Check those nocks

[Roundman]

Two years ago I was practicing at forty yards and as I released the arrow my bow exploded. Unsure of what had happened I looked the bow over real good. I didn't see any "cracks" but I did remember seeing the arrow fall 10-15 yards short. I dug around until I found the arrow, and sure enough the nock had split. I don't know if the nock had been hit by another arrow at some point or it just failed, but that failure caused the string to jump. Now we don't really have any pro-shops around so I took it to the closest place that had a press. They put the string and cable back on and I shot it without any more problems. But ever since that the string serving had started coming loose around the cam area. So two weeks ago I take it to a pro-shop and sure enough the limbs had some damage done to the lamination. The shop calls Mathews tells them the story and Mathews decides to warranty the limbs. It's still going to cost me a couple of bill to get it up and running again, but it could have been prevented by simply being able to see the bad nock or just replacing them as preventative maintenance. I've shot thousands of arrows and had a bunch of busted nocks but never have I shot a cracked one. So if you slap an arrow... make sure you check it real good or risk bow damage or worse.

[Hawks Feather]

That is some pretty good advice.  Maybe we should call this a public service announcement. . .

Jerry