As of to date I have been shooting archery for over 30 years. In that 30 plus yeas I have gone through numerous gear changes. I am kind f a gear nut and love to try new things. The one thing that has never changed is I have always shot a multi pin sight. I started out with 3 pins, then went to 5, and the went to a 7. This improved my long range shooting but I also started to clutter up my sight picture. I needed something a little simpler that would give me the accuracy and durability that I demand.
I started looking at single pin slider sights. I have always been a little curious of slider sights but have never thought they could be used in a hunting situation. I always figured that it would be one more step I would have to take in order to get a shot at an animal. And then what would I do if the animal ended up moving? I had so many reservations about going away from my tried and true 7 pin to shooting a single pin slider.
Well a couple of months ago I got the opportunity to try and HHA Optimizer bow sight and all my reservations went away. The simplicity and ease of use of their sight are second to none. Set up was a breeze and I was shooting tight groups in less than 30 minutes.
I would like to hit on a few of the key features of this sight. First off let’s talk about the company itself. HHA has been voted #1 single pin sight 10 years running in the Bowhunting Worlds reader’s choice awards. You can’t argue with a track record like that. For a company to win that many years in a row they must be doing something right. These days it seems there are a lot of new products to hit the shelves that are the latest and greatest thing. They usually hold that title for 2-3 years then their popularity dies off. It is good to know that HHA has a proven track record. I believe this comes from the quality and craftsmanship they take in their products.
Now I want to talk about the sight itself. The sight is built out of 100% machined aluminum. The pin guard totally surrounds the pin offering complete pin protection. I have broken pins and fiber optics in the past while hunting so this is a nice feature to me. The pin guard also acts like a rheostat for the fiber optic cable itself. On a bright sunny day you can turn the outer pin guard down closing off light to the fiber optic cable. This is great so you don’t get a halo affect around the pin while you are shooting. Then on a cloudy day you can unscrew the outer pin guard allowing more light to shin through to illuminate an already bright pin.
You are also able to buy a sight light called the Blue Burst. This light shines directly on to the fiber optic and not into the pin housing. This could be a fantastic add on for hunting out of a ground blind or for shooting indoors.
Once you have the sight mounted on you bow no more tools are required for adjustments. This sight has tool free windage and elevation adjustments. Defiantly a nice feature to have.
Once I got the sight mounted and started the sight in process this is were I was really sold on the sight. This was the easiest sight I have ever owned to sight in. In the past I would have to sight in each individual pin separately. This process was tedious and time consuming. This sight has an EZ-Tape system which allowed me to be sighted in from 20 yard to 80 yards in under and hour. Here’s how it works.
The sight comes with a set up tape applied to the adjustment wheel. The first step is to sight in to 20 yards. Once you are at 20 yards you would record the number that the pin located on the adjustment wheel lands on. Next you would sight in to 60 yards. When you are confident with that you would record that number as well. Next you subtract the 20 yard number from the 60 yard number. This will give you a number that would correspond with the sight tapes included in the kit. You then take that sight tape and apply it to the sight itself. You are then dialed in from 20 to 80 yards in one yard increments. This sounds like a complicated process but I can insure you it is the easiest sight I have ever set up.
To test out the system I shot at several odd distances and I was dead on every time. I would range the target, set the dial wheel to that yardage and just make the shot. It didn’t matter if it was 27 yards, 52 yards, or 63 yards. There was no “holding over” or “gapping” the pins, I just dialed to the exact yardage and bury the pin where I wanted the arrow to hit and just made the shot.
I would highly recommend this sight and any of HHA products to anyone who is looking to upgrade their current sight. It is a well built piece of equipment I will use for years to come. And from now on when someone asks me why I would want to complicate an already challenging hunting situation, in one word- Accuracy.
Product Rating
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Overall Rating: 4
MSRP: 279.99 – 299.99
Performance: Sight performed great. Did everything that it was advertised to do.
Ease of use: Sight is very easy to use. Adjustment wheel easily turns for your different yardage.
Other uses: Sight could also be used for an indoor target sight with the option to add magnification lenses to the sight.
