How to Make a Sight Tape — Pro Method (No Trial-and-Error)

Sight tapes let you set every yardage mark in advance from real ballistic math — no walking the range trying to find where your 50-yard pin lands. Done right, a sight tape predicts every yardage from 10 to 200+ within 1/16" at distance.

The free Sparrow Sight Tape Generator uses the same physics your bow obeys: muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient, atmospheric density, gravity, sight geometry. Print directly to a label printer or export PDF for the pro shop.

What you need

  • Bow that's already tuned (paper, bareshaft, walk-back passed)
  • Chronograph readings: either single muzzle fps or (better) dual chrono at 2 distances
  • Sight geometry: peep-to-arrow distance, peep-to-sight distance
  • Arrow specs: total weight, length, point category
  • Sighted-in yardage (where your reference pin is zero)

The math (briefly)

Pin offset on the sight bar = sight_radius × angular_drop_at_yardage. Angular drop = drop_inches / yardage_in_inches. So if you know muzzle velocity + per-yard velocity decay + arrow mass + gravity, you can compute drop at every yardage and convert to pin position. Dual chrono gives you the per-yard decay directly; single chrono falls back to a BC estimate from arrow weight.

3 ways to generate a tape

1. Dual chrono (best accuracy)

Take fps readings at 2 distances (e.g., 0 yd and 60 yd). Compute decay rate directly. Sparrow's generator extrapolates muzzle and projects forward to 200+ yards.

2. Sight-in mode (no chronograph)

Sight your bow in at 20 yd and 60 yd. Caliper-measure pin positions on the sight bar at each. Sparrow back-solves the muzzle velocity that produces matching drops — then generates the full tape from there.

3. Single chrono + BC estimate

Single fps + arrow weight. Less accurate — we estimate BC from weight. Use only if you can't do dual chrono.

Atmospheric correction

Air density affects velocity decay. A tape generated at sea level shoots different at 5000 ft elevation. Sparrow's generator includes atmospheric corrections (density altitude) and a Travel Tapes mode that prints 5 tapes at ±2000 ft DA increments — hand the relevant one to the customer the morning of the hunt.

Print directly to label printer

Sparrow generates tapes printable on any label printer (Brother P-Touch, DYMO LabelWriter, Epson LabelWorks). The "Print to label" button opens your system print dialog with the tape sized exactly to your sight's tape width spec. Cut lines always print so you can trim wider stock to size.

Express Tape mode for pro shops

The Express Tape mode is designed for pro-shop walk-in workflow: enter peep height, sight radius, arrow weight, sighted-in yard, pick a velocity method, hit generate. PDF or print-to-label in 2 minutes. No setup saved — just the customer's tape.

Common mistakes

  • Tape based on a chrono'd arrow weight, but customer is shooting a heavier hunting arrow. Sight tapes are weight-specific. Re-tape with the actual hunt arrow.
  • Forgetting density altitude. Tape generated for sea level shoots significantly different at 7000 ft.
  • Trusting a single chrono reading + a guessed BC. Dual chrono is always more accurate.
  • Printing at "Fit to page." Always print at 100% / Actual Size or the tape physical dimensions will be wrong.

Open the Sparrow Sight Tape Generator to make one now. Free + Hunter tier; Pro tier adds atmospheric travel tapes and unlimited saves.