms.  In fact, the topic of 
 broadheads will almost always bring up a much more lively discussion among 
 bowhunters than the relatively tame topic of "peeps-and-pins" versus "bare 
 bow" shooting.

 Well... what can I say?  Many athletes and other sports minded people have 
 idiosyncracies which can rule their behavior with respect to their chosen 
 sport.  Archers, especially bowhunters, are no exception.  Anything from a 
 mildly amusing superstiscion (such as "this is my 'lucky' arrow") on up to 
 the more serious circumstance of target panic can be found among archers.  
 Hey, we're human... go figure!  :-) 
 
 Suffice it to say that if you are not shooting instictively, a rear peep on 
 your bow can significantly decrease the size of your groups.  While it is true
 that a rear peep severely restricts your peripheral vision (after all, that's
 what it's SUPPOSED TO DO) and does decrease the amount of light that gets to 
 your dominant/sighting eye, those problems should not be regarded as over-
 whelming, and can be compensated for with just a little practice.  If your 
 anchor is already pretty good, and your sight picture is consistent, then a 
 peep probably won't make any difference.  Even worse, if you were, oh say, a 
 Commanche Indian trying to put an arrow into John Coffee Hays from horseback 
 at full gallop, it would be a downright pain in the butt to have that stupid 
 thing stuck in your bowstring.  

 On the other hand, there's people like me.  I do not shoot instinctive with
 my compounds, nor would I dream of shooting from horseback, or any other 
 moving platform.  You may fall into that class of shooters as well, and I can
 tell you this -- if you're sitting in a tree when that big one walks by, and 
 your heart feels like it's moved from your chest to your nasal cavities, having
 a peep sight on your bow, and knowing how to use it can be a downright 
 blessing. 

>The theory is that your subconsiousness will automatically center
>anything that you look at through a circle,  so all you do is look
>at the front sight and you automatically center it in the rear sight.

 I like this.  I think I'll go ahead and believe it.  Whether or not it's true
 doesn't matter too much to me.  I find it very appealing.

>It works for me, I will never go back to regular iron sights. 
 [or, in my case, instinctive shooting...]

 Me too.  --Except of course on my stick bow and recurves.  :-)

>     Nick Leitermann
>     Seattle Washington

 Shawn Boyd
 Austin, Texas