Get High-Vis Arrows with the Best Lighted Nocks

If you’ve ever seen lighted nocks used on TV, you know they look like lasers in flight. In fact, they might be the closest you’ll ever get to acting out your favorite scifi movie. Futuristic technology or not, they’re an invention worth incorporating into the hunt. Introduced around 2002, lighted nocks have become increasingly popular recently because of their strategic, financial and ethical benefits.

The current generation of lighted nocks have been engineered for better arrow flight, resist the elements and shine bright. Don’t just buy any old nock, though. There are three vertical bow arrow nocks and three crossbow bolt nocks specifically that lead the charge. Learn more about this new invention that’s getting more and more integrated into the hunting world and find the best lighted nock brands and their products to put you on the cutting edge of bowhunting technique.

Why use a lighted nock?

Lighted nocks look cool on video, but they have a lot of practical uses, too.

The biggest advantage a lighted arrow nock is to track arrow flight. If you hunt in thick brush, a lighted nock can help you find a wounded animal that’s bedded down or fallen. It can also give you a better idea of the animal’s direction when it begins to run. This is especially important because deer primarily move at dusk and dawn when visibility is lowest.

Plus, even if you miss your quarry, the lighted nock helps you get the arrow back. Shafts aren’t too expensive, but broadheads aren’t exactly cheap. It’s nice to find them so you don’t have to spring for new ones. If you’ve ever hunted without lighted nocks, you know it’s next to impossible to find a missed arrow. They’re camo covered, small and look just like sticks in the brush.

If you have an arrow pass through game, then you definitely want to find it. You can inspect it for bodily fluids to determine where you hit the animal. This is important in deciding your tracking strategy.

Lighted nocks also help you out on the range. Shooting with lighted nocks let’s you see the trajectory of the arrow when you shoot it. This lets you notice fishtailing or porpoising, so you can adjust your bow before hunting.

Why are they illegal?

For many years lighted nocks contradicted Pope & Young’s Rules of Fair Chase. They were similarly outlawed in many states. This is because the use of electrical equipment for making shots has traditionally been frowned upon in the hunting world. It gives the hunter an unsportsmanlike and unethical advantage.

However, in 2014 Pope & Young amended their fair chase rules to allow for lighted nocks. This is because they don’t give the hunter any unfair advantage in killing an animal. Rather, they assist the hunter in tracking. In the end, this actually makes your hunt more ethical because it’s certainly better to find a wounded animal than not.

Currently, only one state still prohibits the use of lighted nocks: Idaho. If you hunt outside of the United States, laws may vary. Even within the US, it’s still a good idea to check your local laws to make sure there are no restrictions.

Can you make your own?

For the DIY enthusiast, making your own lighted nocks can be a lot of fun. It doesn’t require a lot of materials. You need a couple transparent nocks, epoxy and bobber lights that you can find at most sporting goods stores.

First, take the bobber light and roll it in the epoxy till the top of the casing is covered all around. Put it inside your transparent nock and let it rest for about five minutes. Cut another nock in half, and then epoxy the bottom half to the light. Simple as that. It should illuminate when nocked.

With the prices current prices of professionally made products on the market today, though, you might not even save any money making lighted nocks yourself. Unless you enjoy DIY by its own right, it might be wise to stick to buying them.

What to look for

Light longevity

Not all lighted nocks are created equal. They differ significantly when it comes to how long the lights last. Some only stay on a few hours while others can last well over a day.

If you hunt open areas and rarely have trouble with tracking, a few hours may be plenty. But if you hunt thick wilderness, long-lasting lights can be the difference in finding your harvest. Sometimes you even have to return the next day to find a wounded quarry, so a light with over 24 hours of life is great.

Batteries

Most lighted nocks use lithium batteries to keep their lights running for hours. Not all of those lithium batteries are replaceable, though. Replaceable batteries are a big advantage for any lighted nock because it means you can reuse them. That saves you money and time.

Automatic activation

A good lighted nock turns on automatically. Obviously you can’t have the nock on before your shot. It could spook game. If you have to turn it on yourself, though, you waste precious time and make too many risky movements.

Lighted nocks solve this problem with a few different designs. Some employ pistons that turn the light on when the nock is pressed against the bowstring. Another common design is the pull system that illuminates the nock using the pulling force the bowstring exerts on the nock at the end of a shot when the arrow leaves the bow. When you’re shopping for lighted nocks, check out the reliability of these systems. You want a nock that you can depend on to illuminate.

Durability

You want tough nocks, especially if you’re using lighted ones. Imagine it takes you a day to track down your harvest. During that time, the running animal might slam the nock into trees or the ground. The nock might encounter moisture and changing temperatures. If you want that light to still be shining by the time you get to it, find a nock with a strong, weather-resistant design.

Color choices

The most common colors for lighted nocks are red and green, usually bright shades that are easy to see. Some have even more color choices like pink, purple and orange. You will also find yellow nocks. A wide variety of color choices lets you use trial and error to see which works best for your eyes and your area.

That said, although a lot of picking out colors comes down to your personal preference, there is some evidence that suggests a best option.

So which color is best?

Actually, there’s no one answer for every situation. Different colors are best for different times.

In daylight, bright green is the color most visible to the human eye. For this reason it’s normally suggested as the go-to color for your lighted nocks.

In dim light, however, such as dawn or dusk, your vision changes. Your eyes begin to shift toward night vision, and this makes low-wavelength colors like red more readily visible.

Red also might be the superior choice if you’re hunting with a lot of green plant life around. If you hunt in the deep south or in the early season when vegetation hasn’t thinned out yet for winter, a green light might get lost among the green leaves. Red, on the other hand, stands out against plant life.

It pays to have access to both green and red nocks. You can use green during the day and then shift to red as the sun begins to set. This way you maximize your chances of finding your arrow.

Installation and Use

Nocks for crossbow bolts vs arrows

Beware! Archery arrows and crossbow bolts are not the same. Although their designs have become more and more similar over the years, they still have differences. The biggest is in how they fly. Crossbow bolts usually fall more consistently, while arrows fall based on speed.

Because of this, you have to get nocks specific for either bolts or arrows. We’ve divided our list by vertical bows and crossbows to make it easy.

What size do I need?

Nock sizes correspond with the diameter of the arrow. Unfortunately, there’s no uniform way of measuring it. You might find letters, millimeters or inches. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a little conversion chart.

Letter Size	Millimeters	Inches
G	4 mm	0.165”
X	5 mm	0.204”
H	6 mm	0.233”
S	6.5 mm	0.244”

The nocks you like might be sized in inches while your arrow shafts are listed by letter. Before you buy, make sure you select the appropriate size. Many nocks even list what arrows go with which size, so you can be sure you get the right ones.

How do you install them?

Most lighted nocks are really easy to install. Basically, you remove the factory-installed nock with pliers, then use the same pliers to push in the new lighted nock.

Some kinds of nocks, especially universal fits, have more complicated installation processes. They may require sizing pieces or using tools to expand the nock to fit a specific arrow shaft. In this case you have to follow the instructions specific to the nock. Often they use an easy-to-follow color scheme or something similar, so you can do it without hassle.

How do you turn off a lighted nock?

Once you find your arrow, you probably want to turn off the light. You might have enough battery life left to use it again, and you need it to be dark the next time you go out. Different nocks have different methods for switching them off.

For example, some have a small switch you can press with a pin or the point of an arrow. Other nocks are turned on by being pulled, so to turn them off you simply push them back in. It’s wise to see how reliable the off switch is on the nocks you pick. A bad switch could leave you wasting battery.

Compound and Recurve Arrow Lighted Nock Reviews