HUNTING – Allowing lighted nocks for bowhunting was among 17 measures adopted for the 2013 hunting seasons during the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Saturday in Oympia.
Jim Sutton of Spokane has worked for several years to get the commission to approve the use of electronically illuminated nocks, which can be helpful in retrieving arrows. Traditional bowhunters had originally opposed the any use of electronics in primitive weapon seasons, but Sutton argued that lighted knocks had no impact on harvest success.
Some of the other new rules will:
- Restore archery hunts for antlerless elk in Yakima County in game management units 352 (Nile) and 356 (Bumping).
- Rescind the five special hunting permits previously available for the Tieton bighorn sheep herd, which the state recently eliminated to prevent the spread of a deadly outbreak of pneumonia.
- Restrict importation of dead game animals from Missouri, Texas and Pennsylvania, which are among a number of states with deer and elk populations known to harbor chronic wasting disease.
All 17 hunting rules approved by the commission will be included in the 2013 Big-Game Hunting pamphlet, which will be available in sporting goods stores and other license vendors late this month.
