DATE: 09/10/2007 20:48:50 / MOOD: Excited
I’ve played around a bit with other lighted nocks on the market, but have always had a few issues with them staying on, either during flight or upon impact. My search for the ideal lighted nock has continued for over a year. I have even attempted making my own. Although cheap to make, they would often fail as well.
I stumbled upon the Firenock while surfing a hunting site a few weeks back. After some debate, I decided to finally order some. The price was intimidating at first ($49.95 3 pack), but I quickly learned that the package comes with a nock tool, 3 o-rings for securing the Firenock inside the arrow shaft, and 3 matched-weight practice nocks. You can also buy a refresh pack that includes new nocks and batteries. As long as the circuitry board is intact, the nocks will continue on after the life of the battery. Other nocks that I’ve used don’t offer this.
Upon receiving the Firenocks, I opened the package and found easy to follow instructions on inserting the battery into the nock/board. One quick pass over the actuator and I had a bright lighted nock! Pass it back over the actuator, and it goes dark again. I used the supplied nock tool and inserted the first Firenock into my Goldtip arrow and all that was left to do before shooting was to place the actuator somewhere near the rest so when the arrows passed by, it would activate the board and the nock would light up. I am shooting a Trophy Ridge Drop Zone rest and originally placed the supplied two-sided tape and actuator on the inside of the riser of my bow. I figured it was close enough to work so I nocked the arrow, pulled, released, and nothing happened. I retrieved the arrow and passed it by the actuator myself and it worked great. Then, what happened when I shot? I nocked the arrow again. This time it lit up as it passed by the riser. After playing around with the height of the magnet on the riser and getting mixed results, I figured I needed to place the actuator closer to the arrows path so I crafted a small piece that would extend out away from the riser to where it was within a half inch of the arrow. Now it worked every time!
I went to check out the Firenock website again to see if anyone else has had problems getting the actuator close enough and sure enough, there were pictures of all sorts of different rest and how to place the actuator. They even sell an adaptor bracket for certain rests. Instead of using my homemade adaptor, I now have a Firenock adaptor bracket on they way.
The weekend was the first real test of the Firenocks at distances over 10 yards, since I was finally able to get out to the farm and away from the friendly confines of my basement. The nock performed flawlessly upon each release. With the added 13 grains of arrow weight, my impact point was less than an inch lower at 20 yards without the Firenock. I made the mistake of shooting at the same bullseye each time and on my forth end of arrows, I robin hooded one. Luckily it was a practice nock, which the Firenock package includes, and it wasn’t the real thing. The only negative issue I’ve had with them, outside of the actuator placement, which was my own fault for not seeing that adaptors are sold, is I had one nock that wouldn’t light up. I contacted Dorge at Firenock and he said to send it back so he could take a look at it. Turns out, the pin connector must have touched the wire connector for too long and shorted the battery out when I was installing the battery. He was kind enough to send me a new battery even though the dead one was my fault.
I have been recommending these nocks to all my hunting buddies. I have a destroyed Goldtip that is proof that they fly great. They do sell a cheaper version for someone who doesn’t want to spend the $50 on the full kit. If you are thinking about saving a little money and purchasing the cheaper one, make sure you check out what the other comes with. It has a lot of accessories that, in my opinion, make it well worth the extra money. Needless to say, I think I have finally found the lighted nock that meets my needs. I can’t wait to see it fly to a deer come this fall!
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DATE: 07/09/2007 14:08:47 / MOOD: Neutral
The trail cams are now out in full force and the summer scouting continues. I finally captured my first pics of a few fawns. I was beginning to get worried since it's getting into the middle of the summer and I still didn't have any of them on film. On that same camera were 3 different 2.5 yr old bucks and a few 1.5's. Nothing worth shooting this year.
The food plots looks great after all the rain we had a couple weeks ago. I put a camera on one of my Tecomate monster mix plots to see whats using it. I plan on mowing the plots sometime in late August (depending on rain) and fertilize in September so they'll be ready to roll come October/November. I'm also going to start preparing an alfalfa plot for a late summer planting.
This weekend I'm heading up to Hancock county to hang some stands and do some glassing/videoing in the bean fields. Hopefully we'll locate some good ones for this fall.
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DATE: 06/25/2007 14:37:00 / MOOD: Excited
It’s getting to be that time of year again. The season ended just a few months ago, but for diehard whitetail hunters such as me, the offseason is a short one. It’s time to get the trail cameras back in the woods and take care of spring food plots.
My half acre plot of Tecomate Monster Mix is now a year old and looks pretty good. I neglected it through turkey season and the weeds got a little out of control. To take care of this problem, I sprayed the plot with Vantage herbicide to kill the grasses, and then mowed to take care of the broadleaf weeds. I made sure to wait over a week between spraying and mowing in order for the herbicide to do its thing. Some of the grass was taller than recommended for spraying, but I was able to get the majority of it killed. I also sprayed what was left of my brassica plot from last year and a 5 year old clover plot. I plan on spreading lime in the clover plot and getting rid of weeds this summer, then planting Alfalfa in thefall.
The next item on my list of preseason habitat activities was preparing a plot for a planting of Switchgrass. The area is going to be just under an acre and will be surrounded by over 100 shrubs that were planted in early spring. I gave the area a heavy dose of Round-up at first green up during the spring and took care of the majority of the weeds and grasses that filled the area. The first week of May, I worked the ground, rolled it, spread the seed, and rolled it once more to get good seed to soil contact. The seed is very small and doesn’t need to be planted very deep. The roller pushed the majority of the seed just under the surface. Switchgrass is slow to establish. The first year it does most of its growing under the soil. By next summer it should start to fill in nicely and hopefully deer will begin to utilize it as a bedding area.
My final task was to set up my trail cameras again. One property that I hunt has had cows in it the past 3 season which hurt the deer activity in the area. There was a one acre thicket that was prime for bedding. A local farmer came in and bulldozed all of the brush and left the area much more open that it was. Now that the cows are gone, the thicket is quickly regenerating and this season that area should be much more productive. With the cows gone, I decided to set up a camera on a creek crossing going into the thicket. The area was torn up with tracks so I set it up on the bank where the trail heads down.
The next spot I placed a camera was in a little finger of trees that sticks out between two of my food plots. Deer are constantly hanging out in this area since there is a seep that pools water. It has always been a great place to get pictures through the warm summer months.
My third camera was placed on a trail where I moved a stand to after the season was over. The area is right in the middle of the property and deer like to bed all around. I’m only going to keep the camera there for a couple weeks, and then I will pull it out and not go near the area until early November for fear of spooking anything out of a bed near the stand.
The bulk of my preseason work is now done. I’ll spend the rest of the summer taking care of over 300 trees 125 shrubs that I’ve planted in the last two years. With the hot and dry summer ahead, they will need plenty of water to make it. I’ll also be checking and moving camera regularly to locate some shooters for this fall. I’ve also gained access to some ground near the Golden Triangle in West Central Illinois. I’ll be heading up there a few times this summer to scout and hang stands as well.
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