This thread may be too old for anyone else to read, but I have to add my 2 cents worth.
I've been using pendulum sight for over 25 years. Believe me when I say..They work. They work very well...extremely well....within their limits. I've used or tried quite a few of them over the years at one time or another and have settled on one that seems to be the best..at least for me. It was made by Highland Archery years ago and was called The Whitetail Combo. It was all metal and had a sealed bearing. It is heavier than most...but it is quiet and rugged! It has 2 slots for fixed pins for ground shooting. It's not made anymore. I occasionally find them on ebay.
There are 4 things that come into play for a pendulum to work the way the shooter wants it to.
1-How far it is accurate is totally dependent on arrow speed and arrow weight. It's been my experience that the average bow will get excellent accuracy out to about 28 yards and then the arrow trajectory drops rapidly and the accuracy suffers with the pendulum sight. To gain more yardage one must shoot a heavier arrow faster because the speed doesn't bleed off as rapidly as with a light arrow. Two buddies of mine shot 80# bows with arrows of approximately 500 grains and the speed was 280FPS. They legitimately got 40 yards of accuracy with their set up using their pendulums. Few folks shoot that kind of speed with that heavy an arrow. Bottom line is speed is everything to gaining usable distance with a pendulum. If you get 30 yards of accuracy with a pendulum...that's considered good...at least by me.
2-Most pendulums shoot a couple of inches high when the target is within 5 yards. To me that is totally unacceptable as generally speaking, the aim point at this distance is the spine. At that distance if you miss the spine you'll probably only get 1 lung and stand an excellent chance of losing the animal. The Whitetail Combo has an adjustment for the close shots. With my pendulum I literally can hit a dime inside 5 yards and the arrow will always be inside a 3 inch circle out to 28 yards and that's acceptable to me. If the sight doesn't have the capability to make the "close in" adjustment, then generally a little engineering needs to be done (It's not rocket science). Usually the pendulum swings to far and needs to be restricted in it's swing by adding something like a screw to stop or restrict it's swing.
3- I have a 20 foot ladder stand in my backyard and I sight my pendulum in from it, but I hunt from 18 to 30 feet high and have practiced from those heights with my climber and never have I seen problem. But I do try to replicate the situation (Height wise) in my backyard before I go to the woods. I would be leery of hunting very low....remember these things do have their limits.
4-The pendulum must also swing smoothly, and I mean absolutely NO jerky motion. If it's not smooth it's useless!!! It's got to be smooth or it won't be consistent.
I also have a 20, 30, and 40 yard fiber optic wrapped pins attached to my pendulum. As I said, the Whitetail Combo has 2 slots for pins. I use them walking into or out from my stand or if I'm gutsy enough to try a shot "way out there". So I have the best of both worlds.
A big problem I have run up on with the pendulum sight is when hunting in steep terrain....such as I seem to end up in in IL. As I face downhill I may be 40 feet high while behind me the shot may actually be above me. Like I said...they have their limits.
As to the noise....some are very loud. Try this...stand down range and see if you can hear it...cup your ears...Try hard to hear it. I'll bet not...you might and if you do...don't use that one.
My pendulum is on a Quick Disconnect mount and I also have another set of sights with fixes pins that are sighted in on the ground. Here in GA, where I live, we stalk hogs on the ground and the fixed pins are the sight of choice for me when I stalk.....because the pendulum doesn't work on the ground.......it's designed for tree stands.
Shoot what you like, but don't say the pendulum doesn't work....because it does. We have a deer limit in Ga of 12 deer per season so there is a good chance that many of our good 'ol boys kill more deer in a season with a pendulum than many of my Northern bred brothers will in a decade of bowhunting.
There was a comment made about Miles Keller. He may or may not use a pendulum sight ...I don't know...But he didn't invent nor does he make the Keller Pendulum. Bob Keller is the inventor and manufacturer of the Keller Pendulum. He lives and builds the Keller pendulum in Grovetown, GA.
Are there some down sides to a pendulum? You Bet!
Do they work? YOU BET!!!
Try one...You might just like it. If you don't like it...go back.
308XP
