Regardless of how much I practice, how precise I work to set my pins at exact yardages, the deer never seem to cooperate. All year I shoot my Easton arrows at twenty, thirty, forty, fifty and sixty yards to get my sight pins dialed in as accurately as possible. Only to have a buck approaching and he stops at 27 yards. I don’t have a pin for 27 yards. I have pins for twenty yards and thirty yards. This inevitable situation leaves me with having to ‘shoot the gap’. Let’s face it, when your bow has a multi-pin set up you are always ‘shooting the gap’. The buck never stops at the exact distance of your sight pins.
Some years ago, in an effort to alleviate this situation, hunters began the practice of using a single fixed pin set at thirty yards. Believing that their bow shoots flat enough to hold the one pin in place for shots from point blank out to forty or so, without making any major adjustments. This is only true for the bucks that are within a certain range of error. Meaning that if the buck is between twenty eight and thirty two yards the single pin has a greater chance of being accurate. If he is closer or further, you have to make an adjustment and shoot high or low depending on the situation.
One solution to this problem is a single movable pin or sight. Enter the Apex Gear’s new Covert Pro. A new advancement to solve this age old problem. The Covert Pro is their most advanced single-pin sight yet. One of the advantages of the Apex Covert Pro is that it doesn’t use a ‘pin’ at all. Instead the engineers at Apex have designed an illuminating center DOT located in the center of crosshairs for hunters to be able to acquire the target faster and hold more true to the distance.
Using the new PWR•DOT™ illuminated center dot, hunters have a green LED center with 11 different brightness settings. In addition to the elimination of the ‘pin’ the Apex Covert Pro has easy vertical and horizontal adjustments for greater fine tuning. With a single turn of the round knob, the hunter can make the yardage adjustment and hold the PWR•DOT™ exactly where the deer is standing. No more ‘shooting the gap’.
This concept works similar to an adjustable turret on a rifle scope. The hunter ranges the target, makes a very quick adjustment to their sight with a quick turn of a large round knob and the center illuminated dot is exactly where you need it to be.
On the inside of the sight housing is a vertical yardage indicator. With the turn of the wheel, the yardage indicator is aligned with the correct distance and the shot is made. The user has the capability to adjust the tension on the alignment tape.
The Apex Gear Covert Pro also comes with over sixty pre-marked yardage tapes to fit your specific set up. Just follow the instructions that come with the sight and apply the correct tape for your set up. Using the pre-installed ‘set-up’ tape, sight in at 20 yards and mark the tape with a pen. Then back up to a minimum of forty yards. (the further the better for greater accuracy.) Make an adjustment to the yardage adjustment knob and shoot a group at that distance. Once a group is established mark the pre-set tape. Now, using the included sixty plus yardage tapes, find the one that most closely resembles your marked tape. Once found, place this on your sight and you are ready for greater accuracy.
As an older archer I love the option of being able to add a 2X lens to my bow sights. Thankfully, the Apex Covert Pro has this accessory available for their sights. Using the supplied housing, simply insert the lens on the outside of the sight (The side away from the archer) and screw into place. This magnification really enhances the target acquisition and helps to place the arrow exactly where you want it to be.
When using a single DOT set up, it is imperative that you employ a good quality range finder. Knowing the exact yardage is the advantage of the single DOT system. A technique I have been using is to set the sight at the distance that I believe is good for that particular stand. Once the encounter occurs, I can make a quick adjustment and draw. Usually the turn of the knob is a few yards in either direction. The confidence you gain by knowing you are not ‘shooting the gap’ makes the adjustment to the single DOT worthwhile.
