Luminocks Legalized for Washington

[dreamingbig]

I don't have a strong position, but I do a question: do lighted nocks improve the odds of harvesting an animal? If not, then why use them? If they do, archery harvest rates should improve, which in effect will likely cause archery seasons to be changed or shortened.

No, they do not improve your odds of harvesting an animal.  Archery seasons can't get any shorter anyway.  A 13 day early elk season is pitiful.

[kglacken]

NO they dont increase your chances, but when broadheads are $10 a piece and arrow cost plus veins and wraps are all added up, you better believe ill be using them to help me find my arrows after the shot. I dont understand why you wouldnt want to find your arrow easier?

[RadSav]

NO they dont increase your chances, but when broadheads are $10 a piece and arrow cost plus veins and wraps are all added up, you better believe ill be using them to help me find my arrows after the shot. I dont understand why you wouldnt want to find your arrow easier?

Hopefully the quality of lighted nocks will start to increase so they are more reliable.  Otherwise you will also be losing 10-12 dollars in nock along with that $15 arrow and $10 dollar broadhead

[D-Rock425]

 

[kglacken]

yes thats true! If they dont work then youre screwed 

[sakoshooter]

I'm right at 9.9 % FOC with a 100gr broadhead. 125gr broadhead puts me right at 12% on the nose. Adding a Luminock will have me at the drawing board for a while but it's not out of the question. Not sure yet about the extra investment in lighted nocks and heavier broadheads both plus lots of time tuning and sighting in. We'll see.

[dreamingbig]

I haven't lost an arrow yet.  I don't think I am just being lucky either.  I have killed 7 big game animals and missed a few more than that in the early years but I have always found the arrow.  Who is losing them?

[Smossy]

I haven't lost an arrow yet.  I don't think I am just being lucky either.  I have killed 7 big game animals and missed a few more than that in the early years but I have always found the arrow.  Who is losing them?

Everyone but you appearantly. I lose them even practicing and overstressing myself at 50-100 shots a day. I lose them in 3 inches of grass. Theyy seem to dissapear.

[dreamingbig]

I was talking about shots at big game animals not practice.  C'mon...

[RadSav]

Before arrows got so expensive I was a sucker for big blue grouse.  That's where a lot of those Winthrop arrows were lost.  I still have a hard time passing up a big blue even with high end arrows and prototype broadheads.   We also hunt blacktails around the blackberries in early season.  After a pint of blood I'm about done looking for an arrow!

[Smossy]

I was talking about shots at big game animals not practice.  C'mon...

And by that Im saying if arrows can be lost durring practice where you know your path of flight like the back of your hand, in practice conditions I imagine it would be easy to lose arrows while your adrenalines cranked and your focused on the animal in a misc area/conditions with bushes, trees, and what have you beyond your target. guess your a special breed.

[jechicdr]

I would think if it attracts more people to archery and bowhunting that it would be a good thing.  We see from time to time how hunting numbers (by percentage in WA) are lower, so if the additional opportunity in gear selection encourages more to take up the sport that is a plus, right?

No...less people in archery is better for me.

I keep adding weight to my front to get better groups, so unlikely that I'll start adding weight to the back.  I have lost many an arrow in the woods, usually on grouse but this last year, lost both my arrows that went through the elk.  Money well spent.  One problem with having the cut on contact and 150 grain broadheads is that they pass through an elk like butter.  Before my Z7, before microdiameter carbon arrows and before switching to Muzzy Phantoms, had a cow elk turn just as I released and stuck a Thunderhead into the shoulder.  Same shot with my new bow and setup would likely have been a kill shot.  Any advantage in penetration and accuracy, I'll take.

On the other hand, I probably could have followed that wounded elk in the dark had I had a lighted nock.

[carpsniperg2]

Either way was cool for me. I don't mind using them if they are legal but never felt like I had to have them.

As far as losing arrows. You shoot enough critters you will lose some. From a tree stand if you get a pass threw chance are it will be sticking in the ground and easy to find. On the same level as a animal I have had more then a few pass threw arrows that hit bones and came out on weird angles. Some shot up at a angle some go right threw and still cant be found. Heck my buck from this last year was on the side of a canyon shot him a little high in the shoulder and it buzzed threw him and came out at almost a 45 right down the canyon. Could not believe it and looked and looked but it had a lot of speed still and with nothing but air and steep hill under it. Who knows where it ended up. I looked for it after shooting the buck and the next day with no luck.

Have to think about this, but I think I have lost 4 arrows on big game animals. That is out of 15 animals I have taken with a bow. A good few of them got multiple arrows as well. Always pay the insurance

[RadSav]

Either way was cool for me. I don't mind using them if they are legal but never felt like I had to have them.

From a tree stand if you get a pass threw chance are it will be sticking in the ground and easy to find

My thoughts about them exactly.  I never lost sleep over not having them.  But it is fun to watch my arrows again since my eyesight matured.

Good point on the treestand too.  If you never get out of the tree you probably could go your whole bowhunting life without losing an arrow.  Just look at arrow sales for the 11 western states compared to the rest of the country.  We only have about 9% of the bowhunting population and yet our arrow sales are way above that relative 9%.

[carpsniperg2]

Interesting to know that fact, I never new that.