Gut Shot

The most important accessory on your bow is your peep
sight, yet many archers have never taken the time to try to learn how a
peep sight works. This is your chance!

Look at the end of your nose. You will see a fuzzy border along its edge.
This fuzzy border is caused by light diffraction. Light passing near the
edge of your nose is bent away, diffracted, making the edge of your nose
appear fuzzy. Hold any object just in front of your nose and look at its
edge. You will again see this fuzziness. Look through your peep sight,
you will also see a fuzziness along the inside edge. This is because all
edges diffract light and it it is this diffraction controls the sizeand shape
of your peep sight.

When you sight with a round-holed peep you
are sighting with diffraction.

These two figures show what happens when you move
from bright light to dim light. In low light diffraction
increases, so hunters must use larger peeps to provide
extra space for the diffraction. But, this does not
eliminate diffraction or the problems caused by
diffraction. Read on and learn more.

Diffraction controls the center of your peep.
If you shoot outdoors, where light is constantly changing, the
following will help explain some of your misses. Remember, the
dimmer the light the greater the effects of diffraction. These two
figures show how changes in light affect the center of your peephole.
When the light on the right side of your peephole is brighter than the
light on the left side of your peephole, the diffraction will cause the
center of your peephole to appear off-center to the right. The
opposite happens when light is brighter to the left. As the light
changes, the diffraction changes, and the center of your peephole will
also change. Diffraction controls the location of the center of your
peephole. Remember, with a round holed peep you are sighting with
diffraction not your peep.

Diffraction makes your eyes switch dominance.
With both eyes open, focus on a spot about ten feet away. Point at the spot with a finger. Using
the other hand, block your vision (dominant eye) with one of your fingers. Start with your finger
about a foot from your dominant eye. Slowly move your finger up and down keeping your focus on
the spot. When your finger impairs your dominant eye you will notice you are no longer pointing at
the spot. Instead you will be pointing to the left or right of the spot. What happened? Your eyes
switched dominance. The diffraction in a round peephole does this same thing. And it happens
without warning!

When diffraction blocks your peep, you will sight with your non-dominant eye, but the arrow
travels along the sightline of your dominant eye and you will either gut shoot your animal or miss
completely depending on the direction the animal is facing.

Light diffraction can be eliminated.
This drawing shows how diffraction can be eliminated. By
replacing the round peephole with two intersecting slots, a
peephole is created that has no edge. Light is diffracted within the
slots but never within the square hole. The light entering the slots
diffracts perpendicular to the edges of the slots and parallel to the
outside of the square hole. The result is a square hole that is
diffraction free and does not require extra space for diffraction.
Also, the square hole is always clear, and always consistent in size
and shape. Can you believe a smaller square hole is clearer then a
larger round hole? It is!

Nite Hawk Peeps provide a clearer and more
accurate sight picture.
These pictures demonstrate the clarity of a Nite Hawk peep
compared to no peep at all. In other words, a Nite Hawk peep will
improve you eye's ability to see. This extra clarity is the result of
the peep limiting the area your eye needs to focus on, which allows
your eye to focus more accurately. Optometrists have known of
this phenomenon for decades. Allowing your eye to focus more
acuately and at the same time it eliminates the diffraction which
occurs in all other peeps, insures that your eyes can never switch
dominance and also extends your shooting hours.

Hopefully by reading this page you have increased your
understanding of this extremely important piece of your archery
equipment. Remembering what you have learned willhelp you to
understand why you sometimes miss what seem like simple shots.