I was at a shop today to get my drop away rest cord re-served and to use their tuning room to paper shoot my set up. The guy said that I was the first person in a very long time that he has seen using a bare shaft for paper tuning. He said that most people paper shoot with fletchings on their arrows. I just got my old LX back and when I set it up before, I paper shot it bare shaft till I got a bullet hole. When I used to build recurves, I would spend time sanding the shelf, window and taking bare shaft shots till I got a bullet hole through the paper. Then I would go a little deeper on the window to make up for the polar fleece strip that I used for padding while shooting off the shelf. I would then have to just move my nock up a slight amount to make up for the polar fleece strip on the shelf. It took a long time and usually took me two nights of shooting it in my basement but I would get perfect arrow flight and my glue on broadheads always shot great. Back in those days I was shooting almost every night and my release with a 3 finger glove was perfect. I was also shooting for over 25 years at that time so I better be good at it or I should look for another hobby, is the way I see it lol. I am a perfectionist and would rather do bare shaft paper tuning than with vanes. With mechanical broadheads, drop away rests and using a release I can see that you wouldn't have to worry that much about bare shaft tuning if you are getting good flight with a fletched arrow but It's good to know that you are getting the best arrow flight that you can possibly get from your set up. So does anybody else on here bare shaft paper tune? Or is it one of those things that people just don't do anymore. I was kind of amazed when the guy at an extremely busy well known shop with a good size range told me that he hasn't seen anybody bare shaft paper shoot in a long time. I am using the Trophy Ridge Drop Zone drop away rest, a Tru Ball release and an HHA Optimizer Lite -Elite XL-5519 sight. It's the same exact set up that I had on the bow when I traded it in 10-12 years ago. I really like this model HHA sight and they don't sell it anymore which is a shame because it's better than most of the ones they are putting out today from HHA. I didn't get to finish paper tuning today because I was running out of time and people were asking to use the range to get their bows tuned up or try out the rest that they just had installed. So I am going to build another frame and finish up tuning it in the garage this week. It's supposed to be windy the next few days so going to the club won't be a good idea lol. With a arrow fletched with 2" 3 degree offset Blazer vanes, I am getting a very small tare in the paper. I am very impressed with the speed and accuracy I am getting with the 2" Blazer vanes. I might even go with trying G5 Montec fixed blade broadheads for hunting. So do you all bare shaft or fletch paper tune your set up? Thanks all.

I always take a bare shafts with me and even after the tech says it's right I shoot it to make sure it shoots bullet holes for me.

Thanks passthru. Good to hear that others still do the bare shaft tuning. He said that there was no need for it which threw me off. I like my set ups to be at their peek performance and I even shot straight fletched with fixed broadheads in the past without any problems. I was shooting Thunderhead's and then Muzzy's with no flight problems. I am still getting a small tare with vanes and it looks bad when shot bare. But not as bad as before. I had a problem getting a bullet hole with the Drop Zone rest with my LX back when I first had it and had to add a spacer to the rest to get it over enough to clean up the tare. I will probably have to add one again when I finish tuning it to get a bullet hole this week some time.

The single cams can be a little tougher because the angle of the string across the bow riser. Grip can make a big difference. My LX was a little tough to tune with a QAD rest but my Z7E was very difficult. However my Hoyt Carbon Spyder was easy. The guys at the shop had it about perfect when I picked it up.

Just because it's an older method doesn't make it outdated. It's a valuable tool. One that I will always use.

Yeah I am also a lefty but I am shooting caulk (censored the correct spelling for the dominant vane lol) vane out too. I never had these problems with my Mathews FX or the PSE's that I owned. My buddy's have Hoyt bows and they were a breeze to tune compared to the Mathews. In the 80's my friends uncle who would go to 3D tournaments with us, shot one of those 90# Hoyt bows with no string silencers and it sounded like a gun going off every time he shot that darn bow. He used 1 pin out to 45-50 yards lol. If he missed a target then his aluminum arrow would either be in the next county over or so deep in a tree that there was no way of getting it out. I pulled it back twice and my arm almost tore off lol. That's good to know that you also had a time with your LX too. Thank you passthru. I have heard of others having problems with bare shaft tuning the LX's in the past. I actually had to adjust my stance and practice getting my left rear leg slightly forward to open my form because I was having the bow string hit my forearm. The LX was the only bow that I ever had this problem so I practiced shooting it every night in my basement and at the club on the weekends till it came natural to me. I wasn't even thinking about it and found myself doing it yesterday when I was shooting it again for the first time. I could still feel when my form was perfect with it. I was actually amazed how my body still remembered where everything was supposed to be. I guess old habits die hard lol. I was debating whether I should get back the LX and shoot it knowing that I have to open my stance when shooting it but I shoot extremely well with the LX so I got it back. Once I get this insurance thing settled, I will be able to afford a newer model Mathews and want to pick up one for the wife as well. I was pulling back a couple of the new Mathews and PSE bows at the shop and some of them were pretty easy to draw with my shoulder problem. I was amazed at how much everything has gone up in price over the last 4 years. The only thing that hasn't gone up in price was the Plano bow case lol. Even a spool of serving costs double now. The sport is booming again like it was during the 80's and there are a lot of women and kids shooting bows again which is pretty cool. Hopefully more clubs will pop up around the state. Also which new drop away rest do you like. I remember looking at the QAD rest last year and the guy at the shop said he sells a lot of these rests and that they are a well made rest. Is the new Trophy Ridge drop away rests any good? I see a lot of them with top arms that are supposed to contain the arrow but I have never had any issues with an arrow moving around off the arrow pads and there are even deep V shelf pads put out by limbsaver that look like it will hold the shaft in place for a drop away rest set up. Any suggestions on the newer models would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your help!

Hey bowbuilder. I don't have any experience with the Trophy ridge or QAD drop aways but have been doing lot's of research on them and from what I've heard and read, I'll be getting the QAD. I shot a NAP drop away last year and it seemed to be okay and worked fine, but wasn't up to my par.

I do both.....depending on the bow. Tuning for BH's makes a big difference on these bows....just screwing on a mech head doesn't solve the fact the bow isn't tuned.

I paper tune my compounds and bareshaft my recurves.

Paper tuning with a compound is just faster for me. Once it shoots a bullet hole...then I move on to BH tuning which is usually just a tiny tweak to get my BH's and FP'd shooting in the same hole. You can hear the difference in a BH tuned bow- quieter with less vibration.

Recurves; when bareshafted.....Bh's usually fly to the same POA as my FP's without a bunch of additional tuning.

Thanks Beendare. Yeah I would tune the recurves I built with a bare shaft too. It takes a little bit of time with sanding slowly but it's definitely easier in the end. I like using the tapered shafts from 3 Rivers Archery. This LX was a little bit of a pain with the Drop Zone rest last time I had to do it. I had to use a spacer to get the rest over more to get a bullet hole. Mechanical broadheads are pretty easy to tune compared to fixed blades. I have been going back and forth on which ones I will end up using but will probably go with the fixed G5's in the end. Less stuff to deal with and I don't have to buy replacement blades lol. I hurt my shoulder recently so I haven't been able to finish tuning the LX all the way. I hope to get it finished some time next week. I am really liking the accuracy and flight of the 2" blazer vanes. Can't wait to see how they work with broadheads.

Thanks Bobcat4119. I appreciate your help on them. I will check out the QAD first. Looks like a good rest. The Drop Zone is okay but I would like to try a different rest since they are probably a lot quieter and have improved the drop style rests since the Drop Zone came out.

I bareshaft but not through paper. I walkback from 5-20 yards with bareshaft. Then when I happy that is good to go, I tune my fixed broadheads. After those I usually feel pretty confident I have my setup tuned as good as I will get it. Buying a press and drawboard have been great because I can take my time and not have to go to the shop.

Bareshaft my traditional bows. Bareshaft paper tune my compounds.