Lighted nocks Mass

I'll vote for legal and in either case I will always use them. They are actually required on a MA (not state run hunt though) hunt I am part of. They have aided me many times in the dark finding and recovering an arrow and identifying the exact shot location. Sometimes blood trails take a little time (distance) to develop even on a perfect hit and a good starting point is important. The deer I killed opening day (right at last light) had almost no blood at the hit site or for the next 35-40 yards, just a few drips. After 40 yards it just opened up and basketball sized pools every 10 feet. Deer was dead 60-70 yards from the hit location but it really didn't bleed much to start with. Without a lighted nock I may never have found that arrow, it deflected to the right after the pass through which I would not have seen without the nock.
 
Before thermals how did you guys hunt Coyotes without a red spotlight?

Edit: Now that I think about it, if Coyote is always open and there isn’t a season I guess it wouldn’t be listed.
I used to only hunt yotes when the moon was half full to maybe a couple nights after the full moon in December thru the end of the season.
The best was when there was snow on ground to brighten everything up with the moonlight. Open areas like fields & marshes also helped with the visibility
 
My reading is that they're illegal.

"by the aid OR use of ANY artificial light"

As judges have said time and time again, there are no surplus of words in the law.... The words "OR" and "ANY" have meaning. As in "the use of ANY artificial light".. Lighted knocks are artificial light... So... That's my reading.

You do you, but I don't run them. I do use reflective wraps and neon-colored fletching which help a lot in finding the arrow. They also don't add weight to the back of the arrow (wrong side) which throws off your tune, messes with your spine, and reduces your FoC. Adopting them will change your point of impact and will have an effect on penetration. Probably not such a big deal to a guy with a 30" draw shooting 70#s. But to those in the 26" to 27" range shooting below 60#, this is kind of a big deal.
I shoot a 27" DL and simply use a longer arrow length with a heavier spine. Always have, for more penetration weight, mostly not because of a lumenock.

Ive shot thru just about every deer at 60# with lighted knocks. Never an issue.

There are all sort of things to use to gain FOC now anyway......that you can correct tune with if needed.
 
I'll vote for legal and in either case I will always use them. They are actually required on a MA (not state run hunt though) hunt I am part of. They have aided me many times in the dark finding and recovering an arrow and identifying the exact shot location. Sometimes blood trails take a little time (distance) to develop even on a perfect hit and a good starting point is important. The deer I killed opening day (right at last light) had almost no blood at the hit site or for the next 35-40 yards, just a few drips. After 40 yards it just opened up and basketball sized pools every 10 feet. Deer was dead 60-70 yards from the hit location but it really didn't bleed much to start with. Without a lighted nock I may never have found that arrow, it deflected to the right after the pass through which I would not have seen without the nock.
Heres where the rub comes in in Urban hunting. When I hunted urban CT, there were certain very tight neighborhood spots I would not use lighted nocks on.

This was only because on the off chance I didnt fully penetrate a deer, I did not want it running thru a neighborhood with an arrow with lighted nock on it, for obvious
reasons. An arrow would be bad enough, but a lighted knock....really bad.

That said.....it never happened to me in over 40 deer kills in those tight spots. 95% were pass thru shots because they were taken at relaxed animals and broadside only, with extremely sharp cut on contact broadheads as to pass thru readily. I would not even shoot quartering away animals, and would not use open on impact heads, as they take away energy. I just did not want to leave an arrow in a deer in that environment.

That said, we had other slob hunters in the neighbor hoods that weren't so careful and I'd get blamed for some of their shit, of leaving deer on lawns with arrows in them. One of the reasons
I eventually stopped going down there. Most of us originally in the area knew what we were doing and it got in a good name for archery with a lot of the landowners.

Then people started opening up property to a lot more people, because of the success, and with that, you get some people that may be hunters but don't know archery. They would shoot deer in the wrong places with an arrow (neck), shoot every fricking deer they see at bad shot angles, and really have no real idea how to not leave a stain on the neighborhood in the name of bowhunting.
 
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Run into an EPO while having an unlicensed friend help you drag deer out and see how fast the ticket book comes out.
ANY!!! EPO that would write that kind a citation is an AS$HOLE. That is how cases get thrown out of court . Write shit like that and every time the judge or clerk sees you in the court your cases get tossed. I will add to this, the unlicensed person helping to drag the deer is not hunting. The hunt was over when the deer was reduced to the possession of the hunter and the tag was affixed.
 
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ANY!!! EPO that would write that kind a citation is an AS$HOLE.

Agreed, sadly they are out there.

I had a very bad experience with a young and lazy EPO when I called and reported a shotgun hunter in the middle of a 1,000 acre bow hunting area during archery season quite a few years ago. I will never call another one again unless someone’s life is in jeopardy.

That is how cases get thrown out of court . Write shit like that and every time the judge or clerk sees you in the court your cases get tossed. I will add to this, the unlicensed person helping to drag the deer is not hunting. The hunt was over when the deer was reduced to the possession of the hunter and the tag was affixed.

Thank you for the clarification. That’s good to know.
 
Run into an EPO while having an unlicensed friend help you drag deer out and see how fast the ticket book comes out.
Besides lighted knocks being illegal.

That is the fxcking stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I mean would they rather the guy have a heart attack dragging??? What the actual fxck?? I wouldn't think twice of calling an unlicensed buddy to help.
 
Agreed, sadly they are out there.

I had a very bad experience with a young and lazy EPO when I called and reported a shotgun hunter in the middle of a 1,000 acre bow hunting area during archery season quite a few years ago. I will never call another one again unless someone’s life is in jeopardy.



Thank you for the clarification. That’s good to know.
Never invite the Fishcop man into your life. Most of them are good guys...but you don't want to deal with the bad ones.

That said, I have in CT when I was new to urban hunting..........with varied results....first time very positive, second time very negative......... after legally shooting a deer on private land and it went onto other non posted private land (of course that doesn't matter in CT all property is assumed posted).

After the negative interaction of where the EPO told me to stop hunting on land I had permission on because I was upsetting the abutting landowner, and not only that the ONE abutting landowner, as I had permission from everyone else in the neighborhood.

I politely told him to Fxck off, he can't tell me where and where not to hunt, as I have the whole goddamn subdivision, and in later hunts, I would just go scoop up the deer instead of calling and wasting my time with an EPO.

And as a general rule, I made that my typical recovery MO on EVERY place that a deer went off private land. If it was obvious, id knock on the landowners door.......and deal with them rather than roll the dice of Fishcop roulette. Took way less time and 100% of the time even if they hated me, they didn't want a rotting carcass on their lawn or property and would let me search.
Many times all I did was gain more access to hunting property that way as well, some people would even invite me in. It wasn't all negative for sure. And it was way better than calling and EPO.

But 99% of the time, run over, and slide it back on my property.....done. Get back in the tree, go shoot another one. My main concern was not wasting a deer, and not leaving a carcass on someones lawn and showing bowhunting in a bad light. Not often, but there were times I had to knock on quite a few doors if I hit a deer bad......that SUCKED. And it made me not shoot unless conditions were 100% perfect, broadside and relaxed deer.
 
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Mark in reference to your deer hunting issue. Sad that you never met me as an EPO. I was the sportsmen's best friend and a poachers worst nightmare. I have gone on posted property to retrieve a lawfully harvested deer for the hunter as your case is the example of this (this permitted in Massachusetts general laws). If you killed that deer unlawfully you butt was mine.
 
You do you, but I don't run them. I do use reflective wraps and neon-colored fletching which help a lot in finding the arrow. They also don't add weight to the back of the arrow (wrong side) which throws off your tune, messes with your spine, and reduces your FoC. Adopting them will change your point of impact and will have an effect on penetration. Probably not such a big deal to a guy with a 30" draw shooting 70#s. But to those in the 26" to 27" range shooting below 60#, this is kind of a big deal.

There are plenty of ways to deal with FOC to counter a few grains on the tail end if that is an issue for you. There is no way a lighted nock is reducing my penetration on an animal as long as the bow is tuned, arrow flies straight (which also assumes proper FOC). A few extra grains of overall weight is not a bad thing. The good by far out weighs any bad IMO. But as you said, you do you.
 
Mark in reference to your deer hunting issue. Sad that you never met me as an EPO. I was the sportsmen's best friend and a poachers worst nightmare. I have gone on posted property to retrieve a lawfully harvested deer for the hunter as your case is the example of this (this permitted in Massachusetts general laws). If you killed that deer unlawfully you butt was mine.
Well.....the first guy I dealt with was probably just like you. He dealt with the offending landowner in a stern manner, explained to them that the deer are a problem because there are too many. Also told him I have the whole neighborhoods permission, and I have every right to hunt there. and I am not stopping, and he will scoop up every deer I shoot that goes on his property.

Unfortunately the second time a deer ended up on this guys property, another warden they dispatched, took the landowners side, crawled up my ass with a microscope. Luckily I left the bloody arrow sticking in the dirt under my stand, and double lung blood trail was proof enough I shot the deer legally. In the end he brought me over my deer, but said I should stop hunting there.

I politely disagreed and told him I'd call him to pick up the next one. He didn't like that too much, and swore at me or something and walked away.

Luckily soon after, dickhead landowner neighbor moved, and I became aquainted with the new guy via the lady who I was hunting for, and he was OK with retrieval anytime. Ended up hunting his place as well....... He actually had a nice high shed built and instead of wasting a stand, he'd leave a ladder leaned against the back of the shed, and I'd just hang out on the roof and shoot them.

Turned out OK.......but if Iistened to that warden.....it wouldn't have been as that lady would have just gotten a new hunter and I would have lost a whole neighborhood. And over the years I shot at least 25 deer out of that place, including one nice buck.

Kinda why I never, ever called a warden again, and just dealt with an issue when I had to obviously trespass to blood trail with a door knock first.
 
Illuminated knocks to not "aid killing the deer" They aid you seeing where your shot hit and finding the arrow after the shot. By your interpretation using a flashlight to follow the bloodtrail would also be illegal.
Thank you
Saved me from typing that
 
Well.....the first guy I dealt with was probably just like you. He dealt with the offending landowner in a stern manner, explained to them that the deer are a problem because there are too many. Also told him I have the whole neighborhoods permission, and I have every right to hunt there. and I am not stopping, and he will scoop up every deer I shoot that goes on his property.

Unfortunately the second time a deer ended up on this guys property, another warden they dispatched, took the landowners side, crawled up my ass with a microscope. Luckily I left the bloody arrow sticking in the dirt under my stand, and double lung blood trail was proof enough I shot the deer legally. In the end he brought me over my deer, but said I should stop hunting there.

I politely disagreed and told him I'd call him to pick up the next one. He didn't like that too much, and swore at me or something and walked away.

Luckily soon after, dickhead landowner neighbor moved, and I became aquainted with the new guy via the lady who I was hunting for, and he was OK with retrieval anytime. Ended up hunting his place as well....... He actually had a nice high shed built and instead of wasting a stand, he'd leave a ladder leaned against the back of the shed, and I'd just hang out on the roof and shoot them.

Turned out OK.......but if Iistened to that warden.....it wouldn't have been as that lady would have just gotten a new hunter and I would have lost a whole neighborhood. And over the years I shot at least 25 deer out of that place, including one nice buck.

Kinda why I never, ever called a warden again, and just dealt with an issue when I had to obviously trespass to blood trail with a door knock first.
I only ever had to knock on one door to retrieve a deer, the woman who answered was less than thrilled but gave me the ok. I quickly realized why she was less than thrilled when I walked into what was clearly a shooting range behind the house that was way too close to the neighbors and the street as well as a motorized feeder and 2 hang on stands a stones throw behind the firing line. I just shook my head, found my deer, and waved to her watching me out the back window
 
I only ever had to knock on one door to retrieve a deer, the woman who answered was less than thrilled but gave me the ok. I quickly realized why she was less than thrilled when I walked into what was clearly a shooting range behind the house that was way too close to the neighbors and the street as well as a motorized feeder and 2 hang on stands a stones throw behind the firing line. I just shook my head, found my deer, and waved to her watching me out the back window
Yikes........I'm sure the lady was pissed! She had to take all that shit down after you left!
 
Yikes........I'm sure the lady was pissed! She had to take all that shit down after you left!
none of my damn business, I'm not gonna rat anyone out.

I just shake my head because of the amount of people that insist on cheating when it comes to hunting in a suburban area that already has a high deer population. Do you really need to have a feeder less than 100 yards behind your back door?
 
none of my damn business, I'm not gonna rat anyone out.

I just shake my head because of the amount of people that insist on cheating when it comes to hunting in a suburban area that already has a high deer population. Do you really need to have a feeder less than 100 yards behind your back door?
We used to put feeders out in CT. It was 100 percent legal.

That said, we were driving 2 hours down there and trying to kill deer that were a problem, and also trying to bring meat home as efficiently as possible. But at the end years of hunting down there we only baited early season shot our does and were done til rut. Then rut, we'd throw out some corn, but never any auto feeders or anything, it would take deer days to find it and we'd be gone back by then. Feeding became not worth it unless we were there for 3-4 days, which we never were.

Sometimes it didn't even matter, if there were acorns, they didn't eat the food anyway. Just like the bigger woods you looked at the best sign and sat it. And i pretty much shot zero big bucks over corn or a feeder. Most were taken during the rut on travel trails where they could oversee the feeder looking for does. If you sat the corn and there were no does at it, the bucks just walked on by out of range.

Mostly the best tool we had were game cams......but we didn't have the cell phone ones. We had to check them.
 
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