2022 House Bill 507 regarding lighted nocks and mechanical broadheads.

[44hunter45]

This bill was read in on 02/01/2022.

It is a short bill which legislates the legality of lighted nocks and mechanical broadheads. OK fine. I really don't give tinker's damn about lighted nocks. I'm not a fan of mechanicals other than those way cool turkey ones.

I am however, rabidly opposed to hunting regulation and wildlife management by Legislature or Ballot Initiative.

I wrote my reps today and let them know.

https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2022/legislation/H0507.pdf

 

[BackofBeyond]

I don’t necessarily see this as a ballot box or legislative over reach on wildlife management. It’s not like their resetting seasons, or changing quota numbers for Sawtooth Elk B tags.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m against it totally, but for different reasons. For years and years Idaho has had the tradition of keeping primitive weapon seasons as primitive as possible. I like that we can’t have Garmin Xero sights, I like only having cut in contact broadheads, I like not having corrective lenses or magnification in our peeps. Keep it as primitive as possible.

Will lighted nocks or mechanicals create an increased advantage? No. Nocks really would only aid in recovery. Mechanicals just suck because they kill all penetration. But they both go against the tradition of keeping the primitive weapon hunts as primitive as possible. That’s why I will be writing my representation against this measure.

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Idaho is the only holdout on mechanicals…. Time to get with the times. If you want to continue to shoot fixed heads no one is saying you can’t.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Anybody know where this ended up? I did a quick Google fu, but just cursory, and looks like it passed the house and made it to the senate, but no news after that.

There’s an archery shop in town already advertising that it’s coming and they have lighted nocks and mechanicals in stock.

 

[44hunter45]

The Governor signed it March 7th.

 

[TheTone]

The funniest justification I read was the restriction was anti free market…how dare IDFG restrict a businesses ability to sell something

 

[44hunter45]

This bill was an epiphany for me. I really care squat if Idaho archers use lighted nocks, but this bill taught me a lot about how much time it takes to be an informed hunter in Idaho.
You realize pretty quickly there are both sharks and shit in the policy pool when you get in it.

 

[Mica Man]

Yay, now I can shoot lighted nocks and mechanicals out of my trad bow.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Yay, now I can shoot lighted nocks and mechanicals out of my trad bow.

at least you should be carrying enough momentum for the mechanicals to penetrate. not so sure about all the other knuckle draggers that shoot 400 gr. arrows to keep them as fast as possible...

 

[Firedude]

I love the idea of lighted knocks. I've been pushing for that for years. Usually a vital step in recovery is finding your arrow. It also is a great reference to how you hit the animal by what kind of blood, hair, or other substances are on the arrow. Often when shots are close to dark and you stay put after a shot it's dark when you look for a trail it would be nice to have a glowing beacon to find them fast.

 

[Dakotakid]

I have not understood the opposition to lighted nocks.

 

[brymoore]

I have not understood the opposition to lighted nocks.

The argument in Idaho is that archery is getting too technical with success increasing from 9% to 17%. Archery in the past wasn’t considered an active harvest method with the low success rate. Tags weren’t limited. As success increases due to technology, tags will eventually need to be limited.

 

[Carnage2011]

The argument in Idaho is that archery is getting too technical with success increasing from 9% to 17%. Archery in the past wasn’t considered an active harvest method with the low success rate. Tags weren’t limited. As success increases due to technology, tags will eventually need to be limited.

How does a lighted knock change success rates? Obviously it helps know where an animal is hit, which helps with recovery, but that’s not increasing success rate.

 

[WapitiBob]

I'm still waiting to lose opportunity because they allowed compound bows in archery season.

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Nice to see idaho finally joining the 20th century.

 

[KingOfTagSoup]

How does a lighted knock change success rates? Obviously it helps know where an animal is hit, which helps with recovery, but that’s not increasing success rates

I love the idea of lighted knocks. I've been pushing for that for years. Usually a vital step in recovery is finding your arrow. It also is a great reference to how you hit the animal by what kind of blood, hair, or other substances are on the arrow. Often when shots are close to dark and you stay put after a shot it's dark when you look for a trail it would be nice to have a glowing beacon to find them fast.

I 100% agree, I've used them in my home state for years. They help with one thing, recovery both of game animals (I think most of us agree this is a good thing), and arrows (also a good thing because they are really expensive).