Avid whitetail hunters certainly know the name Bill Winke. In the 7-minute YouTube video below, he explains why you might need a verifier peep on your bow to see your bowsight pins clearly.
“Little by little my close range vision has gotten worse over the past 20 years,” Winke wrote, “and this event has really impacted my confidence at full draw. In just the past few years it has gotten so bad that I have really struggled to see my pins at full draw. That leads to a bit of panic at times and definitely degrades shooting ability. I finally decided that I had to do something about it. Using advice from a proven expert, I purchased a verifier peep and now I can say that I see both the pins and the target clearly. I sure wish I had done this a long time ago.”
Specifically, this archery season Winke will be using a verifier peep from Specialty Archery. The model he chose is the company’s PXL Hunter Peep. It’s a three part system: the verifier lens (Winke bought the No. 5 Verifier Lens, which has the purple housing); the aperture, which holds the lens and screws into the peep housing; and the peep housing itself, which is tied into the bowstring. (Click here to see the exact kit that Winke bought; it’s priced at $109.)
As Winke explains, the purple model is the company's second least powerful lens. He also explains that he wears 1.5X reading glasses. In other words, Winke needs a little help with his close-range vision, and the purple model lens will give him this same little bit of help to see his bowsight pins clearly.
Important note, and Winke touches on this fact: You don’t want to go crazy and buy a verifier lens that is too powerful (too much help), because using a verifier is a compromise. By making your pins clearer, you’re also making the distant target a bit more blurry.
This should help you understand how this compromise works: If you’re like me and wear reading glasses (I wear 1.5X readers), if I forget I have them on while working at my desk and then try to see something across the room, everything is blurry.
If you're considering a verifier, I recommend you visit your local archery dealer to check them out. The staff will likely have a Verifier Tool from Specialty Archery that enables you to test the various powers/strengths of each lens.
One final comment/warning: A verifier is a lens, so it can be compromised by snow, frost, rain and fog, just like your binocular and laser rangefinder. As Winke explains, make sure you have a plan to keep it clean so it works properly in the field.
