Decent discussion everyone. Keep the emotions out of it and it can continue to be productive.
I think when some people hear TUNE your bow they instantly look at only how the arrow comes off the bow....whether I can shoot fixed blade heads or have to resort to a mechanical. Only a hand full of shooters out there look at PERFORMANCE and how efficient that arrow is coming out of the bow. Sure, the final basic steps in tuning that most think of when we say the word TUNE involve slight adjustments of the rest and or nocking point and I believe it sure should involve the shooter in the end.
Some of the tuning that doesn't involve the shooter for the most part (and perhaps where the disagreement starts) would be cam timing, leaning cams, yoke tuned in yoke style set-ups, etc. all of which affects over all performance of the bow. Reading more into this stuff I then see that little tweaks here and there in the equipment to get that peak performance really would not require the shooter to be present. That's where the chronograph would also be used I believe, to see what little tweaks do to the performance. Whether the bow shop guy shoots it himself if he can handle the draw weight and length, or if they have a Hooter Shooter I don't know but if they are going to those lengths to get that performance then I'd say they likely know what they are doing. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe PERFORMANCE is what I think most are trying to accomplish with true and ACTUAL tuning of our bows. Where the shooter becomes necessary IMO is later, when you start going in the direction ofI think the one thing that most, if not all of us, can agree on is no two shooters are exactly the same. A (good) shop may be able to get that bow very close without the shooter....I mean very close...IF they know what they are doing and take the steps to get it right. They can paper tune and walk back tune and make little adjustments in the rest, string twists, nocking point, etc. to get that bow shooting to as close to center shot as they can, after all of the performance tuning is done. However, IMO again, the final fine tuning of the rest and the remaining steps to personalize the equipment should be done with/by the actual shooter. Finally, IMO if the shooter is inexperienced or has flaws in their form then perhaps the shop set-up wouldn't even need changing any more for the shooter.whether I can shoot fixed blade heads or have to resort to a mechanical.