Thoughts on lighted nocks

[The Night Stalker]

I would have to bare shaft  but not against trying them

[Charlie Lamb]

Great responses guys!! Thanks.  

[Roy from Pa]

Josh, good point on finding the deer in the dark by the glow of the nock.

[katman]

Originally posted by John146:
Charlie,

The benefits of a lighted nock far, far outweigh any negatives that I see. Nockturnals for me.

x2

Plus there cool to watch the arch of archery at dusk target practicing.

Another point is you can learn your arrows trajectory nicely with them and have a better idea if you can clear that branch in the way of your shot.

[drewsbow]

I recently shot a nice hog at night with a Nocturnal and watched the nock all the way to the woods line where the hog entered the woods and had a good idea where to look if needed. The blood trail and shot where good and didn't have any trouble following right to the hog but it was nice to already know about where it went in. I have shot a bunch of deer also and never had a reaction to them .

[David McLendon]

I build my arrows to accommodate a Carbon Express lighted nock which weighs 19 grains. When shooting a non-lighted nock, which is most of the time, I use a Beman Vibra-nock which also weighs 19 grains.

[Bob Morrison]

Love them. Started using them to make finding arrows easier,$20 BH nice to find them. I do tune for them. never had a deer jump because of the light.

[Bill Carlsen]

You will love them. I have not found them to affect arrow tune at all.

[not on the rug]

Originally posted by fnshtr:
By the way, my son’s $2 nocks worked as well as my $10 ones. If anyone wants info on the cheapies, PM me.

Just as a FYI, I'd be wary of the cheapies.  I know it's a bit different than shooting a compund, but there are countless horror stories of cheapie light-up nocks breaking and compounds essentially being dry fired because of it.  It's not quite as big of a deal with a stickbow, but I doubt anyone wants to dry fire any of their bows.  Definitely worth the extra few bucks to buy a quality product

[fnshtr]

Originally posted by not on the rug:
 

Originally posted by fnshtr:
By the way, my son’s $2 nocks worked as well as my $10 ones. If anyone wants info on the cheapies, PM me.

Just as a FYI, I'd be wary of the cheapies.  I know it's a bit different than shooting a compund, but there are countless horror stories of cheapie light-up nocks breaking and compounds essentially being dry fired because of it.  It's not quite as big of a deal with a stickbow, but I doubt anyone wants to dry fire any of their bows.  Definitely worth the extra few bucks to buy a quality product [/b]

I’ll trust you on this. My son just recently purchased them. My initial concern with them was the fact that they are imported. I’d rather buy American Made. I’ve shot them maybe 20 times from my trad bows, my son maybe a bit more with his 70 lb compound, with no failures.

Thanks for the additional information!

[Drew]

been using them for a few years, had zero reaction by the deer. Nothing is better than instantly knowing shot placement and penetration, and having the visual aid and a jump on tracking. I've only had one lighted portion come out and that was my buck this year..he ran through some super thick brush. But he was laying 5 yards past where I "lost sight" of his travel path after the shot from my stand.

one thing - don't miss, it's rather humbling to sit there with a little glowing reminder stuck in the ground.  

Although I did have a doe circle back to check the arrow and the second shot connected

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I shot a small Pig and Georgia a few years back, it wasn't the perfect hit but I was able to see where the pig was for at least an hour after the shot. After I walked up to him I found my arrow laying there easily and the pig was laying a couple feet away. The swamp was so dense, I would have never found that pig otherwise. I know people are against the technology but I for one am a believer in lighted nocks

[BAK]

I tried them, sort of a cute gadget but after 50 years of killing critters they're hardly what I see as a needed improvement.

[Possum Head]

Charlie, I like the concept and am convinced they come in handy. I will have at least 1 next season.

[wingnut]

Charlie, I  bought two for use hunting hogs at night.  the first night out a shot a nice boar in the pocket.  He took off through the woods with my lighted nock glowing away.  Never saw either of them again.  Two nights later in the same stand, a mob of 100 pounders came in and I lined up on a nice one at 8 yds.  Shot hit a bit high in the shoulder and off he went with my nock glowing.
Never found him or my glowing nock.

Last time I hunted with lighted nocks.  LOL

Mike

[tecum-tha]

Techno-Stuff where techno stuff is not required. Use a little white artificial fur as tracer at the end and you can see your arrow just fine. A white nock alone doesn't help. If the nock takes off with the animal and your arrow you are out $.05 instead of $8 for just the nock. For target shooting at dusk or in low light conditions, they are fun, but you can tape the little floating lights to the end of your arrow for that. But a lot of time lighted nocks don't help much in finding arrows either, especially under leaves.
For finding animals you shot at, the string tracker is the better choice if you hunt in very dense or difficult terrain like swamps where you can not pick up blood trails because of water.
And if you ever have the buck of a lifetime walking under your stand, you kill it and then want to enter it into Pope and Young or Comptons, that won't work as electronic devices on arrows are not accepted. Keep it simple.

[Possum Head]

Mike, I feel the pain. Imagine a fella with a $10 shaft, $1 brass insert, $8(ballpark)lighted nock & many who use a 20-30 dollar broadhead. Hey, someone stop that pig, he's got my 50 bucks!

[katman]

Well Mike the lighted nock was not the problem, lol    I have had hogs run off not to be seen with and without lighted nocks.

Although you were out extra $, so that is a factor to consider. Are you willing to pay the $8-10 for an increased chance of getting your arrow/broadhead back.

Not as many naysayers as I thought this thread would get. They are not a necessity nor not for everyone but they have made identification of hit location and sometimes help finding the critter for me.

[John146]

I know some folks think the lighted nocks are too techy but think about this. Some people use white feathers when they hunt. They will be totally camouflaged and then have white feathers on their arrows. They take the risk of white feathers so they can see where their arrow hits the animal. Some people use white or lime green nocks for the same reason.

It is completely logical to try to improve that part of this sport if you can and that's why people have been doing just that for many years. I can solve that issue with a lighted nock and shoot green feathers if I want to. If you ground hunt you know that getting drawn without getting picked off is the hardest part of the game. This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone.

[Doc Nock]

Todd,

I once saw a home made video on another site where a chap built some River Cane arrow and for fun, used a lighted nock on the cane arrow...talk about funny things to see...but it was pretty cool to watch the flight at dark in his "fun" video...

I've not used them as I don't want the added rear weight but I can't say or see what's wrong with them.  Anything that will help harvest a wounded animal is a good thing, IMO