Editor's Note: Today's observations by Archery Wire J.R. Absher first appeared in that companion service. If you're an archery enthusiast and not a subscriber, you're missing out on the best source of news in the archery industry.


In some of its first official action since empaneling a new President and a pair of new Board members in March, the Pope and Young Club has made a significant departure from its long-held prejudices and has approved a rule exemption permitting the use of standard lighted arrow nocks and bow-mounted cameras.

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Since the late 1980s, Pope and Young's Rules of Fair Chase governing the acceptability of big game animals into the Club's Records Program have stipulated "no electronics attached to the bow or arrow."

The March 3 announcement of the vote to change the organization's by-laws by the new Board of Directors and the subsequent ratification by the voting membership (75% to 25%) came after a somewhat questionable rejection of a similar proposed exemption for lighted nocks as "electronics," in August 2013. At that time, despite the results of a 2013 membership poll that favored a lighted nock exemption by a margin of approximately 60% to 40%, the seated Board of Directors then failed to approve the bylaws change by the required 2/3 majority. Then-P&Y President Roger Atwood reasoned that a 60-40 membership poll failed provide a "mandate" to the Board.

Apparently, Pope and Young membership decided to deliver its own mandate to club leadership earlier this year, when it elected Jim Willems of New Mexico as its new President and added Directors Todd Brickel of Colorado and Doug Clayton of Iowa, replacing M.R James of Indiana and Glenn Hisey of Minnesota.

Following this year's by-laws exemption, incoming President Jim Willems said the popularity of illuminated nocks and bow cameras helped make the vote overwhelming.

"I was pleased to see that such a large percentage of our voting members chose to change our by-laws to allow lighted nocks and bow mounted camera," Willems said. "It is generally accepted that such equipment does not aid in harvesting an animal and can actually enhance the overall hunting experience. It's good to get the issue behind us and move on to other important matters."

Rick Mowery, who was brought on board to handle public relations and promotions by the new leadership, said he hopes the move will help change negative perceptions held by many bowhunters about how Pope and Young operates.

"Hopefully this will put to rest any negative perceptions some bowhunters may have of the Club," Mowery said. "We are not just old guys or traditionalists. We are every bowhunter, and we are a Club banded together to defend and protect bowhunting and the big game species that fire our bowhunting passions."

The winds of change at Pope and Young have not gone unnoticed by bowhunters who have criticized the organization's policies in the past, though many are taking a guarded approach to see what the future holds for the 53-year-old organization.

"P&Y has finally come into the 21st century of archery hunting," wrote Mike Hanback on his popular Big Deer Blog. "...This change in bylaws passed the voting membership by a vote of 75% to 25%. How about that 25%? There is still a narrow-minded minority of old hunters in the bowhunting world basically against all technology and change; if these people had their way, all we would ever use to kill a deer would be a recurve or a longbow and wooden arrows ... maybe a spear.

"I grew up hunting deer with a recurve," wrote the host of Sportsman Channel's Big Deer TV. "Some of my best hunting buddies are traditional hunters, and I have great respect for that. But it is way past time we stopped bickering about little stuff like lighted nocks (and bigger stuff like crossbows). The technology is here to stay and grow, and that's for the betterment of bowhunting because it gets (and keeps) more people in the woods, and helps us all to hunt and shoot better, and ultimately recover more animals."

Score one for progress, indeed. But crossbows in P&Y? Are you serious, Hanback?

- J.R. Absher