Looking at swapping from a multi pin sight, to a single pin. Currently shoot the IQ Micro 5 pin. Wanted to reach out and see the pros and cons of single pin vs multi pin. Any insight is greatly appreciated as I am still relatively new to archery!

I think a single pin on a slider with an accurate tape is better for targets, but a multi pin sight is better to hunt with. A lot of dudes like a multi pin sight with a slider on the bottom for long targets. Local pro shop sells a multi pin sight which the pins can be folded over all together to shoot on one pin.

There are a million ways to do it and it comes down to personal preference. I like three pins for hunting. I use a 5 pin sight on a real fast bow to shoot out to about 67 yards on the bottom pin. But I only use the top three to hunt. That gives me 30, 40, and 50 yards with plenty of overlap on my pins at a chronographed 329 fps with 454 grains and a good 14% FOC. It also helps that I shoot the AAE Hybrid vanes, I am not sure how that works but I have a lot of helical on them and it seems to reduce the drop, gives me another 5-8 yard over the blazers but shoots just as flat at close range.

In my short three bow seasons I have gone from multi-pin, to single pin with a slider, to a fixed single, then to a 3 pin, then shooting gap and fixed crawl and semi-instinctive on a trad bow. And finally, back to a 5 pin with my trusty speed bow. In this time of experimentation I have shot one animal 🤣. And probably spent thousands playing with arrows and broadheads and tearing them up testing and messing around.

So I am not an expert by any means. But I can shoot that compound like an extension of myself, my fingertips and thumb reach around my 5 shot group at 67 yards with that thing.

Sorry it is long winded, I have become a full on internet archery geek and I love it so much. I have not had a lot of time to dedicate to archery lately and i love archery and talking about archery.

I know that doesn’t clarify anything and it shouldn’t. Pick something you like, that you have fun with, and get her dialed in right damn now and stick with it for deer season. If you already have something ready, stick with that. Use something you are most familiar with, which brings you joy and satisfaction. Bow hunting is all about joy and satisfaction.

What is your application or hunting type? Single works great from a blind or elevated stand because most of your trails and attractants are a pre set yardage, plus you have larger time windows. A single pin gives you roughly 3 different yard options w/o dialing assuming you shoot enough to know them.

For spot in stalk a much better option IME is a 3 pin(bottom pin slider) or 2 pin top slider. 3 pin gives you 5 quick yardage options, and two pen gives you 4 quick options, again assuming you shoot enough to enough your know your rise above first pin and fall under last pin.


It’s all about time. Do you have enough time to range and dial and draw or only range or close enough to guess .


Archery mule deer and stalking beds, single works good(you usually have lots of time to range and dial, chasing bugling bulls single is rough, you don’t have much time majority of time. Plus they are usually moving to caller so yardage is changing

This. Exactly as I would have put it. Spot and stalk, you usually have time to dial in a single pin, although I have been in situations where I couldn't move my site because I was so exposed. You can set a single pin at the distance you expect you will shoot , but without the additional pins you don't have any reference other than that close to your yardage. 3 pin on a slider, in my opinion is the all around best. You can ignore the extra pins when you don't need them. Just remember, Unless your second and third pins move independent of the top pin (and even if they do and you are shooting non-standard weights) your second and third pins will be short of the range difference at 20 yards (slide the top pin to 50 and your second pin won't be 10 yards further. It will be something less depending on your setup). Some sliders have a second range pointer that you can set for a second or third pin. As said, some top pins are fixed and the bottom pin slides.

Fixed pin or bottom slider for hunting

I've hunted with a 3 or 4 pin for over 20 years and just switched to a single pin slider. Most of my hunting is from a stand, but I do like to get down and stalk too. So far, I love it. I'll find out if I love it for hunting in a few weeks.

One pin.

I like multi pins. But I do a lot of spot and stalk.

Out of a stand with a known distance a single or 3 pin is fine. Most bowhunters can use a 3 -pin and never want for anything more

I shoot a 7 pin with a slider on bottom. I’ll shoot targets at distance with it but it’s not real practical in a hunting situation….i leave it set as my 80 yard pin below the others in the bracket

I use a three pin slider. This year for elk I keep it set @ 30,40,50 unless it’s thick and I’ll move it down to 20,30,40, if it’s wide open I’ll shade it down 5 yards to 55.

KISS

Thank you everybody for the insight. As this year I will be hunting from a tree stand, most of the time, I will stick with the multi pin, that and the lack of time I would have to get super comfortable with a new sight before the season starts. Probably wait and dabble in the single pin world after the season. Thanks again to everybody for the insight and advice!

Wise decision

When it comes to archery, this is the way.

Far too many guys obsess over bow tuning, fooling around with a dozen different arrow weight combinations , worry about having the newest pinky releases, and putting their firstborn in hock to buy a 3 pack of single bevels forged out of dragon steel, when they should be worrying about how to draw when an animal is within range, how to make the shot count when all the chips are on the table and follow thru and follow up after the shot.


You can literally use a match stick taped to the riser as a sight pin. Don’t overthink it