TO: Pope and Young Club Members
FROM: Your Board of Directors
One of the Pope and Young Club�s longstanding positions is that hunting bows and arrows should not incorporate electronic components nor should they have electronic items attached to them. That position is facing more and more resistance, embodied most obviously at this time in the growing popularity and use of battery-powered lighted nocks on hunting arrows.
Your Board of Directors has thoroughly examined and discussed this timely subject and is evenly split between maintaining the no-electronics principle and proposing a by-laws change allowing lighted nocks. Consequently, we are seeking input from the entire membership. Valid arguments for and against change exist. Undoubtedly, many Pope and Young Club members have already heard the pro and con discussions about lighted nocks and formed an opinion. Regardless, here are a mere handful of pertinent points commonly presented in support of and opposition to making this change:
IN SUPPORT OF THE EXISTING RULE
Unchecked technological advancements threaten existing bowhunting opportunities and the future of a sport that is based on the willing acceptance of equipment limitations, as well as the values of challenge, simplicity, discipline, skill and patience that bowhunters seek.
The Club's long-established rules were thoughtfully crafted to reflect values and principles that have served our organization and bowhunting well for 50+ years. Our "line in the sand" on electronics is a clear, understandable and defendable position. Any effected changes when made, should always be based on what's right for bowhunting, not what's merely popular.
Embracing lighted nocks may be interpreted by the public and media as admitting that bowhunters have a problem with wounding and recovering animals and need a product to fix the "problem"--the very arguments bowhunters and legislators are using in favor of lighted nocks. The Club would be better served to educate today's bowhunters about shot placement and ethical restraint in not choosing risky shots, instead of encouraging use of a product or technology as a crutch to overcome any deficiency.
The Pope and Young Club is held in high esteem by many who consider it a reliable champion of ethical, responsible, fair chase bowhunting. Our stated mission is to promote our heritage and values in order to preserve the future of our sport. Lighted nocks are only one of many products now being marketed that challenge our rules. The expected influx of new technologies and electronics will yield many more new products; making an exception for one item opens the door to requests for additional exemptions to, or elimination of, our rules. It not only erases a clearly defined policy but invites future requests for product "endorsements."
The arguments we've all heard favoring a change to accept lighted nocks are the arguments that could be used for a myriad of products currently on the market or yet to be invented.
IN SUPPORT OF CHANGING THE EXISTING RULE
Lighted nocks are increasingly popular items which are legal in many states. Their sole advantage is visual, improving a shooter's ability to follow fast-flying arrows and pinpoint their point of impact. The glowing nocks also improve chances for the recovery of expensive hunting arrows on missed or pass-through shots.
Many bowhunters using lighted nocks are unaware of the Pope and Young Club's electronics rule. Each year official measurers inform successful hunters their animals are ineligible for the Pope and Young Club's records. This disappoints bowhunters and creates the perception that legally taken trophy-class animals are somehow unworthy of recognition. We alienate potential Club members or supporters and deprive ourselves of entry fee revenue.
A potential exists that a possible World Record will be taken by an arrow equipped with a battery-operated lighted nock. As was the case with the Club's former "65% let-off compound bow rule," when a giant non-typical whitetail buck was taken with a higher let-off bow, we did not recognize a legally harvested animal until our let-off rule was eventually changed. Will history repeat itself?
One false public perception is that our Club is a traditional-based organization whose leaders are mostly anti-compound, anti-archery industry, close-minded bowhunters who cling to the past and resist all change. We must consider making reasonable changes that our membership supports.
It is desirable and possible for the Pope and Young Club to balance its traditional values and its position on bowhunting's principles with the reality of twenty-first century bowhunting, embracing our heritage while accepting change.
