Tracer Nocks

[BryanOney]

Do not know if any of you have seen adds for the tracer nocks on tv. They are a nock that has a bright LED in it that is activated when it passes over a magnet when an arrow is shot. Really lets you see your arrow flight. I emailed the maker about the possibility of making a base to put on crossbow bolts. He said he was doing this and thought he might have it available in a few months. This might be something worth watching for.

[The Butcher]

Check this place out. www.archersflame.com Butcher

[stump]

Sorry guys, I was supposed to follow up on this a while back, per an earlier thread. I spoke to the owner of the company and sent him a couple of inserts, courtesy of bj, that he could get dimensions from and use that information to make some blunt ended nocks that we could insert into bolts and use on Excals. Unfortunately, either Canada Post or the US mail service let us down, and he never received them. At that time, he was also having some difficulties with his manufacurer and was in the process of shopping around for replacement. I have since obtained a couple of more inserts and will be forwarding them to him.
I have tried the lit nocks on my compound and they're pretty effective, even in daylight.
I will keep you updated.

[Hi5]

Any idea how much extra weight the battery and led add to the arrow?Whatever it is, it has to reduce arrow speed, surely--it's just a question of how much. Also, what about the bolt's balance? Is it affected?

I guess I'm also wondering what is the "real world" benefit. In a hunting situation the shooter is going to look for blood and follow the trail. If there is absolutely no blood, there is no help provided with this device, as would also be the case if there is a huge amount. If there is a little bit of blood, the hunter had darned well better do his tracking job anyway. For target shooting, just check the target face to see where the bolt went!

Would it be intended for some other application, such as 3D?

[A.W]

I've looked at these nocks and while they may look "nifty" I don'e see how they will help you when you bury the bolt in the ground.

Cost of arrow+broadhead+nock....A little too expensive too lose.

[Golden Eagle]

A friend of mine was telling me about those a couple of weeks ago. He is thinking about trying them. He hunts alot in grown up hay fields on abanded farms and in the red briars alot and has trouble finding his arrow on passthrough shots.

[Zeke]

Those would be a hoot on an evening 3D shoot.

[stump]

weight differential is miminul, the system replaces the regular insert/nock. The real benefit, besides being able to more readily find your arrow on a pass through or miss, especially in low light conditions, is that the lit nocks make it easier to see the point of impact. Several posts on the forum have included statements similar to "I'm pretty sure I hit him in the ...". Sometimes it's very difficult to see exacty where your bolt hit the deer. Lit nocks make it easier and may save you from trying to track an animal that wasn't well hit, or will help you understand why there is only a light blood trail. If the bolt doesn't pass through you'll also be able to see the nock in the dark, making recovery easier. Obviously, the best scenario is a perfect shot, a good blood trail and a short recovery. However, as evidenced by the posts on this forum, that doesn't always happen no matter how well prepared we are and how careful we are to take what we think are sure kill shots.

[Hi5]

.......... Lit nocks make it easier and may save you from trying to track an animal that wasn't well hit, or will help you understand why there is only a light blood trail.........

This statement makes me uneasy. I don't want to read more into it than what you literally are saying. However, I still can't see much help in a hunting situation. If there is blood, I think the hunter would have the duty to put in the SAME effort in tracking. What may look like a poor shot may still be lethal. A "gut shot" may have taken out the liver, for example. Similarly, a shot to the hip may have severed an artery.

[FlyingAce]

I know that Bill explicitly states not to use nocks, and upon closer examination I have noticed that there is a recess for the string. Therefore, my question is, "Will the use of these nocks be endorsed by Excalibur?"

Of course, one could file down or cut off the nock so that it is flat, but at $30 (for the Archers Flame) this could be a costly experiment.

[The Butcher]

Hi5,
I can see a huge advantage in a lighted nock, in hunting situations. I'm not like a very large percentage of hunters out there today. I do most of my hunting on the ground. If your in a tree, most times, your arrow is stuck in the ground after the shot, and most times, easy to find. On the ground, even on a pass through, it can skip, or bury itself under vegetation. Such as in a hayfield as already posted. I have in the past, painted the area around the nock, with reflective paint, so in the evening, should I shoot, I could find my arrow with a flashlight. The arrow, tells so many clues as to the hit, I try and find it first. I have run a few deer out of the bed, that would have been found much easier, had I found the arrow first. Example, I shot a doe, in the evening, the shot to me looked absoultly perfect. I hit her right behind the shoulder on the right side, but exited through the guts on the left. Thinking I made a perfect broadside shot, I waited only 10 minutes. Well to make a long story short, she was not leaving great blood, because the bowel had blocked the hole on the left side. I pushed her out of the bed, where she would have died, and I almost lost that deer. Even though she was shot through one lung, she still went far, leaving little sign. Had I had paint, or a lighted nock, and found my arrow, I would have seen gut sign on the arrow, and backed off for a few hours, and she would have died in her bed. I did find my arrow, the next day however. Most times, when a deer is hit hard, they do not go far, but I have experienced times, when you think a shot is great and you think it will be an easy find, turns into a nightmare. An old time friend and hunting buddy, once told me, "High percentage shots, get high percentage results" that's the code I live by. However, bad shots happen, even to the most experienced. I've killed plenty with a bow, and I like the lighted nock idea, and can see a place for them. I'm planning on buying a pack, just for evening hunts. I like to recover my arrow all the time. I just think it would make the task much easier. I think stump was meaning the same, not saying you should not follow up on a hit. Just my 2 cts. Butcher

[Tar Heel]

The tracer would help, but I wish someone would invent a homing device to go on the back of your arrow that would stick to the deer on a pass through. That way you could find your arrow if you missed and the deer
if you had no blood trail.
Tar Heel

[stump]

Thank you The Butcher, that is what I was trying to say. Hi5, if the lit nock enabled you to see your arrow deflect and miss the deer or that it was simply a flesh wound, it might save you from wasting valuable hunting time tracking an animal that is uninjured. Also, a lit nock may enable you to see that the animal was well hit even if there is little blood. As was the case with The Butcher, a gut shot deer often doesn't bleed heavily because the wound gets plugged. However, the deer is going to die and every effort should be made to track it. Knowing where the animal is hit might also give you more of an indication of how long you should wait before tracking. You may want to check out a previous thread that suggested appropriate waiting times for animals shot in different organs. In no way am I suggesting that anyone give up the chase on any animal that should be tracked, so I appreciate you not reading anything more into it. The lit nocks will be flat, and suitable for use on Excaliburs.
Like anything else, if you don't think it will be useful to you and you don't want to use it, don't.

[GaryL]

I would have to do some research on who makes them , but the do make a a homing device that inserts in your bolt or arrow. Costly when I was checking them out sometime last year..

[Digger]

Gary, I'd just as soon have a bolt with a beeper in it that sounded off when the head hit something solid like the deers body or the ground.

Digger