Ok this just kills me. Why would you wait until you get to where you are hunting to load your weapon.

. . . If I miss a chance shot (which is most often a very low percentage shot anyway) while walking to and from the stand, so what? Safety is a much greater priority to me than killing deer.

Life is all about priorities. While I keep three shells in the magazine, I never chamber one until I am seated and ready to hunt. If I miss a chance shot (which is most often a very low percentage shot anyway) while walking to and from the stand, so what! Safety is a much greater priority to me than killing deer.

By taking the safer route, I help ensure there will be other hunts on other days, not to mention being around for the benefit of my wife and kids.

Ok this just kills me. Why would you wait until you get to where you are hunting to load your weapon. I walk 1/4 mile to my blind. I have seen deer between my truck and blind, hogs too. What good is an unloaded rifle in the field. I call it a club.
My son and I park, get our stuff out, load our rifles and start walking. When we go home, reverse that.
Sorry for the hijack.
Oh yeah, I live in a two truck county with no AR's.

NO No No!!! It's NEVER an AD!!! It's a freakin ND- Negligent Discharge!!!! An accident is an unplanned, by chance event. A firearm going off unintentional is ALWAYS an ND. As working shooting comps and being around firearms, if a gun goes off unplanned, 99.9% of them are from a finger or something touching the trigger causing it to go off when a round is in the chamber. That is the negligence of the shooter/handler of the firearm, which is an ND.

I drive around with a bullet in the chamber safety on. With either a .22 or .30 .30 in a given pickup. I have shot a boat load of coyotes and hogs out checking fence or cows I would say I never could have if I had to stop and load. For raising both cattle and deer, killing coyote and hogs is paramount to me. An unloaded gun is a no brainer but in the hands of experience, and practice I think its just as safe setting idle. Like many said 99.9 percent of ND are just that negligent human error. I have been doing this since I could drive and handling guns since I can remember and never shot by mistake. My father has the exact same record. I handle any gun as if it is loaded anyhow. So what's the difference. If I have a kid around it is a different story until they are old enough to respect and keep their hands off. If I get old and shaky or start making mistakes in other arenas I will stop the practice until then I see no harm in it.

To me walking in the field with a loaded rifle with more than two people could be dangerous but what about quail, dove, and duck hunters? Should they throw shells in right before a flush or flight comes in? Climbing in to a blind I can see when alone how that is good practice to be unloaded but other than that practice good gun safety and treat every gun as loaded.