For some, that is a scary proposition! To eliminate a peep sight would mean starting all over for those who have known no other method of sighting. Other than when I shoot traditional equipment I am addicted to a peep sight. Most likely you are too. It shouldn't be a frightening idea though; Olympic shooters knock the heart out of a bulls-eye at 90 meters without the use of a peep. What they do have is a consistent anchor and great form. The No-Peep basically trains you to shoot like a champ with less effort than would normally be necessary. Follow along to see how this peep elimination system performed and how it effected my shooting.

The Basics:

The No-Peep is an eye alignment system that forces you to use a consistent anchor and form. Timberline accomplished this by placing a small black dot at the front of the system, on the lens, and a larger fiber dot at the back of the system. The small black dot on the lens is aligned inside the green fiber optic dot at the back of the system and, presto you have an alignment system. Generally the No-Peep is positioned just under the sight pins (on the shooter's side of the riser) for easy reference.

The body of the No-Peep houses an acrylic lens (eyeglass material) and fiber optic material. The lens is recessed into the body approximately .22" and has a solid black dot painted onto its center. A cone shaped fiber holder is located at the rear of the body, which extends .7" past the body. When viewing the No-Peep at full draw you should see a small black dot in the center surrounded by a bright green ring, which is then surrounded by a larger black ring and finally a larger thin green ring. 

The body is constructed of black anodized aluminum, as is the mounting bracket and angle bracket. The body of the No-Peep is secured to the mounting bracket with an 8-32 x 5/16? flat head cap screw, which is then secured to the angled bracket with an 8-32 x 5/16? flat head cap screw.

Testing:

The testing started out with an evaluation of the overall workmanship and quality of construction. The No-Peep that I received was flawless in these areas. The design is sturdy with the only part with the potential for serious damage being the fiber holder. Even so, the likelihood of the fiber holder being damaged is small because of its position close to the center of the riser. 

Next up in the testing process was to mount the No-Peep to my bow and set it up. A detailed instruction sheet is provided for set up guidance, which I familiarized myself with and followed as closely as I could. To get the alignment perfect took me quite some time and was more difficult than I expected. Basically the problem occurred when I would loosen the lock-down screw, dial in the correct alignment with the adjustment screw, and then lock it down again. The adjustment would be off after tightening the lock-down screw. In the end, what this meant was to set the alignment in such a way that the movement from the Lock-down screw brought everything in. When all was said and done it took me approximately 50 minutes to set it up perfectly the first time. The good news is that each subsequent set-up took less and less time until I reached around a 15-minute set up where it leveled out. I can live with 15 minutes.

Now to the fun part, the actual target shooting. This is where I learned quite a few things about hand torque, anchor point, sighting and consistency. My bow shooting began at a very young age, and while I'm not the expert, I have learned a thing or two about accurate bow shooting since those early days. 

The No-Peep gave me a real-time reference to gauge my form, and WOW -- I'm not sure I knew what consistency was! 

I was all over the place with my torque and anchor point. You would think that a kisser button, open bow hand, nose to string position and peep sight would put you right on the money every time but for me there was still room for improvement. I can shoot fairly well with a peep sight but I now believe my form has been improved and no matter what I may choose to shoot in the future (peep, no peep or No-Peep) my shooting will have benefited from the No-Peep. It opened my eyes to the differences you can see in form, not only from shot to shot, but from day to day, fresh versus tired, morning to evening and so on. 

The first few days shooting with the No-Peep were a learning and adjustment curve. I was constantly switching my focus between the sight pins and the No-Peep on every shot. Of course you can imagine what was going through my mind at that time -- I'll never be able to hunt with this thing. I would get everything set up one day and the next it would be all out of whack. At first I thought the No-Peep was moving but came to find out it was me the whole time -- how embarrassing. 

After that though, my groups tightened up and before long I caught myself hitting bulls-eyes without ever looking at the No-Peep! Now THAT impresses me -- no peep sight or kisser button needed.

Over the past several weeks I have taken my Bowtech VFT, rigged with the No-Peep, ground hog hunting and 3D shooting. The first victim was a huge hog that liked to tear up some of my grass about 75 yards from the house. Double lung -- on a hog! Makes me smile just thinking about it. 

The next victim was actually a 13-ft tall alien - that's right, alien - that landed in Chambersburg, PA. He and 99 of his friends (deer, raptors, bear, moose, elk, caped buffalo, cheese, a toilet bowl and many others), well, 98 of his friends - I completely missed the 30 point buck - bit the dust in one of the most fun shoots I have been to in years, the Rinehart 100. 

Through all of this I thoroughly enjoyed using the No-Peep but did run across one potential problem. At different times, and depending on the position of the sun the lens would develop a significant glare. When shooting into a shaded area with the sun behind you it can be very difficult to see the alignment rings. As I said, this is only a potential problem for three reasons. First, many times in a tree stand the lighting is such that you will not experience any difficulty. Second, if you are on the ground you will most likely be the one in the shadows shooting into the light or another shaded area. And finally, as was mentioned before, you get to the point where you don't really even need to look at the No-Peep and can shoot well without it. So, the potential for a problem is greatly reduced. I would not recommend buying a No-Peep one day, and then hunting with it the next. Buy it early and give yourself a few weeks to get familiar with it. 

A low light test was in order since that is one of the main benefits advertised by Timberline. I took to the trees in the woods behind my house and started shooting 3D targets with a bow rigged with the No-Peep and one that was rigged with a hunting peep. I was able to accurately shoot the bow rigged with the No-Peep for approximately 8 minutes longer than the peep sight bow. Now that doesn't sound like a huge advantage but an experienced hunter will tell you it may very well mean the difference between success and an empty freezer come this fall. Another note is that the fiber optic pins on my sight were brighter than the No-Peep but it was still visible.

My overall perception of the No-Peep is positive. It is a great teaching aid, eliminates the need for a light restricting peep and allows the archer to be super accurate. I will most definitely use it this fall for my hunting trips to test it further. Even if it is just to test your form, give it a try. It will be worth it.

Design: 4 of 5
The entire concept is a great one that should help many archers improve their overall shooting ability. It will go a long way in aiding the hunter in the last few minutes of legal shooting light. Improvements? Yes, a revamp of the entire adjustment system will enhance the user-friendly aspect and different lens coatings should be experimented with to reduce the glare sometimes experienced.

Value: 4.5 of 5
At around $33.00 in stores, I think the No-Peep is worth every penny just for the education it provides.

For more information on this or any other Timberline product contact:

Timberline Archery Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 333
Lewiston, ID 83501
Phone 800-434-2708
Local: (208) 746-2708 Email: Web: 
Email: timberap@imbris.net
Web: www.timberline-archery.com