lighted nooks Who uses them

[Lefty]

I heard Idaho will allow them next season. I guess "inputing" may have helped

[ElkNut1]

I've never used them personally but have nothing against them either. I know one of the big arguments was they will help you take game animals? How??? That doesn't even make sense! Anyhow, I most likely still will not use them but don't mind others who do!

ElkNut1

[>>>---WW---->]

I can see where they could be very useful for tuning purposes in that you could possibly see the flight of your arrow better. But for hunting I see no advantage or disadvantage. So, I'm neither for or aganist them except for one reason. It would be like embedding a $10 dollar bill on the back end of an already too expensive arrow.

[pointysticks]

WW..has it how i see it.

i imagine for every wanna-be hunt filmographer..a lighted nock would make for a much more dramatic kill-shot. i personally think FILMING is the only reason nocks are so popular. with my eyeballs, i can follow my arrow fairly well. not so much on film. if i filmed, i would get them.

i think the added weight affects arrow spine,therefore bow tune..somewhat. no?

maybe they help you find arrows in the field. a flashing light couldnt hurt.

[Swede]

Oregon does not allow lighted nocks for hunting. I don't need them and at best they are just an added cost. The people in our State who advocate lighted nocks say it will help them recover the game they have shot. I believe being more careful when we shoot is a better solution. What's next? Maybe we should have a radio transmitter in our arrows. They would help us recover game too and we could recover our arrow real easy.

[dotman]

I used them for a few weeks only for practice and just didn't think they were worth the $$$. I say if your always worried about your shot maybe practice more and don't take risky shots. I have nothing against them just think they could mess with your form by trying to always watch your arrow and tend to take your focus away from the spot your aiming for. Plus they are expensive for what they are.

[Lefty]

Im looking for the recovery aspect of arrows for me.
Four arrows I have lost over the last three years would would have been an easy recovery in the dark as far as added cost I hunt on a budget. Gas is my largest expense by far.
I figure with home-made lighted nocks at $3.00 each thats closer to part of the game that I will recover

[buglmin]

SAt what you want, but I like them, and see a lot of advantages in using them. They do making finding your arrow in flight, they do show point of impact, are great for color blind people, dont stiffen an arrow that much to notice, and if more guys would use them, maybe we wouldnt have guys claiming hitting game perfect but loosing the animal.
In no way do lighted nocks help you kill game, aid you in taking game, or make you a better hunter. I use them every chance I get, and see wonderful benifit in using them. I use them to tune arrows, cause I can see exactly what my arrows are doing down range. And no, im not into film making, used to make and shoot bright custom arrows, but dont need bright arrows any more. And they are great for shooting out of my recurve and longbow.

[BarW]

As I've gotten older and bows faster I can no longer see where my arrows hit an animal especially in low light. On elk this may not be a big deal but on the east Texas whitetails I hunt it's easy from them to take a step at the release and turn a double lung into a liver shot. Still a deadly shot but it changes how you pursue the blood trail. Lighted nocks allow you to see the hit and can give vital info on how to follow up the blood trail. There not for everyone and they do add weight to the rear of your arrow which will change your FOC. just my 2 cents

[idahoghost]

I have used them for practice and love them. I saw no difference in arrow flight (at least in my bow). They certainly make finding you arrow much easier. Hopefully someday they even be legal in Idaho, for something other than practice....

[2OArchery]

This list is not all inclusive, and is only based on my opinion.

Pros:
Allows easier finding of arrow.
Offers more visibility to the flight of arrow to aid in tuning.
Offers more visibility to the flight of arrow to determine shot placement on animals better.
Fun to shoot.

Cons:
They are heavier than standard nocks, resulting in more tuning needed to achieve maximum performance for your setup.
Expensive.

There aren't really many downsides if you can afford them and are handy at tuning your equipment. Like Elknut1 said, the biggest argument is that it makes you a more efficient hunter, makes hunting easier, ect, ect. The average person with some common sense can figure out that it doesn't help you until after the arrow is released. At this point it only helps in the recovery of the animal. It helps with determining shot placement, maybe helps you find the blood trail easier, whatever the case may be, it doesn't help until you've released the arrow. All in all, what it boils down to is that a small percentage of animals hit may be recovered with lighted nocks that may have been lost without them. Its most likely a very small percentage, and there are a lot of "maybes" in there.

The biggest problem is that non archery hunters see this as a huge advantage for us (archery hunters). It could eventually be a bigger problem for us than it could ever help us. The people that decide the hunting seasons may see them as archery becoming more effective, resulting in shorter seasons and reduced archery opportunity for archery hunters. If they see it as too big of an advantage, it will hurt us.

Is it a big advantage, no. I believe most, if not all, archery hunters agree on that. The problem is that archery hunters aren't in charge.

[LckyTylr]

I'm from Upstate NY and a whitetail freak. I used them for two seasons before moving away and I really liked them. I didn't use them for tuning, as I have always been taught NOT to watch my arrow, but to watch where I want to hit. For hunting, they have helped me in two ways.

1. Locating my arrow after a pass-thru. When my bright fletchings are covered in blood that has coagulated an hour or more after the shot, my fletchings aren't as bright as they once were. The blinking nock helped me locate a nearly buried and bloodied arrow.

2. I shot a doe the last season that I used lighted nocks. Although I made a good double lung hit, just barely higher than heart, the arrow did not pass through and there was ZILCH for blood trail. I hit her about 20 min before end of legal light, gave her the 30 min to expire and then went looking for blood. I didn't find a spec of blood, but I found hair, and I could see the nock sticking out of her as she ran off, confirming a good hit. I went home, got flashlights and my dad and came back. We STILL couldn't find blood. After an hour of searching in grids and circles, we decided to turn off the lights and do circles under moonlight in hopes that we'd see the nock. I found her in 10 minutes because the nock was sticking up in a thicket like a beacon.

I'm a fan.

[cnelk]

Cant use them for hunting in Colorado, but we use them in Nebraska for turkey hunting.
No pros or cons - just cuz we can... and they look cool zipping at a turkey

I do like to put one on every once in a while during a practice session just to see if any arrow is fishtailing or kicking

[CrazyElkHunter]

I use them where they are legal. They take the question part out of the shot when you can see the trajectory from a high or low shot. I have been bowhunting for over 40 years, and many times in low light conditionsI have taken a shot and never saw the arrow. Range finders were not available most of those years. If I was given the chance at a 2nd shot, I would not know to aim higher or lower. I feel the concept is good for recovery of the animal by seeing the shot every time and finding your arrow to make sure of a clean miss or a hit. Hunting mainly out west, our shots are usually longer than eastern type tree stand hunting. 50 and 60 yard shots are common. I will not take a shot if I have any doubt, but have had a few instances where unexpected things happened. My eyes are not as good as they used to be, so the nock has helped me. I also do not have to pay the full price, which made me try them. Being a pro staffer has advantages.