4 long time hunters, approx how many rounds have you used per year

I shoot year round, am fortunate to have a private range, and test a lot of different rifles and loads. I don't keep track but I'm pretty sure I use at least 300 and probably closer to 500 centerfire hunting cartridges per year. I hunt at least three and often more species of big game each year. For instance, so far in 2017 it was caribou, elk, black bear, whitetail and mule deer. Of actual hunting ammunition used while hunting, I have used from two to maybe twenty shots in a particular year. It's been quite a while since I have bagged only one animal, some good years I have bagged more than a dozen ( a South African plains game hunt included)
I am one who believes in "if they're still standing or hit and running keep shooting" so have quite often shot an animal twice with good bullet placement. But more than half of my 120 or so have been one shot kills. So far this year I shot one elk with one shot. One mule deer with three. No misses.
Once when young and excitable and inexperienced I actually burned through 14 shots to kill a deer. I wounded the deer at first light, tracking the buck for around five hours in semi-open bush and light snow. I had two either ### tags, and assumed (correctly) that the deer I could see ahead was the wounded one. I was in remote wilderness, and I'd poke a shot every time I could identify the fleeing critter as a deer. I don't ever want to repeat that embarrassing experience, and haven't since. Practise in the off season pays off.
To answer your question, one 20 cartridge box of hunting ammo would do me for a season if I only hunted with one rifle. But I shoot many different rifles and a couple cases of ammo just to keep in practise with them each year.
 
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nowarningshot said:
Quality ammo or reloads are one of the least expensive things about hunting. Think vehicles, ATVs, and especially those precious week's holiday.
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Agreed. It kills me when you see guys out scouting for animals in a $50,000 truck scanning trees with a $20 set of binos and a 3k Gun/Glass set up that they are afraid to shoot cause bullets are $2 bucks a pop.
 
20 years from now 8x57 mauser may be like finding 250 savage. This is really about me stocking up for what I will need for rounds long term now.
So far I have allocated 1 box per yr sight in plus 1 box for the actual hunt...total 40 rds / yr
*this does not include anything else fired thru this or any other firearm. This is specific for hunting.

So in my case being 37 years old I will need 40 rds per yr (potentially)
If I plan to hunt for another 30 years I will need 1200 rounds by that estimate.

From what I have seen here so far even the higher number of game animals taken is about 100. This last year hunting I did not fire a shot. Sighting in I used 20 rds btw 2 rifles in different Cals. Perhaps I could adjust my estimate or I will end up passing some oawesome hunting ammo down to my great grand kids lol.

New estimate approx 20 rds sighting in and 5 rounds per hunting week or for me 2 hunting weeks 30 rounds per year. 900 rounds is probably still too much but at least it won't be excessive lol plus more cash to dump into the ATV fiasco

My first year hunting I was using irons on my k98 (now scoped) and a sks (now a scoped cz527) I fired 9 rounds with my SKS. One of the days I became lost in the woods heading back from a stand. (Of course my cell was dead and radio did not charge well night before) It was a great afternoon. Nice weather and when I finally found a brokenbridge as a landmark I felt it was a good opportunity to put 2 shots in the air and wait. After about 20mins I decided to build a rock bridge to cross the low stream in front of me. Deciding to cross and head up the trail I had the closest Moose encounter of my life. I walked about 500 ft down the trail across the stream I turned back to find myself face to face 15-20ft away from a Bull Moose that was literally hunting me.... standing in astonishment eye to eye with each other I jokely talked to the animal saying "hello Mr moose"...he was not moving and being a kid who grew up around the farm I knew what a rank colt or cowbell looked like when they would come at you if you stepped back. Of course the night before a buddy showed me pictures with a bear stuck in a moose antlers.... so I made like a bear and howled at it but the moose didn't budge.. I put two rounds in the air with my sks leaving 3 behind hoping he'd leave and like the boss that moose was he grunted turned broadside and walked it the woods. (It was deer season) I couldn't have asked for a better first moose experience ever! I then went back to the bridge and waited till a buddy came by with the atv hearing a few shots. The other 5 rounds were me missing a deer that I should have had with my sks. This yr I upgraded to a more accurate rifle for deer and scoped both but didn't see anything to shoot at.
 
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Why not? said:
Using hunting rifles, I use one or two rounds a year to check sight-in every spring before bear hunting, and again before hunting in the fall. Usually fire one or two shots for actual harvest of each animal.

Other firearms, its several hundred per year in load development, and another couple hundred to stay proficient and just having fun.

Ted
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This^^^
A couple of rounds for sighting in each spring and fall. So on average 10 rounds a year. So that would be 350 rounds over 35 years. I reload my own. Don't shoot 100's through your hunting rifle because you will wear it out. Have a fun gun to wear out.
 
Hunting ammo? For me it varies. Last fall it was one, 7 for the year. So far this year its hovering around 350. Most on a single hunting trip was 800.

So somewhere between 1 and 800.
 
Cameron SS said:
Agreed. It kills me when you see guys out scouting for animals in a $50,000 truck scanning trees with a $20 set of binos and a 3k Gun/Glass set up that they are afraid to shoot cause bullets are $2 bucks a pop.
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lol no doubt. My one buddy doesn't even have cheap binos, and hes got knee problems so hes not very mobile either. Blows my mind... Another guy I know complains about how much a box of 300wm costs, when the rifle and glass was $1500 and he spends hundreds if not thousands driving 700km every weekend to go hunting for a day and a half...

Dogleg said:
Hunting ammo? For me it varies. Last fall it was one, 7 for the year. So far this year its hovering around 350. Most on a single hunting trip was 800.

So somewhere between 1 and 800.
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I don't shoot that much in a year currently. Must be nice!
 
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I try to make it to the range once a month. Usually take around 40-60 shots/trip between 2 to 3 rifles. Sometimes doing load development sometimes verifying drop out to 300m sometimes ringing steel.

I don't think I've ever taken more than 5 shots on a single hunt. I remember shooting a deer 3 times once and I think that's the most I've ever shot at a critter. So I'd guess I shoot around 500 rds/year not counting rimfire, handgun and shotgun.
 
I brought 1000 rounds on my last bear hunt between 300wm 45/70 458wm and 9mm
I shot a grouse with my 300wm and 5 with the 9mm.
I came home with 150 rounds
I shoot quite often. Just playing with my new scopes I shot 200 rounds. 150 in 22lr/l/short and 50 in 17 mach 2. I fired 50 rounds of cci quiets on one short squirrel hunt. Only shot one squirrel but I had a buddy picking leaves and branches for me to shoot at

The more I shoot the more confident I am when taking the shot at big game. Usually a big game hunt is a one shot deal. However I always bring way to much ammo. If i ever break a leg I know I can keep sustained fire for quite some time. Enough that someone will come
 
I typically shoot three rounds to verify the zero each year, and one to five rounds actually hunting big game. I probably fired fifty rounds in load development on average, and another twenty rounds doing an initial sight in, and verifying the actual trajectory to 500 yards. I typically will also shoot another twenty rounds shooting coyotes, and a few hundred centerfield rounds shooting ground squirrels in addition to another hundred or so centerfire rounds at targets from hunting positions . I generally also shoot a couple of thousand rounds of rim fire each year .
 
Most of my centrefires on their second barrel...less a 338 Sako. Best big game hunts are when a single shot has been fired. Shooting like anything else requires practice and confidence in your equipment. Hunting is not for shooting IMO...that belongs at a the range. Putting hundreds of rounds through your rifles per season builds great confidence and its fun developing new pet loads. Taking targets out to 200 and shooting steel at 300, 400+ is awesome.
 
I fire 300 to 400 rds of 45-70 hand loaded hunting ammo every year on the range, and maybe 3 for hunting, but 2 shot is the normal in the 50 years I have been hunting with the 45-70. First with a 1886 then with a Marlin.
 
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