Rudd
Life Member
I found this on another site and thought some of the information would be beneficial to others.
STEPS FOR TUNING
Tuning for fixed blade broadheads is not difficult, but it does take some time and effort to get it right. The steps I have outlined here are just a basic guideline, but it should be enough to get excellent accuracy with fixed blade broadheads. These rules are also just as important for mechanical heads. While mechanical heads do shoot well from even poorly tuned equipment, there performance on game will suffer if your system is not tuned well.
 1. The first step to good broadhead accuracy is matching yourself to your bow. Make sure your draw length and weight are matched to you. To long or short a draw length or to much draw weight will not allow you to shoot to your full potential.
2. match your arrows to your bow. It really doesn't matter what type of shaft you choose, just make sure the spine is correct for your draw weight and draw length. You should also choose the most consistent arrows you can find for what ever material you choose. The more consistent the spine and straightness, as well as component fit, the better accuracy you will achieve.
3. Pick an arrow rest that allows you both vertical and horizontal adjustments. You will pay more for these features, but it really makes tuning simple and saves you from having to move your peep sight and nock point up and down the string trying to find the right place for the best tune. It doesn't matter if you prefer a prong rest, drop away, or containment style rest, just pick one with plenty of adjustments.
4. Assemble your arrows. Make sure that your nocks and inserts are installed straight and there is no wobble in either. Attach your broadheads in the same manor. Make sure the heads spin true, without any hint of wobble. The best way to do this is with an arrow roller. It will cost about 20 bucks, but it makes spin testing the arrows a snap. I like to use at least 4" vanes with as much helical as I can get while still eliminating fletching contact with the rest. At a minimum I recommend 4" vanes with offset fletching. The fletching controls the arrow and the more fletching and or helical, the more control. Feathers are the best at stabilizing the arrow, but are more prone to damage or getting soaked in the rain. You can get around this with different products. It doesn't matter which you choose, just make sure you have enough fletching to control the arrow. I personally use 4" right helical vanes with most carbon arrows and have no problems with arrow flight.
5. Get your bow ready. I am not going into all the different aspects of bow tuning. You can find that information in many different places. I will include a couple of links to tuning sites to the left of this page for your reference. Once your bow is fitted to your person, you need to check the bow over. Make sure your tiller is set per manufactures specs, draw length and weight are where you need them, and your arrow rest and ALL accessories are on your bow, just as you will hunt with it. If you shoot with the quiver on, make sure it is. I like to tune with one arrow less than I will carry in the quiver. this way it is setup just like it will be at there first shot on game, of course if you shoot with the quiver off, it doesn't matter. Once everything is on your bow you are ready to start paper tuning. I recommend paper tuning at three different distance. I like 3, 10 and 15 feet. I strive to get perfect bullet holes at all three distances. If you can do this consistently you can be sure that your arrows are flying well. I paper tune with field points only, I personally don't see the need to paper tune with broadheads, the results are harder to read, and target materials are harder to come by. Once your bow is shooting bullet holes different ranges it's time to move on to the range.
6. Sight your bow in with field points. Make sure your shooting form is good and your bow is setup just like you will hunt with it. Once this is done it's time to shoot your broadheads. If you did step 4 correctly you should have arrows that spin true, and have the proper amount of fletching to control your broadhead. I like to shoot a group of broadheads and a group of field points. I shoot at a distance of 10 yards farther than my self imposed maximum hunting distance. For me that would be group shooting at 45 yards. Shoot a group of broadheads and then a group of field points. If you have done everything correctly your broadhead group should be almost if not just as good as your field point group. Repeat several times to be sure of your results. When I mean just as good, I don't mean they should hit in the same place, but rather that the size of the groups should be close to the same. If they are not, you either have a problem with your rest/nock position ( general tune of the bow) or a problem with the arrows ( either spine issues, arrows with some wobble to them, or not enough fletching/helical to control the arrow). Number each arrow, it is common to have one or two arrows that seem perfect in every way, but still will not group with the rest. If you find these, eliminate them from your hunting arrows. It takes some time to get 6 to 8 perfectly flying arrows with broadheads. just shoot each and every broadhead/arrow combination you intend to hunt with, those that group well put to the side, those that don't you can play around with trying different heads on different arrows until they all or at least most of them group with the other arrows.
7. you do not need broadheads and field points to group together, although I admit it is nice. The most important thing is that your broadheads group and fly well. You can always move your sights. I know there is a lot of debate on this subject, but I am not going into it here. There are also other methods of tuning such as bare shaft and group tuning, These are all useful, but the purpose of this article is to give you the simplest way to get fixed blade broadheads shooting accurately. It is mostly for the beginning bowhunter who may be feeling confused or frustrated at all the information floating around.
STEPS FOR TUNING
Tuning for fixed blade broadheads is not difficult, but it does take some time and effort to get it right. The steps I have outlined here are just a basic guideline, but it should be enough to get excellent accuracy with fixed blade broadheads. These rules are also just as important for mechanical heads. While mechanical heads do shoot well from even poorly tuned equipment, there performance on game will suffer if your system is not tuned well.
 1. The first step to good broadhead accuracy is matching yourself to your bow. Make sure your draw length and weight are matched to you. To long or short a draw length or to much draw weight will not allow you to shoot to your full potential.
2. match your arrows to your bow. It really doesn't matter what type of shaft you choose, just make sure the spine is correct for your draw weight and draw length. You should also choose the most consistent arrows you can find for what ever material you choose. The more consistent the spine and straightness, as well as component fit, the better accuracy you will achieve.
3. Pick an arrow rest that allows you both vertical and horizontal adjustments. You will pay more for these features, but it really makes tuning simple and saves you from having to move your peep sight and nock point up and down the string trying to find the right place for the best tune. It doesn't matter if you prefer a prong rest, drop away, or containment style rest, just pick one with plenty of adjustments.
4. Assemble your arrows. Make sure that your nocks and inserts are installed straight and there is no wobble in either. Attach your broadheads in the same manor. Make sure the heads spin true, without any hint of wobble. The best way to do this is with an arrow roller. It will cost about 20 bucks, but it makes spin testing the arrows a snap. I like to use at least 4" vanes with as much helical as I can get while still eliminating fletching contact with the rest. At a minimum I recommend 4" vanes with offset fletching. The fletching controls the arrow and the more fletching and or helical, the more control. Feathers are the best at stabilizing the arrow, but are more prone to damage or getting soaked in the rain. You can get around this with different products. It doesn't matter which you choose, just make sure you have enough fletching to control the arrow. I personally use 4" right helical vanes with most carbon arrows and have no problems with arrow flight.
5. Get your bow ready. I am not going into all the different aspects of bow tuning. You can find that information in many different places. I will include a couple of links to tuning sites to the left of this page for your reference. Once your bow is fitted to your person, you need to check the bow over. Make sure your tiller is set per manufactures specs, draw length and weight are where you need them, and your arrow rest and ALL accessories are on your bow, just as you will hunt with it. If you shoot with the quiver on, make sure it is. I like to tune with one arrow less than I will carry in the quiver. this way it is setup just like it will be at there first shot on game, of course if you shoot with the quiver off, it doesn't matter. Once everything is on your bow you are ready to start paper tuning. I recommend paper tuning at three different distance. I like 3, 10 and 15 feet. I strive to get perfect bullet holes at all three distances. If you can do this consistently you can be sure that your arrows are flying well. I paper tune with field points only, I personally don't see the need to paper tune with broadheads, the results are harder to read, and target materials are harder to come by. Once your bow is shooting bullet holes different ranges it's time to move on to the range.
6. Sight your bow in with field points. Make sure your shooting form is good and your bow is setup just like you will hunt with it. Once this is done it's time to shoot your broadheads. If you did step 4 correctly you should have arrows that spin true, and have the proper amount of fletching to control your broadhead. I like to shoot a group of broadheads and a group of field points. I shoot at a distance of 10 yards farther than my self imposed maximum hunting distance. For me that would be group shooting at 45 yards. Shoot a group of broadheads and then a group of field points. If you have done everything correctly your broadhead group should be almost if not just as good as your field point group. Repeat several times to be sure of your results. When I mean just as good, I don't mean they should hit in the same place, but rather that the size of the groups should be close to the same. If they are not, you either have a problem with your rest/nock position ( general tune of the bow) or a problem with the arrows ( either spine issues, arrows with some wobble to them, or not enough fletching/helical to control the arrow). Number each arrow, it is common to have one or two arrows that seem perfect in every way, but still will not group with the rest. If you find these, eliminate them from your hunting arrows. It takes some time to get 6 to 8 perfectly flying arrows with broadheads. just shoot each and every broadhead/arrow combination you intend to hunt with, those that group well put to the side, those that don't you can play around with trying different heads on different arrows until they all or at least most of them group with the other arrows.
7. you do not need broadheads and field points to group together, although I admit it is nice. The most important thing is that your broadheads group and fly well. You can always move your sights. I know there is a lot of debate on this subject, but I am not going into it here. There are also other methods of tuning such as bare shaft and group tuning, These are all useful, but the purpose of this article is to give you the simplest way to get fixed blade broadheads shooting accurately. It is mostly for the beginning bowhunter who may be feeling confused or frustrated at all the information floating around.
