Still Hunting question- nocked or not?

[Jeff Roark]

Well i guess this could go for spot and stalk also, but for you guys that do hunt the ground and move, do you move with an arrow nocked? I was watching Fred Bear last night and the narrator says that its a no-no. Since I've started I have had one nocked when I'm moving. Only time I have put the arrow back in the quiver is if I am in really steep ground where I am bound to slip.

Just wondering what you guys do?

Jeff

[Don Stokes]

NO!! You'll hear some horror stories about this. Do it enough and you'll have your own horror story.

Scars to show, anyone?

[magnus]

Don is right! I used too but don't anymore. Ignorance of youth on my part. There was a post not to long ago about this. People have died from this and I knew someone who did. So DON'T do it!

Keeping the Faith!
Magnus

[dirtguy]

Jeff - I started out like you, with an arrow knocked.  Then I started reading here, and elsewhere.  The, I thought about how many times I have slipped, even on familiar ground.  Its just not worth it.  

Keep the arrow in the quiver until you see the quarry.

[Tajue17]

I guess I'm the daring one with an arrow nocked, I'm not going to lie but I do I have an arrow ready to go when I'm creeping for deer and I also hunt pheasants/rabbits and squirrels with my bow so I kinda need to have an arrow nocked.    but 95% of the time I'm in the stand and while on the walk in and walk out my arrows are all in the quiver because I personally learned that deer are going to see me before I see them so I don't bother and move at a steady pace which seems to not spook them as much,,,     I will man up and say don't learn this habit I have it is dangerous and they are right its really not needed.  

honestly I think the most dangerous thing some of you guys do is use a back quiver for hunting,,, if you trip and fall forward or tumble you can get a face & head full of broadheads that came out of the quiver on the way down.

[bamacrazy]

Nocked, though its a bad idea...

[FerretWYO]

Nocked only if I am approaching game. No quick shot is worth hurting my self or a hunting buddy.

[acadian archer]

not till I'm ready to shoot. I prefer to see game blood on the ground not mine.

[nd chickenman]

Ill join the crowd that did it BEFORE! dont any more

[rastaman]

 

honestly I think the most dangerous thing some of you guys do is use a back quiver for hunting,,, if you trip and fall forward or tumble you can get a face & head full of broadheads that came out of the quiver on the way down.
i've never heard or seen this happen in 40 years of bowhunting.  i suppose it could.  i have heard of people sticking themselves or a buddy while walking around with a shaving sharp broadhead on the end of a pointed stick though.    

[Follower]

After witnessing years ago how quickly an arrow kills, my arrows stay in the quiver.  I read somewhere of an accident this fall where two guys were still hunting together and the lead hunter got in some thick stuff and took a step backwards into the hunter behind him's arrow.  And died.

[Night Wing]

Originally posted by acadian archer:
not till I'm ready to shoot. I prefer to see game blood on the ground not mine.

I totally agree. Stalking about with an arrow nocked on the bowstring is a disaster waiting to happen.

[David Mitchell]

A little solo on your bow will keep one arrow very close at hand when a shot presents itself, and the point is covered should you take a tumble.

[xtrema312]

I do both, but it all depends on what I am doing.  If I am trying to get from one area to another or moving very fast at all like just a slow walk I don't have one on.  If I am trying to get into position on something I have in site or getting around some cover to get on something moving with a lot of ground to cover I don't have one on.  If I am really still hunting very slow in cover where an animal or bird could show at any second I do have an arrow on, but I am talking taking a step or two and stopping for a while.  That to me is no different than having an arrow on as I cover those last couple yards planning a shot that could happen at any second on something I could see.  However, I take it off if I was on any kind of footing where I could slip or trip.  I would never move with an arrow on anywhere near another person;  you just can't guess what they could do without notice.  I also make sure to have it way away from me pointed off to the side and not out front or down.  I have never taken a fall or slipped with an arrow on my bow, because I am very selective when I have one on.  

You also have to keep in mind I hunt Michigan and mostly very flat land.  When I have an arrow on I am not on a slope, rocks, crawling over down trees or a lot of other types of footing and cover many here would be hunting.

[ChuckC]

not nocked.  Just saying.
ChuckC

[onewhohasfun]

Totally unnessessary. I have killed a few animals on the ground and never had an arrow nocked first. You'll have time. Like anything else, practice getting an arrow from quiver to bow till it becomes automatic. Walking around with a broadhead on the string is just plain silly.

[Jeff Roark]

I had never thought about it until I caught it on the Bear DVD. Now that I think about it, I can't believe I had been doing it. I ain't studying on getting stuck myself! Thanks for the replies. That's a bad habit I am dropping right now.

[Orion]

I'l carry a blunt nocked when still hunting small game, but never a broadhead.  As said before, that's a disaster waiting to happen, and it's a pretty sure bet that it will eventually happen.

[joe ashton]

walking with an unprotected broad head is too dangerous. And quick shots are low %.

[J-dog]

i used to but man it is too easy to stick yourself - say if you trip and fall. Plus I think it takes some of your focus from the job at hand having to watch that BHEAD going through vines and the like.

J