Paper Tuning

Lesson 21 of 33 · Module 6, lesson 2

Assumes the Hunting Primer. New here? Start there first.

Your objective

By the end, you'll be able to shoot a paper-tuning arrow, read the tear pattern it leaves, and apply the correct rest or nock-point adjustment to achieve a bullet-hole tear.

Procedure ~8 min

You shoot an arrow through a sheet of paper — and instead of a clean round hole, you get an L-shaped tear with the tail pulled high and to the right. That’s not random noise. The paper is reading your arrow’s flight and writing you a diagnostic message. This lesson teaches you to decode it and fix what it says.

Quick recall

Before paper tuning, draw-length fit must be verified. What is the most common visible sign that draw length is too long?

The bow arm locks fully straight or hyperextends at full draw The sight pin moves slower than usual The bow makes a louder shot noise at the wall

Show answer

Correct: The bow arm locks fully straight or hyperextends at full draw — Right. A locked bow arm means you are propping the bow up rather than holding it with relaxed posture. Fix draw length before touching the rest or nock point.
Not quite: The sight pin moves slower than usual — Pin movement is affected by form and hold, not directly by draw length being too long. The signature of too-long draw is the bow arm locking out and inconsistent anchor.
Not quite: The bow makes a louder shot noise at the wall — Shot noise relates to timing, string vibration, and limb efficiency. A locked bow arm is the diagnostic sign of too-long draw, not sound.

What paper tuning does — and doesn’t do

Paper tuning tells you how the arrow leaves the bow: is it flying nose-first and straight, or is the nock end kicked to one side or dipping up/down? You shoot the arrow through a taut sheet of paper at close range (typically 5–6 feet) and read the shape of the hole it leaves.

What it cannot tell you: whether your sight is zeroed, whether your arrows have correct spine, or whether your broadheads hit with your field points. Those come after. Paper tuning is the flight diagnostic, not the whole tune.

The why Why close range? Wouldn't the problem show more at distance?

Counter-intuitively, you want to catch the arrow as it leaves the bow — at 5–6 feet it still has most of its initial orientation before vanes have had time to correct flight. At 20 yards, well-fletched arrows can self-correct minor problems and give you a false clean hole. Shoot close for the diagnosis; shoot at distance to confirm the fix.

The target: a bullet hole

A perfectly-flying arrow passes through paper leaving a bullet hole — a round hole where the point punched through, with the three vane slits radiating evenly from the center like spokes on a wheel. The point hole and the vane slits are co-centered.

Any separation between the point hole and the vane slits means the nock end of the arrow was kicked in the direction the vanes traveled — and that direction tells you exactly what to adjust.

Reading the four tear types

Diagram showing four paper tear patterns: a bullet hole (perfect — round hole with evenly spaced vane slits), a nock-high tear (vane slits above the point hole), a nock-left tear (slits left of hole), and a nock-right tear (slits right of hole). — Diagram (not a photo). The four tear patterns. In each 'nock X' tear, the vane slits are displaced from the point hole in the direction the nock end of the arrow was traveling — the paper reads which way the tail kicked.

The rule to memorize: move the rest (or nock point) in the same direction as the tear. If the nock end went high, bring the nock point down. If the nock end went left, move the rest left — wait, no. This is where people get confused. The correction is:

Nock high → lower nocking point, or raise the rest
Nock low → raise nocking point, or lower the rest
Nock left (right-hand shooter) → move rest toward the riser (right, for a right-hand bow)
Nock right (right-hand shooter) → move rest away from the riser (left)

Edge case Why vertical first? The horizontal read can be false

If your fletching is grazing the arrow rest, it creates a horizontal kick in the tear that looks like a horizontal tune problem — but fixing the rest left/right won’t solve it. The vane contact is the real culprit. Fix any vertical tear first (which often involves fixing nock height and vane clearance), confirm the fletching clears the rest, then read and address horizontal. Doing it the other way around can send you chasing a ghost problem.

The adjustment rules

Make small adjustments — 1/16 inch at a time on the nock point, and the smallest increment your rest allows for horizontal. Shoot three arrows after each adjustment before deciding the paper read has changed. A single tear is a data point; three consistent tears are a diagnosis.

Edge case Left-handed shooter note: horizontal tear directions are mirrored

On a left-hand bow (held in the right hand, drawn with the left), the horizontal tear directions flip. A nock-left tear on a left-handed shooter means move the rest left (away from the riser for that configuration). When in doubt, ask your pro shop to confirm the adjustment direction for your specific setup rather than assuming — an incorrect rest move makes things worse, not better.

Walk through a real session

Decision

You set up paper at 5 feet and shoot three arrows. All three show a nock-high tear — the vane slits are clearly above the point hole. What do you do first?

Lower the nocking point by about 1/16 inch and shoot again

Good call. Nock-high = nocking point is too high or rest is too low. You make a small downward nock-point adjustment, shoot three more, and the tear is smaller. You're on the right track.

Move the rest horizontally to fix what looks like a slight left bias too

Tempting, but you need to fix vertical first — a vane-contact problem from the nock being too high can create a false horizontal read. Fix the nock-high tear completely, then re-evaluate horizontal.

Shoot more arrows to see if it averages out

Three consistent tears in the same direction are not noise — they are a diagnosis. Shooting more without adjusting just confirms the same problem and adds wear. Make the adjustment now.

Read the tear

Knowledge check

You shoot three arrows through paper and all three leave a tear where the vane slits are clearly to the LEFT of the point hole. You are a right-handed shooter. What adjustment do you make first?

Move the rest toward the riser (to the right on a right-hand bow) Move the rest away from the riser (to the left) Lower the nocking point — horizontal tears come from nock height

Show answer

Correct: Move the rest toward the riser (to the right on a right-hand bow) — Correct. Nock-left on a right-handed shooter means the tail went left — move the rest toward the riser (right) to correct. Make a small adjustment, then re-paper to confirm.
Not quite: Move the rest away from the riser (to the left) — That would make the nock-left tear worse, not better. For a right-hand shooter with a nock-left tear, move the rest toward the riser — to the right.
Not quite: Lower the nocking point — horizontal tears come from nock height — Nocking point height primarily affects vertical tears. A horizontal tear is a rest left/right issue (or a vane-contact issue, which is why you always fix vertical first). For a nock-left tear, move the rest toward the riser.

Knowledge check

You have a slight nock-high tear AND a slight nock-right tear in the same paper shot. What should you do first?

Fix the vertical (nock-high) tear completely before touching horizontal Fix the bigger of the two tears first, regardless of direction Make both adjustments at the same time to save trips to the paper

Show answer

Correct: Fix the vertical (nock-high) tear completely before touching horizontal — Right. A nock-high problem can cause vane contact, which creates a false horizontal read. Fix vertical completely first, then re-paper for horizontal. This sequence prevents you from chasing a problem that was never real.
Not quite: Fix the bigger of the two tears first, regardless of direction — Direction matters more than size here. Always fix vertical before horizontal — vane contact from a nock-high problem can mimic a horizontal tear that isn't actually there.
Not quite: Make both adjustments at the same time to save trips to the paper — Simultaneous adjustments prevent you from knowing what fixed what. One change at a time, three arrows, then read again. It takes more shots but gives you reliable cause-and-effect information.

Take it to the range

Paper tuning session checklist

0/9

Confirm draw-length fit is correct before tuning — a bad fit produces tuning problems that can't be fixed at the rest.
Set up a paper frame (or tape paper to a box) 5–6 feet in front of a target backstop.
Shoot three arrows and read all three tears consistently before making any adjustment.
Address any vertical tear completely before evaluating horizontal.
Adjust in small increments (1/16 inch on nock point) and re-shoot three arrows after each change.
If horizontal tears persist after vertical is fixed, check fletching for rest contact (talcum powder on vanes reveals contact marks). Vane contact is the most common hidden cause of horizontal tears.
Stop when you have a consistent bullet hole — or a near-bullet-hole within about 1/4 inch.
Move to 20 yards and confirm arrows group consistently before moving on to broadhead tuning.
Safety After every rest or nock-point adjustment, visually confirm the arrow is seated on the rest before drawing.

Sources

If you remember nothing else

A bullet hole — a round point-hole with vane slits radiating evenly from it — means the arrow is flying nock-first and straight.
A nock-high tear means the tail is high: lower the nocking point or raise the rest.
A nock-low tear means the tail is low: raise the nocking point or lower the rest.
A nock-left tear (right-hand shooter) means the tail is left: move the rest right, toward the riser.
A nock-right tear (right-hand shooter) means the tail is right: move the rest left, away from the riser.
Always fix vertical tears before horizontal ones — vane-contact issues cause false horizontal reads.

How ready do you feel?

How ready are you to shoot through paper, read the tear, and make the right adjustment to clean up arrow flight?

Before you go — a quick look back

Distributed practice: one fast recall from an earlier lesson keeps it from fading.

Quick recall

From Confirming Draw-Length Fit — what are the three fit checkpoints you verify at full draw before trusting any other tuning step?

Show me the answer

Show answer

Correct: Show me the answer — Bow-arm elbow has a slight natural bend (not locked out, not sharply kinked), draw hand reaches a consistent anchor without feeling crowded or stretched, and shoulders form a relaxed T with back tension loaded. All three must be correct before paper tuning — otherwise you are tuning for a wrong body position.

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