SPOKANE -- A Spokane sportsman said Washington should consider his bright idea for reducing the number of deer and elk wasted by archery hunters.

"Allowing lighted nocks is a no-brainer to me," said Jim Sutton, referring to an LED light in the fletching end of an arrow that illuminates upon release by the bowstring's thrust.

Washington hunting regulations prohibit the use of certain modern and electronic equipment such as lighted sights and nocks for use during the special primitive weapons seasons.

"A lighted nock doesn't give a hunter an advantage in killing a big-game animal," Sutton said. "But it offers him 40 hours of assistance in finding the arrow -- and the clues he needs to determine his next step in recovering a dead or wounded deer.

"It's a conservation measure," he said, noting that 45 states allow the nocks for bowhunting.

Sutton has discussed the proposal with state wildlife officials several times, including a detailed presentation to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission during its March meeting in Spokane.

But Department of Fish and Wildlife officials haven't taken the proposal seriously because none of three state archery organizations has endorsed it.

"The agency likes to have the support of organized sportsmen before moving ahead with rule changes," said Kevin Robinette, WDFW regional wildlife manager in Spokane.

Sutton said no one should expect the Washington Traditional Bowhunters to support use lighted nocks, since the group is organized for the purpose of promoting traditional archery equipment. But the State Archery Association and the State Bowhunters Association also balk at the proposal.

"I wish they'd support it," Sutton said. "We'd save deer."

Lacking a statistically viable study, Sutton conducted a survey of 50 bowhunters he contacted randomly at a meeting in March. He said he personally knew only two of them.

The results supported what most archers already know as their dark little secret: They wound a lot of game.

Landowners would welcome lighted nocks, Sutton said, and some might restore opportunities to hunt on private land where ranchers and farmers don't want to risk dangerous lost broadheads in their fields.

State Fish and Wildlife officials shouldn't wait for organized bowhunting clubs to formally vote on allowing lighted nocks for hunting, Sutton said.

"The statewide groups represent only about 8 percent of the bowhunters in Washington, yet my survey and my contacts with archers indicate that 95 percent of them would like to see lighted nocks legal."