Still Hunting question- nocked or not?

[Mark Baker]

It's a big no-no, walking with a nocked arrow, and sets a bad example to youngsters and newbies as well, who look up to you.  And someone is always looking.  

I've killed quite a few critters from the ground, and like Thomas says, it's unnecessary.  Look at it this way.   The attention you have to pay to keeping yourself or friends from getting "stuck" by your arrow, or from dulling it in the brush or avoiding obstacles by having that 30 inches of projection sticking out from your bow, could be put to better use in spotting your game before it spots you!   When a shot is imminent, then and only then should you nock an arrow.

[Pat B]

I use a solo stalker so I have one arrow that is easily accessable when game is spotted. I carry my other arrows in a GFA style quives that I sling behind me.  Walking with a nocked arrow is dangerous for you and any other person with you.
 You don't stalk with a loaded rifle with the safety off do you?

[mcgroundstalker]

IMHO Mark Baker said it best!

... mike ...

[GingivitisKahn]

Not unless I have a target in sight or unless I have reason to believe I'm about to.

[Tav]

I have carried my arrow in my shooting hand but only when I think I might run into something.  Otherwise it's in quiver.

[lpcjon2]

Ok, I must live on the edge I do nock and hunt going in and out and I am as attentive to my broadhead and arrow as I am to the ground, branches and deer.You could pull and arrow out(and try to nock it) while watching a deer and get stuck just as easy.Do you guys who dont nock  ever walk around your kitchen with a knife in your hand or even out to the back yard to the barbecue with one.or does it get secured in a sheath first.

[Jeff Roark]

Just back from an absolute miserable still-hunt in a sleet/snow mix just hoping to catch something as dumb as me out in that mess! Anyway, I never nocked an arrow until I got to a spot that I setup on to watch the last little bit before dark. I have to admit, I'd rather do a still-hunt with an arrow nocked, plain and simple. So, I'm sort of up in the air on this one. I know the safety risks are great, but in certain areas I'll be nocking an arrow when I still-hunt, but when the terrain gets a bit rough I'll un-nock.

Plus, I hunt alone, so the only person I may stick will be myself.

[Irish Archer]

I just don't need to kill anything that much. I like myself way too much.

[bicster]

I still hunted today for the first time with binoculars. What I found is that if you scan the area around before you move, you can move freely knowing that you will not spook game or jump an unexpected deer. That also means that your arrow can stay in your quiver because you know you won't need it in a hurry. I had encounters with five deer today all within 25 yds and I was able to nock an arrow fast enough.

[BCWV]

In the quiver. I don't jump shoot with my bow unless I'm hunting rabbits and then it's with judos or hex heads.
 Not that I've hit a rabbit jump shooting but I've been close a time or two!

[RC]

Not till I`m bout close enough to shoot.Lot of times I may have got a shot if I had walked with an arrow on the string....lots of times I may have tripped and got killed.I want to live to hunt with my Grandson .RC

[Bjorn]

I don't walk around nocked-do it just before ready to shoot.

[bad arrow]

Have been, but I won't anymore....Phil

[Biggie Hoffman]

That's how I tell which guys on TV are dipsticks...the guys who walk around with an arrow on the string don't know much about how a broadhead works.

[Ben Maher]

As Irish said
   

  I like myself way too much  

 


Seriously
One slip on wet ground or a stumble over a tree root and that broadhead won't have to travel far to puncture your femoral or sub clavian artery .

[champ38]

No, and for the same reason I dont walk around gun hunting with the safty off.

[Bowwild]

Unnocked although I don't still-hunt deer -- I'm not patient enough. I know, some think hunting in tree stands demands more patience than still hunting. However, I find it much easier to remain still in a tree stand where mobility is restricted by the tiny perch.  On the ground I get too antsy to see what's around the next bend or over the next rise.

Neither do I approach down game with a nocked arrow. The arrow is safely in the quiver when I'm moving.

When I still-hunted squirrels, move to a hickory, stop for 10-30 minutes - hunt, then move again. I would nock the arrow when I stop and requiver when time to move again.

[snakebite]

No!!! Keep that bh were it is suposed to be, in a good quality quiver, until you are ready to take a shot.

[Stone Knife]

Walking around with a nocked broadhead arrow is worse than walking with the safe off on a loaded gun, a lot of bad things can happen if you do. No deer is worth the chance not a one  

[Wannabe1]

I carry an arrow in my right hand but, the 2 blade broad head is covered with a thick leather cover.