My carbon arrow has a small crack near the nock — can I still shoot it?

Set it down. Do not nock it, do not draw it, do not shoot it. A cracked carbon arrow is not a degraded arrow — it is a different object entirely, one whose purpose is now to fragment under load. Carbon fiber fails catastrophically and without further warning. A shaft that cracks near the nock is under significant stress at full draw precisely in that region, and what you are describing is a fuse, not a fletching.

The correct procedure is this: flex-test the shaft first by holding it at both ends and gently bowing it, rotating slowly along its length while listening and feeling for any additional crackling, soft spots, or further visible separation. If any are found — and given the existing crack, the answer is already likely yes — the arrow is retired. Permanently. Not demoted to practice, not kept for stump shooting. Destroyed, so no one else shoots it by mistake.

The danger is not a miss. It is that the shaft explodes through your bow hand or forearm at the moment of release. This is a documented injury with carbon arrows and it is the reason every major safety standard instructs archers to inspect carbon shafts — visually and by flex — before each session. The crack near the nock is visible evidence of a failure that may already extend further into the shaft wall than the eye can see. The Committee, in its enthusiasm for standardization, standardized this inspection procedure too, and on this point the bench agrees with them without reservation.

Shoot the remaining arrows in your quiver. Retire this one with what dignity the occasion allows.