Topic: The Best Slider Bow Sights of 2023 (Read 36 times)
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Key Features
Pros
Cons
The Spot Hogg Fast Eddie XL MRT is a true, single-pin sight. It’s got just one aiming reference that you adjust to get your aiming point.
In recent years, sight manufacturers have added multiple pins to their single-pin sights. It’s something a lot of bowhunters have demanded. They like moving their sight pin to the exact yardage they want to shoot, but they also like having more aiming references for fast shooting. There are others, however, who only want that one pin. They don’t want to get confused by having to choose between multiple pins and accidentally aim with the wrong one. They want one.
The Fast Eddie XL co*es in many variations with multiple-pin options, but it can still be bought with a single, vertical pin. That pin features a ton of super-bright fiber, and it’s housed in a scope featuring Spot Hogg’s “multiple ring technology.” Each sight co*es with two rings that screw onto the outside of the scope, facing the archer. One ring is smaller than the other, allowing the archer to frame the scope when looking through their peep sight.
Two primary features vaulted the Spot Hogg Fast Eddie to the top of this sight category. First is the “bullet-proof pin.” Spot Hogg was the first to put a bladed pin inside their scopes, as opposed to a thin metal wire. These things don’t bend, and they protect the fiber wonderfully.
The second reason is the oversized gear system Spot Hogg employs to drive the scope up and down. It’s built like a tank, yet it’s super accurate. There is no play in the gear when you turn the Fast Eddie’s wheel. When the wheel stops, the scope sits in one place. There’s no wiggle room up or down.
The XL version of the Fast Eddie features the 6-inch dovetail mount, which allows the archer to slide the sight toward or away from the riser to get the field of view right through the peep. Also, you can remove the whole scope and sight bar from your bow for traveling, and then put it back without having to sight in again.
Like other Spot Hogg sights, the Fast Eddie XL is notoriously built to survive the harshest hunting conditions. It can take a beating, but its all-metal, durable construction explains why it’s so heavy.
Key Features
Pros
Cons
The Trophy Ridge Pursuit One-Pin sight is an all-metal, no-frills, sliding sight for bowhunters who have to set up a bow within a certain budget. Not everyone can spend $600 on the latest and greatest sliding sight. This one can be yours for under $100.
In the Pursuit, you will get an all-aluminum, durable, and dependable sight. It’s not going to break into 100 pieces if your bow falls over at the target range. You loosen a large knob to unlock the adjustment arm, which you press down to raise the scope for shorter distances, or lift up to lower the scope for longer distances.
The sight features a glow-in-the-dark scope ring and sight tape. Both features seem to wear out rather quickly, but I think they’re irrelevant. They do their job just by being bright white. What is nice is the fiber optic used for the pin. There are 14 inches of it wrapped around the scope, so the pin is nice and bright when the light is poor. A blue, rheostat light is included with the sight, with batteries.
Not many sights in this price range allow for the second and third axes to be adjusted, which is something that makes the Pursuit unique. And since the sight features Delrin washers on all moving parts, the Pursuit is virtually silent when you make adjustments for distance in the field.
Let’s not mince words here. The Pursuit is a basic sight. At most, the pin will sit 4 inches from where the sight is bolted to the bow. That’s short. Unless you move your peep sight, there probably isn’t enough vertical adjustment to be able to shoot beyond 80 yards with most bows. There are also no micro adjustments. You will have to make your own yardage marks on the blank sight tape that’s included. And the yardage indicator is kind of big, so your yardage reference isn’t going to be very precise.
But the Pursuit will give you a fully functional, durable, affordable sight for your hunting rig. If you’re not planning to take hunting shots beyond 50 yards or so, this sight will likely do everything you need it to do.
Key Features
Pros
Cons
For the past two years, the Axcel Landslyde has been one of the hottest sights on the market. It’s a sight that offers the best of both worlds. Set five pins for predetermined distances—say, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards. Move the adjustable hard stop to the top of the slider rail so that you can blindly turn the wheel to raise the scope up to the stop, and then you know all your pins are now locked at those pre-set distances.
There are two sight-tape indicators so you can make two of your pins sliding pins. For example, set one indicator to match your top pin, so you can use that to dial in your pin to any distance out to 60 yards. Set the other indicator to match your bottom pin, so you can dial in that pin to any distance from 60 yards and farther. Now you’ve got five fixed pins to cover you from 20-60 yards, and two sliding pins to cover you from 20-100 yards and possibly farther.
The adjustment wheel to move the whole scope is smaller than most other high-end slider sights on the market. But remember, this is a five-pin sight. You don’t need to move the scope for every shot. When you do, it’s purposeful, so you won’t have trouble adjusting.
The Landslyde’s scope features insanely bright pins because the fiber for each pin wraps multiple times around the outside of the scope. If you need to quiet those pins due to starbursting, there is a sliding rheostat cover that will make them dull.
Each pin can be micro-adjusted by a unique system employing one adjustment knob. Each pin is locked in place by a set screw. Loosen that screw, and the adjustment knob moves it up or down. Tighten the screw, and it’s locked back in place.
The Landslyde is one of the few sights on the market with sufficient left-right adjustment that you can use in the Mathews Bridgelock mounting position, or bolted to the side of the riser on other bows, without needing a special bracket. If you’ve got one of the bows with a Picatinny rail mount, there is a special version of the Landslyde made just for that mount.
Key Features
Pros
Cons
The Black Gold Pro Dual Trac Dovetail is an excellent choice for bowhunters who want a multi-pin slider with vertically stacked pins. This is a two-pin, vertical sight, which I believe is best when it co*es to sights with vertical pins. When you have three vertical pins and you use the bottom pin, the posts holding the other two pins block a considerable amount of the target.
The Black Gold Pro Pins employed for this sight have extra skinny posts when viewed from the archer’s perspective. The pins are bladed, so they’re still strong. But they’re thin when viewed from the front to minimize target block.
The top pin is the primary aiming reference, and its position is fixed in the middle of the scope housing. The lower pin, however, is micro adjustable up and down so you can set it where you want it. Two sight-tape indicators are adjustable so you can get them to point where you want on your sight tape. Once set, you can know the exact distance of each pin as you adjust the elevation wheel.
Black Gold is known for super bright pins, since they include a ton of fiber for each pin. And that fiber is coiled in a clear plastic housing that sits on top of the scope to gather as much light as possible.
Made from aluminum, the Dual Trac Dovetail weighs only 9.4 ounces, making it one of the lightest multi-pin sliders on the market. Many similar sights can be pretty heavy. If you’re rucking into the backcountry, and want to keep your gear as light as possible, this sight is a great choice.
Since the sight mounts via dovetail, you can adjust the distance it sits from your riser to get the best sight picture, and you can remove the sight from your bow for traveling to keep it protected.
This sight can be adjusted to level it on the first, second, and third axes.
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These sights are meant to be adjusted up and down so you can shoot with pins set at exact distances, and/or to extend your range. You want to know exactly where your sight pin is sitting, so you need a wheel or lever arm that has no play or “slop” in it. You should be able to move the sight precisely without any wiggle room up or down. And when you lock it in place, you want it to stay in place.
Precision adjustments are only as good as the indicators that tell you where you are on the sight tape. You want sharp indicators that sit close to the tape. If they are blunt, you can have trouble identifying exactly where your sight is set. The farther away from the tape they sit, the more inconsistency there can be in identifying exactly where your sight is set.
Again, slider sights are meant to be adjusted. So you want the locks and adjustment wheels or levers located in places where you can reach for them without thinking about it. In the heat of the moment, if you’re fumbling with locks or adjustment features—that’s bad. You want them to co*e to the hand, and be manipulated, easily.
Slider sights are still bow sights, so you want all the features that you’d want in any bow sight. You want lots of fiber to see the pins in low light. You want to be able to level the sights on the three axes, so you know you can trust your bubble in all situations and angles. Good sturdy pins that won’t bend if a stick pokes through the scope housing are expected. You want a sight that looks and feels durable—like it can survive a couple hunting seasons.
In bowhunting, you must prepare for the unexpected. Let’s say you range that bull elk at 40 yards, and set your sight accordingly. You co*e to full draw, and he suddenly takes a few hops away. With multiple pins, you at least have other aiming references available if there’s not time to let down, range again, and move the sight.
Also, more pins mean more distance. Any pins you have under the top one extend your range, enabling you to shoot farther with a dedicated aiming reference.
We have sights listed here ranging from $90 to $600. Slider sights are a bit more technologically involved, so you can expect to pay more for one as co*pared to a fixed-pin sight. As with anything, the fewer features a sight has, the less expensive it is, and vice versa. The middle of the road in this sight category is around $300.
Slider bow sights have beco*e more and more popular over the years as rangefinders have beco*e standard bowhunting gear, and the art of gap shooting has faded. Many bowhunters want to dial a pin to the exact distance they’re shooting so they can aim directly behind a sight pin. There’s no question there’s value in having that availability. Find the right sliding sight that matches your hunting style, and you just might find yourself shooting better than you ever have before.
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