Helluva time to find this out ...

... now that we're 6 weeks into the season. I missed a bobcat at 36 yards on Thursday afternoon. When I retrieved the arrow I remember thinking it was further right than I thought I shot. It was. It nagged me but I was rifle hunting Fri and Sat so today was the first time I could check. I never practice with my broadheads. Maybe this was the problem. I also never practice with my quiver attached. So today I shot arrows with broadheads and quiver and sure enough I'm a good 6" to the right. Then I shot some field points just to make sure something hadn't happened to my sights. Field points go right where I tell them to and the broadheads go 6" to the right. Btw I have only 1 bow kill, that was the year before last. Range was 26 yards and I remember feeling lucky because I hit way farther back than where I thought I was aiming but the deer ran 75 yards and fell down dead. I think that deer was gut shot but died quickly anyway.

So, now, what do I do? I have always been happy with my sights and have never touched them but that was based on arrow performance with field tips. Is there an adjustment I can make to the arrow, to the broadhead? Is this a sight issue, tuning? Surely the quiver being attached has no bearing on it? Shouldn't any arrow with any tip go where I tell it to?

Depending on which side of the deer is facing me, the way it is now, unless I compensate I'll either hit a shoulder plate or get a gut shot. I'm just glad I discovered this issue based on a shot at a bobcat and not something a whole lot better.

What do I do?

Oh yeah, one more thing, I think the arrows start out going where I aim but then, to borrow from baseball, they act like a slider. When I would shoot 3 broad heads and 3 field points the angle at which the arrows entered and exited the target was different. Even the fieldpoints had a slight angle to the right but it was more pronounced with the broadheads. I guess I've sort of been aware that the fieldpoints do this but it was so slight that it never clicked that there might be a problem especially since I am accurate with the fieldpoints. After shooting today though I realized that maybe this has always been this way and I just didn't realize it.

Your bow needs to be broadhead tuned. Here's a tutorial I wrote about 11 years ago.

http://www.aldeer.com/Bows.html

What broadhead ? I use slicks and mine hit right with the field points.

Broadhead tune with a good fixed blade even if your shooting mechanicals.
I never shoot with my quiver attached to my bow. Seems like it'd make the bow less maneuverable in the stand.
If you're going to hunt with the quiver attached, then only practice with it attached.

This was true for me when I was shooting a slower-ish bow. Now that I have an elite that shoots fast I had to tune my bow for broadheads. Magnum 100 grain slick tricks hit to the left of my field tips every time. Simply moved my rest over and now I'm slamming them home.

I appreciate that very much.

Part of the problem of being ignorant is that you don't know what you don't know. This is my 5th season hunting and my 4th with a bow. I am self taught through trial and error (mostly error) and whatever I learn from Aldeer. I have learned a lot from you guys and hope to continue gaining knowledge where I can.

Thanks again.

Oh yeah, what is the likelihood that I will totally screw something up in the process of broadhead tuning? That is to say is it easy to mess something up or do I really have to be a knucklehead to create a problem?

Like it has been said, your arrows need to fly straight with broad heads or field points. Definitely needs tuning

Where are you located Smells? I can help you tune it if you're in my area.

It's already out of whack, so you can't mess it up. You need to move your rest to the left in small increments til they hit together. Keep in mind that your POI is going to shift left with both points. So you may have to bump your sight a little left to stay on target.

If your a right handed shooter, your broadheads hitting right is an indication of weak arrow spine. How many pounds are you pulling, how long are your arrows and what weight are your points?

You should always shoot at least one of your hunting heads to insure they are have the same POI as your field points, even mechanical heads.

So we've hit the woods wide open for 5 seasons now without shooting or testing our broadheads we intend on killing an animal with????????? Awesome

Well, to restate, I've released one arrow at a deer and she went in my freezer. It's generally considered bad form to insult someone who's already confessed ignorance. It was not willful ignorance and ignorance does not equal stupidity. I didn't test with broadheads because I was afraid it would ruin them, it's just that simple, and I didn't know any better. Now I do and will make the necessary adjustments. Thanks for your help.

Just nominate the head you missed the cat with as your practice head from here on out and adjust your sights to the broadhead you're hunting with. Some bow and arrow combinations will not shoot a broadhead the same as a field point no matter if it's a mechanical or fixed blade. The faster the bow, the more the broadhead will dictate where the arrow will impact. I apologize if I come off as a goober with the previous comment, just blew me away with the time it took to realize there's an accuracy issue. Now since we're having a confessional here, anyone have a cure or regimen to get rid of this god forsaken target panic!!!!
Constantly lockup 6-8" low on targets. I've had it bout 2 years started out bout 2" low and has progressively gotten worse

When you get your bow tuned and sighted back in if you plan on bowhunting in cold weather you should practice with your cold weather clothes on. Just a tip in case you didn't know.

Sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. At one time I didn't know it either. After seeing how much difference there can be from bow to bow and field tip to broadhead I wouldn't ever want to go without sighting in broadheads. When I played baseball in college several of us shot bows at the apartments we lived at. One buddy had tried some new broadheads that were the latest thing. When he shot them the arrow was doing flips. He couldn't even get close. He ended up going another route. I also took a guy from church with me once and he had a doe come right in and just completely misses. After we're done I asked him if he had tuned for his broadheads. He had never even shot them at his target or realized he had to. I hunt with crossbows now and don't think I've ever shot a field tip out of them.