new member with a ?

[greenfire1960]

hi folks  i am new to this board and an old bow hunter who has come back to bow hunting again after almost 20 years away. i recently received a very nice used older forge flite compound bow from a friend whos son bought him a new bow for this hunting season. my ? is has anyone tried to use a red dot scope on there bow? and if so how well did it work? thanx

[Faceman]

First of all welcome. I cannot answer this question but give it a day or two and you will probably get several responses from some of our great members.

[deadeye]

I don't know about the "red dot" scope but a buddy has a scope on his bow.  The down side is you must either have the power turned on all the time (uses batteries) or turn it on when you see a deer.  This has cost him some opportunities.  More than once the batteries went dead and at least once he forgot to turn it on.   

[HD]

I tried one on one of my set-ups and took it back off.
I didn't care for it. The mount was kinda cheesy, so it had to be re-tightened quite a bit.
Also, the margin of error was greater. The accual red dot was bigger than a fiber optic and at greater distance I was off as much as 3 to 4 inches between shots.

I never hunted with mine, I just didn't have the confidence in it. Like DE said, they do burn up the batteries. And with the new fiber optics that are available, they collect enough light to be out in the stand longer than you should be. No, I'm not telling you to hunt after shooting hours...  

I'm a little picky when it comes to my bow....you might turn out to like it.
And they maybe better made now then when I tried it.

Hunter

[MnArch]

Red dot scopes for bows have changed a bit in the last couple of years.  In the beginning, people tried mounting a regular shotgun/crossbow scope on their actual bow and there were... and still are companies that make mounting kits for this reason.  You are able to change yardages much like a "slider" sight.  But there are some companies that stand out when it comes to red dot technology.  A couple of those companies would be Summit with their "Hot Dot" sight and Tru Glo with their PWR Dot.  These sights are specifically designed for the archer and have many features that may accommodate your specific shooting style.  If you're serious about a red dot check these companies out.

Matt