Last year in Wisconsin, 588,387 gun licenses were sold for a 9 day gun season. There is no draw in Wisconsin...everything is over the counter. There were 7 shooting accidents in Wisconsin. 5 men shot themselves accidentally, 1 shot another in their own party, and one was hit by a stray ricochet. This person hit wasn't deer hunting...he was duck hunting in a kayak. Wisconsin also eliminated a minimum hunting age last year. A 5 year old boy was the youngest to harvest a deer in the state in 2017. Wisconsin moved to an all rifle state (previously the gun season included shotgun slug only zones but that has since been eliminated) maybe 5 years ago. In Wisconsin, it is still pretty common to practice deer drives and it is extremely common to be shooting deer from an elevated tree stand. So, now you have shooting at moving animals, hunters perched in 10-25 feet high elevated platforms that are secured to trees with a ratchet strap and platform no larger than a welcome mat, and kids just out of diapers wielding guns. Guys are slushing around in 6-7 foot high marsh grass and cattails and ask anyone who hunts on public land...it gets crowded during opening weekend unless you are in a national forest like Nicolet.
Even with the high risk hunting scenarios Wisconsin has, 2017 was considered one of the safest seasons to date. I would like to think that is a testament to hunter safety and the good Lord looking out for sportsmen during the 9 day gun season.
I could be wrong, but if you were to poll Wisconsin deer hunters, I believe many would say their shots on deer are less than 75 yards away...many being less than 50. Lots of Wisconsin hunters shoot at running deer (I don't agree with this) because they are doing deer drives. Lots still use their shotguns. Lots also hunt on private land.
Point of my post is 1. if you are using common sense, practicing the 4 rules of gun safety, and have half a brain, weather you chamber or not, your hunt should be a safe one. 2. You can be as safe as possible on your own end but you have no control over what the other hunters are doing.
To answer the original question:
I chamber in my treestand but do not chamber on the way to it. I'm always chambered when upland hunting. I don't practice deer drives any more. I do keep an arrow knocked in my treestand. I @#)(# my crossbow on the ground and haul it up my tree without a bolt in it because it's easier to @#)(# on the ground.
I can totally see why guys wouldn't chamber out west while hiking or moving. I can also see where public land hunting could be more dangerous than private land hunting. I feel very safe in my treestand with one chambered. My stands always have at least 2 ratchet straps on them that get changed out at the end of the season. I have a 4 point harness. My shots aren't more than 50 yards in my treestand and I am always shooting downward. I know where the other hunters are at all times. (I do hunt on private land which is a blessing for sure).
Be safe everyone and have a prosperous season in 2018!
