Q
Last fall I shot two feet left of an elk, and I’ve had similar problems on other animals. I shoot right-handed but have a dominant left eye. Does anyone at the magazine have any advice on this subject?
–Steve Prince, Tigard, OR

A
I have talked to many archers with the same dilemma, and I personally have switched from right to left-handed shooting a couple of times (due to shoulder surgeries). From this background, I offer this advice: Always shoot on the side of the dominant eye. With a strongly dominant right eye, I’ve had some serious aiming challenges shooting left-handed — even after months of practice. I’ve found that it’s far easier to train your muscles to switch sides than it is to make your eyes adapt. All the people I know who have switched to shooting on the side of the dominant eye are quite pleased. Yes, it will take you a few months to get comfortable shooting left-handed, but you’ll be a much happier archer in the longrun if you make the switch.

Randy Ulmer said: “I have a less-dominant right eye. If I aim too long, my left eye will sometimes attempt to take over. When competing, I solved this problem by placing a small piece of Scotch tape on my glasses to obstruct my left eye’s view of the target. I do essentially the same thing when hunting by closing my left eye. You may be able to avoid all of this if you simply train yourself to shoot with your left eye closed.”
–Dwight Schuh, Editor

Q
After watching Curt Wells’ and Mike Carney’s “Tech Talk” segments on walk-back and broadhead tuning (Bowhunter TV Season 4, Shows 4 and 5), I have to ask: Is paper tuning a moot point?
–Sam Watson, via e-mail

A
Many archers still rely on paper tuning, but I haven’t shot an arrow through paper in years, because I’ve never understood how it could be a true indicator of arrow flight. Consider the slow-motion video we’ve all seen of an arrow flying out of the bow. The arrow oscillates so much you can’t possibly predict what attitude the arrow shaft will have at a specific distance from the bow. If you set the paper at 6 feet, 10 feet, or 10 yards, how do you know whether a specific tear is the result of natural oscillation or poor tuning?

I’ve seen well-tuned bows that will not shoot a bullet hole through paper but will group fieldpoints and fixed-blade broadheads into the same hole out to 50 yards. And I’ve seen bows that will shoot bullet holes through paper but will not group arrows well. Some people make things more complicated than necessary. I lean toward practicality, so I’ve replaced paper tuning with walk-back and broadhead tuning.
–Curt Wells, Equipment Editor