How to Paper Tune a Compound Bow — Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Paper tuning is the fastest way to tell what's wrong with a bow's setup. Shoot a fletched arrow through butcher paper at 6-8 feet. If the hole looks like a clean bullet, your bow is square. Any tear — tail-high, tail-low, tail-left, tail-right — tells you exactly what to adjust.

This guide covers the entire workflow plus an interactive Bow Tuning Assistant that walks you through every adjustment with bow-specific instructions for Mathews, Hoyt, PSE, Bowtech, Elite, Bear, and Prime flagships.

Why paper tune at all?

A perfectly tuned arrow leaves the rest with zero yaw or pitch — point and nock travel through the air on the same line of flight. Any tear in the paper means the back of the arrow is moving differently than the point, which causes left/right drift at distance, vertical inconsistency, and broadheads that miss field-point POI by inches.

What you need

  • Butcher paper or newsprint, stretched across a 24"×24" frame
  • Backstop 6-8 feet behind the paper (foam block or bag target)
  • A bow that's already passed pre-flight — see the checklist below
  • Fletched arrows you're going to hunt or compete with — same exact spec, same point weight

Pre-flight: do these first, in this order

Before you shoot a sheet of paper, work through these five, in order. Skip ahead to paper before they're right and you're reading noise, not a diagnosis.

  1. Cam timing. Both cams should hit the wall at the same instant. Out-of-time cams produce a left-right tear no rest position can fix.
  2. Tiller and ATA. Match manufacturer spec. Off-spec axle-to-axle usually means cam lean.
  3. Grip. Same hand position, same pressure, every shot. A torqued grip throws every other variable into noise.
  4. Center shot. Set the rest so the arrow points down the riser centerline, using a laser or bow square. This is your starting point, not a tuning knob.
  5. Nock height. 1/8" to 1/4" high of square on most rigs. Confirm with bareshafts later.

A bow that's cleared all five walks into paper with most of its problems already solved. Skip pre-flight and you'll spend your afternoon tuning symptoms instead of causes.

The 4 tear patterns and what they mean

Tail-HIGH (nock above point hole)

Nock is too high OR rest is too low. Arrow is kicking the rest at release. Fix order: (1) move nocking point DOWN 1/32", (2) if still tail-high, raise rest 1/32", (3) check top cam isn't hitting its draw stop early.

Tail-LOW (nock below point hole)

Nock is too low OR rest is too high. Less common. Fix order: (1) move nocking point UP 1/32", (2) if still tail-low, lower rest 1/32", (3) check tiller — positive tiller (top tighter) can cause persistent tail-low tears.

Tail-LEFT (right-handed shooter)

Arrow flexing right at release. Could be spine too stiff, cam leaning right, or rest too far OUT from riser. Fix order: (1) move rest LEFT 1/32", (2) yoke-tune (twist LEFT yoke, untwist RIGHT for RH), (3) if still off, spine may be too stiff.

Tail-RIGHT (right-handed shooter)

Arrow flexing left at release. Spine too weak, cam leaning left, or rest too far IN. Fix order: (1) move rest RIGHT 1/32", (2) yoke-tune (twist RIGHT yoke, untwist LEFT), (3) if still off, spine may be too weak — common with heavy points + short arrows.

The cardinal rule: vertical before horizontal

If you see a diagonal tear (high-left, low-right, etc.) fix the VERTICAL component first. The diagonal usually resolves on its own once vertical is dialed. Never chase both at once or you'll wash one with the other.

There's a second limit worth knowing: if paper is telling you to move the rest more than about 1/16" to clear a tear, something upstream is wrong. Find it — bad cam timing, a spine mismatch, cam lean — instead of grinding the rest past that point. A rest move that large isn't fixing the bow, it's hiding a problem paper alone can't diagnose.

Why most people tune backwards

The common failure mode: shoot paper cold, see a left tear, move the rest right, get a bullet hole, call it done. Then a broadhead goes on at 40 yards and lands six inches off the field point. The underlying problem — cam lean, or a spine that's off — never went away. The rest move only masked it on paper at six feet. Out at distance, the arrow is still leaving the bow with energy going sideways; the field point smooths it over, and the broadhead's blade area amplifies it into a miss.

Pre-flight first, paper second, is what keeps you tuning the cause instead of the symptom.

What about random tears?

Inconsistent tears almost never come from a mis-tuned bow. The usual suspects are: vane contact (spray rest with foot powder, look for streaks), inconsistent grip torque, peep timing drift, or a damaged test arrow.

Why 6-8 feet?

At less than 6 feet, even a perfectly tuned bow shows minor tail wobble — the arrow hasn't fully stabilized. Past 10 feet the fletching has corrected enough flight to mask underlying nock travel issues. 6-8 feet is the sweet spot for diagnostic paper.

After paper, then what?

Paper tune is one of 11 steps in the full bow tuning workflow. Next: bareshaft tuning (unfletched arrow alongside fletched), then walk-back (rest L/R confirmation at distance), then broadhead group (fixed BH vs field point at 30+ yards). Our Bow Tuning Wizard walks you through every step with bow-specific adjustment instructions.

FAQs

How close to the paper should the bow be?

6 to 8 feet from the paper to the bow. Backstop another 6-8 feet behind the paper to safely catch the arrow.

Can I paper tune with broadheads?

No — broadhead blades shred the paper before you can read the tear. Always paper tune with field points first, then verify with broadheads at distance during the broadhead group step.

How many iterations does paper tune take?

For a well-set-up bow with proper cam timing and nocking point, 1-3 iterations. If you're chasing a tear for more than 5 iterations, something upstream is off — recheck cam timing or your form.

What if my paper tune is perfect but broadheads miss field point POI?

Paper tune passes a bow that has zero yaw at release, but broadhead vs field point misalignment usually means residual cam lean or spine mismatch that fletching is hiding. Run bareshaft tune to expose it.

Ready to tune? Open the Bow Tuning Wizard on Sparrow Expeditions — it knows your bow's cam architecture, draw-length system, and cable system, so the fix instructions adapt to YOUR exact bow.