There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to this comparison. I’ve spent roughly seven years in the whitetail woods with a bow and can honestly say both types of sights are equally effective. The majority of whitetail shots happen between 20 and 30 yards. This is coming from my midwestern perspective, now if you hunt whitetails out west for example, that may be a completely different story. Here in Iowa most whitetail bowhunting is done from a treestand, ground blind, or elevated box blind. Whether you are setting up on a nearby trail or food source, you generally are banking on that easy chip shot.

As hunters, we know that always does not work out. All of a sudden that 30 yard shot you were counting on turned into a 37 yard shot. We will use a 3 pin sight for example. If your pin setup is 20-30-40 yards, all of a sudden you have to gap that 37 yard shot. With a single pin you could dial that exact yardage and executive a perfect shot with the given distance. There are a lot of factors with that type of scenario though. If that deer is stopped and you can shoot that shot with a single pin then great. If the deer decides to take another few steps to 40 yards, then all of a sudden that 3 pin sight with the 40 yard pin sounds a lot better than the single pin that's set on 37 yards. Now you could play this game all day back and forth. There are so many different types of variables to talk about in these types of scenarios.

Multi Pin

Pros:

  • Set yardages 
  • User friendly
  • Efficiency 

Cons:

  • Gapping
  • Crowded sight picture
  • Not enough pins

Single Pin

Pros:

  • Exact yardage
  • Big sight picture
  • Excellent for 3D

Cons:

  • No time for error
  • Dialing each yardage
  • Smaller scope housing

In the End

Depending on your bow and arrow setup, some of the mentioned cons above could be eliminated both between the single and multi pin archery sights. If you have a bow that is shooting a fast enough arrow, there may be no issue when it comes to gapping with a multi pin or having to adjust your single pin. With today’s technology in archery equipment, most setups that are shooting at 20 yards are hitting almost the same at 25 or maybe even 30 yards in some circumstances. That is just one example from some real life experience, I know there are definitely other figures that are true as well. Being the user of a single pin, I always leave my pin set on 25 yards. With enough practice I am comfortable at shooting deer from 20-40 yards without any adjustment. This is because of experience with my equipment and my confidence in those distances. 

Now if you are a western hunter and are hunting a lot of open country, you may be looking to get a multi pin sight with more than 3 pins or a single pin sight. Hunting open country whitetails for example may require a different strategy of hunting and obstacles. If it’s anything like mule deer hunting, my guess is there is a lot of stalking and constant ranging. This could throw a wrench into one person's bow setup to the next. It may take you awhile to find the perfect setup for you. Everyone is different and partakes in different types of hunting. There is definitely the right sight out there for everybody, it’s just a matter of time and tinkering in the field. Enjoy my friends, have fun and be safe! 

Shop Bowhunting Sights