He pauses only to brace the crossbow against a fallen log, pulling the string back and locking it in place so that if they're in worse mud he won't dirty the catch. He'll load a bolt on it later.

Sherwood doesn't make things too difficult on her outlaws and there is enough fallen undergrowth to keep them from walking through too much mud, but the nearer they get to the river the worse the footing is, since the runoff flows towards it naturally.