Choosing a bow sight usually forces bowhunters to make a trade-off. Fixed-pin sights are fast, simple and ready when an animal moves quickly. Single-pin sliders offer a cleaner sight picture and let you dial exact yardage when you have time.
Neither package works perfectly in every situation.
A three-pin slider bow sight bridges that gap. It gives you multiple aiming references for quick shots, while still letting you dial precise yardage for longer shots, western hunts or 3D courses.
For hunters who want speed without giving up precision, the three-pin slider gets my vote as the best bow sight for hunting.
Fixed-Pin Sights: Fast, Simple and Familiar
Before we talk more about the three-pin slider, let’s talk about the two types of sights that essentially spawned it.
First, we have fixed-pin sights. For many years through the 1980s and 1990s, this was largely all bowhunters had to choose from. There’s a sight housing with multiple fixed pins inside. Common numbers of pins were four, five and seven.
Pins would be set for varying distances, such as 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards for a five-pin sight. These gave the bowhunter multiple aiming references, depending on the distance.
It was up to the archer to learn how to “gap shoot,” which meant shooting at targets or animals in between the pin-on distances, such as 25 yards or 33 yards. You had to learn how high or low to hold certain pins to hit targets at those odd yardages.
Single-Pin Sliders: Clean Sight Picture, Exact Yardage
Single-pin slider sights started catching fire in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These sights offered one aiming reference in the scope, which had to be moved to whatever distance the bowhunter desired. You’d shoot at varying distances to come up with a sight tape, which was affixed to the sight with an indicator that allowed you to dial the sight to a specific yardage.
Single-pin sliders offer an uncluttered sight picture and allow you to put the pin precisely where you want to hit, regardless of distance. But you have to have time to adjust the sight before drawing the bow.
Fixed-pin sights allow you to take aim without having to adjust the sight, but your sight picture will have multiple aiming references in it, and none of them may be positioned exactly where you need them.
What Is a Three-Pin Slider Bow Sight?
Enter the three-pin slider. It’s got a scope with three pins inside it, and the scope is adjustable by a wheel on the side. So you’ve got fixed aiming references for shooting at three distances, but you can still dial any one of them to an exact yardage if you have the time.
For me, I set the pins on my three-pin slider at 20, 30 and 40 yards. If an animal rushes in and is at or inside one of those distances, I have an aiming reference without having to move my sight. By gap shooting, I can handle odd yardages between my pins.
But if I have time, I can dial a pin to an exact yardage if I want. That way, I can put a pin exactly on the spot where I want my arrow to hit.
Why Three Pins Are Enough for Most Hunting Shots
The three pins cover all the distances I feel comfortable taking quick shots that might require gap shooting. If an animal is beyond 40 yards, I’ll want to take my time to shoot anyway, so there's no issue with moving my sight.
If the only shot opportunity I have at an animal over 40 yards requires me to rush, I’m not taking that shot anyway.
A Pennsylvania Buck and a 40-Yard Pin
During Pennsylvania’s 2023 deer season, I was in a tree when I spotted movement about 100 yards through the woods in front of me. I picked up my binoculars and spotted a good buck running right toward me.
By the time I turned around in the tree, hung up my binoculars, picked up my bow and turned back around, the buck was just about to enter the only clear shooting lane I had.
I clipped my release to my string, judged the distance to be about 40 yards and yelled “Hey” when the buck hit the opening.
He stopped, I drew back, took careful aim with my 40-yard pin and released an arrow that center-punched the buck’s heart. The 10-pointer ran about 60 yards before piling up at the base of a large poplar.
Fortunately, I had a pin that allowed me to aim exactly where I wanted to hit, because there was no time for me to adjust my sight to a specific yardage. And since there were only three pins in my scope, I could see the deer clearly and didn’t have to think about which pin to aim with.
Why This Is the Best Bow Sight for Hunting
If you’re in the market for a new sight for your compound bow this year, a three-pin slider deserves a hard look.
It gives you the speed of fixed pins, the precision of a single-pin slider and the flexibility to handle everything from quick whitetail shots to longer practice sessions.
That combination is exactly why I consider the three-pin slider the best bow sight for hunting.
