i said coulnt care less as I generally carry it with an empty chamber. in my rifle the safety has to be taken off to open the bolt to chamber a round... kind of a pain. So, empty with safety off cause Im not going to chamber a round and make it "dangerous" unless i have a target to shoot at, such as a deer.
I don't want to come off as sounding rude, not my intention, but I do not understand this attitude. If this is how you are comfortable, then by all means continue.
But, a firearm is a tool, and one should know how to use it safely. The only time my rifle is unloaded while hunting is if I am going to leave it, i.e. lean it against a tree or fence, or hand it to someone else. Since I was 10 I have been packing a firearm of some sort while hunting. At first, I too walked around with an empty gun, until may dad thought I was aware enough to carry loaded; I believe I was 14. And even before that, I was to load the gun whenever my dad left me alone (when he hiked somewhere without me or sent me to find a grouse on the road back to camp while he watched from a vantage point for a deer/moose/?).
When walking around muzzle control is paramount. But what if I fall you may ask, well, muzzle control is paramount!
I remember reading about a grizzly attack in eastern BC (IIRC), where a couple guys were goat hunting and shot an elk on their way down the mountain. They found at least one of their guns, bolt closed, empty chamber, oh and a few small pieces of their bodies scattered around; safety first!
Now I know there are not grizzly bears everywhere, but my cousin has been charged by a deer and a cougar (I know.... "he's coming right for us!!!!) and I myself have almost shot a blacktail in self defense during the rut. I have also had a couple of run-in's with black bears. Your rifle / shotgun is as much a defensive tool while wandering the woods as it is a hunting tool, and it is much less effective if you are walking around "safe".
I remember going hunting with 2 friends, one from Canada, and one a transplant from England. We left the truck and walked 3 km in the dark to a fork in the road. There we decided to split up to cover the ground more effectively. At that point my Canadian buddy unshoulders his rifle and chambers a round. My English friend, shocked, shakes his head and says: "only a Canadian would walk around with an unloaded rifle."
I would have to agree.
, Enfield P14/17, Remington 30's etc are similar in operation, it just gets confusing unless you are using similar rifle/trigger arrangements.
