A vast majority of archerys today whether hunters or competetive shooters use peep sights. Basically for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a doughnut looking piece of plasting that fits in between the string so that when you draw the bow you have a specific hole to look through and aim. While this method works very well and has been in use for years there are a few things about peep sights that may start you thinking about going peepless.
You may be thinking I'm crazy right now and don't worry I felt the same way when I was told I should try it. I had been shooting for over 5 years with a peep and the sudden notion that I should try going without it seemed like a pretty crazy idea. Needless to say I switched and to be absolutly honest I would NEVER go back to using a peep.
Let me explain to you why this is, you see after shooting with a peep for so long and then switching to peepless you begin to realize the advantages of doing such, as it eliminates two of the problems that come with a peep.
The biggest problem I found when shooting with a peep was that frequently the peep would twist and move as the string started to stretch and wear, or even in temperature changes. For those of you who are new to this sport this may not sound like a big issue but imagine pulling up on an animal or target and at full draw you go to aim and your peep sight has twisted so that your staring at the side of it or on an angle rendering your ability to aim useless. Its actually quite frustrating. Moving to peepless completely takes that problem away as there is no more peep to twist or move.
The next problem I found I would sometimes run into was that with only being able to use one eye it restricts the detail of your view espeacially as it becomes darker. As it becomes darker the amount of light that enters that little hole is dropped quite a bit and it really becomes much harder for your one eye to be able to focus on the intended target. Using only one eye to aim really kills your depth perception as well.
Although peeps weigh very little when they are eliminated from the bowstring there is a noticable change in the amount of vibration and speed in the bow. For example a small peep sight will take away anywhere from 3-5fps and thats without the tube to keep it from turning, while a bigger peeps with the elastic tube could take as much as 8-10fps away.
The biggest thing to remember when going peepless is FORM,FORM,FORM. The reson for this is that there is no longer a hole that you can line up with your eye to let you know that you are aiming with the form that you sighted in with. For this reason you must develop an anchor point that you can repeat everytime you draw your bow. For me I have 2 anchor points one is puting my index knuckle behind my ear lobe and the second one is resting the string on the tip of my nose.
By doing this I know that everytime I draw my bow I will have the same form. Going peepless is not in the least bit necessary. Its going to be one of those things that you either like it or you dont. But its definately something I would suggest even just to try, you never know it may just be what you need to improve your shooting.