Hunting, walking around with a loaded rifle?

[coldshot]

"The heat of the moment" is typically slow and methodical. If an animal is running away, we simply wait till it stops or find another animal

I will definitely agree with you on the second part of this statement, never shoot at a running deer, you don't know what is beyond your target, and the chance of wounding it is to great. I don't do it even though I consider myself a pretty good shot, and one of my favorite parts of our archery tournament is the running shot (even though I think it conveys the wrong message, especially to the young archers).
I'll have to disagree with you on the first statement about the heat of the moment being slow and methodical.
How many times have you been standing at the edge of a clearing or clear cut and heard a deer or moose come crashing through the edge and out into the open and stop standing broadside, or come across a big buck or doe over the next rise and it raises it's tail getting ready to bolt. These are pretty intense times, and in my mind no time to be fumbling around with a gun, and very dangerous if your with your hunting partner.
I can still remember those days when as a young lad' " in the heat of the moment", my mouth would go dry, and I could hear my pulse beating in my head.

 

[Dogleg]

Because they walk with their pinky extended, their nose in the air and sugar in their pants...........lol

And yet seem to make it home un-shot.

 

[Longwalker]

I didn't answer the poll because it depends on the situation.

Anyone who thinks that they are OK walking around with a loaded rifle, safety off, because of the chance of missing game by "fooling around with a safety" or because "you should never rely on a safety" need some re-education. Safety should be ON every time the chamber is loaded. Every hunter should be familiar enough with the safety on their rifle that pushing it to the off position should be second nature, just before their trigger finger goes in the guard, not something they need to think about. Firing pin down on a loaded round with safety off is not a safe way to carry either. Dropping such a firearm can and does cause unintentional discharges.

I hunt a lot with a fully loaded rifle, just like I do when bird hunting. But chamber is empty when I'm a member of a group that is moving around, when in a boat, on unstable ground, climbing a tree stand, etc. etc. Muzzle control is a must regardless of the status of the rifle, whether loaded, unloaded, safety on or off.

 

[Ardent]

I agree. One eyebrow of mine still hasn't descended after the loaded chamber safety off clan's input, and a couple other TV dinner fed wisdoms offered. Understanding how "don't rely on a safety" translates into "don't use a safety" is beyond my modest cognitive capacity. That's like always forgoing a condom because they've been proven to break 1% of the time.

And yet seem to make it home un-shot.

Unless you hunt with Cheney.

 

[mbogo3]

Actually the condom failure rate is closer to 10% but that aside ,what good is a empty gun while hunting? Should you wear a life jacket in the bathtub? So many riveting possibilities.Bottom line .........if you're careless or stupid ,someone or something will get hurt or killed.A variable only natural selection and the courts can decide......equipment requires an operator......Harold

 

[hunter148]

Call me old and jaded but in my youth a question such as this would not even see the light of day. Not that it isn't valid but in my youth if Johny was told to stay away from something or the time honoured process of safety and that advice was not followed then Johny faced the consequences. If that resulted in dire physical consequences it was considered a little chlorine in the gene pool. Today we spend to much time trying to save the less intelligent from themselves.

Round in the chamber, safety on, finger anywhere but the trigger and have a good day. If you can't operate a safety or pull back a hammer in the heat of the moment you need more stress in your life and use it to learn focus.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Call me old and jaded but in my youth a question such as this would not even see the light of day. Not that it isn't valid but in my youth if Johny was told to stay away from something or the time honoured process of safety and that advice was not followed then Johny faced the consequences. If that resulted in dire physical consequences it was considered a little chlorine in the gene pool. Today we spend to much time trying to save the less intelligent from themselves.

Round in the chamber, safety on, finger anywhere but the trigger and have a good day. If you can't operate a safety or pull back a hammer in the heat of the moment you need more stress in your life and use it to learn focus.

Very eloquently put...
And similar sentiments...
Keep yer booger picker off the trigger stick till the time is right.
Rob

 

[hawk-i]

Round chambered and safety on here....I solo hunt 90% of the time(get way more game this way), only have myself to worry about.

 

[the spank]

I always load my rifle or shotgun when walking/hunting. The only exception is when I am duck/goose hunting and have a crippled bird to pursue. I always unload before exiting my layout blind, load up only if I need to make a kill shot and ensure the gun is empty before returning to the blind as I rarely hunt alone in those circumstances. As for crossing fences, creeks etc. I always unload and set the gun down a few feet away before crossing a fence and never cross a creek or anywhere slippery with it loaded. I like to have a round ready to go as much as possible should a quick shot be needed instead of making noise and losing time to getting loaded. Those few critical seconds can mean the difference between an empty tag and a full roast pan. When walking with others I usually follow with an unloaded gun and let the person on point be the loaded hunter. Aside from waterfowl most of my hunting is solo.

 

[RojamB21]

Off the Truck, Off the Road, always loaded. What's the point of carrying a firearms. Control the muzzle !!!

 

[grimblyd]

I have to addendum my former statement, as I forgot bird hunting. When' I'm out for birds, I have a round in the chamber, the mighty 2 rounds backing me up in the magazine/tube and the safety is on. Flushing birds don't give me (and I emphasize me, I'm no John Wayne or fast draw Billy the kid) time to load aim determine shot and shoot. (determine shot is a mental go/no go process for me. It starts out with the question Am I sure where all my hunting partners are. Is there any reason that I shouldn't shoot. It's a fail closed process, rather than fail open.)
Finger of course never enters trigger till shoot time. and I check the safety constantly. kind of a nervous tic of mine.

 

[Galt]

My single shots are carried round in chamber,hammer down. My levers are carried round in chamber,half ####,no safety engaged.
My bolts and semis are carried round in chamber,safety on.
If sitting in a blind or sitting and coyote calling round in chamber,no safety engaged unless setting the rifle aside to change the call or look thru binos.
It all depends on the situation and I am alone 90 percent of the time and the other 10 is with my wife,who always walks 5 paces behind to my right.

 

[Sherlock Gnomes]

In either single hunting or being the point man for the group I would carry loaded with safety if just traversing to site. If behind the first guy I remove the round from the chamber but have mag loaded for fast reaction if need be. I don't trust safeties to work 100 percent of the time and as such ensure my rifle isn't pointed at anything I don't want to shoot at or beyond. Having said that I still use the safety.

 

[NickVR]

Round in the chamber, safety on. Muzzle awareness is key.

As mentioned earlier about crossing fences etc. Then I do make sure there is no round in the chamber/unloaded when it is not in my complete control etc.

 

[coldshot]

Round in the chamber, safety on, finger anywhere but the trigger and have a good day. If you can't operate a safety or pull back a hammer in the heat of the moment you need more stress in your life and use it to learn focus.

My sentiments exactly, when I referred to fumbling around with a firearm in the heat of the moment, I meant trying to put a shell, or bullet in the gun and then loading it. When I hunt the gun is loaded, safety on, and finger out of the trigger guard. I always unload at the vehicle, when approached by a conservation officer, or while crossing fences etc.
There isn't much sense hunting with an unloaded gun IMO.

 

[Sqr]

My sentiments exactly, when I referred to fumbling around with a firearm in the heat of the moment, I meant trying to put a shell, or bullet in the gun and then loading it. When I hunt the gun is loaded, safety on, and finger out of the trigger guard. I always unload at the vehicle, when approached by a conservation officer, or while crossing fences etc.
There isn't much sense hunting with an unloaded gun IMO.

Bingo and I think most knowledgeable hunters would agree with this post.

 

[Slugo]

When I'm in the bush hunting my rifle is loaded with one in the chamber and the safety on. When I return to about 100yds or so from our remote bush camp, I push the round that was in the chamber down into the mag and close the bolt on the empty chamber. The rifle stay like this until I go back out again. When I'm at the cabin, I unloaded it completely, or leave it loaded outside.

When I chamber a round I always test the safety by pulling the trigger with the safety on.

The original poster needs to find a new club to hang around. 3% failure rate on gun safeties is ridiculously high. I've been hanging around gun clubs, the farm, hunt camps, and ranges regularly for about 35 years. I shoot 15 thousand + rounds a year. It would be an exceptional day that I don't handle a gun for one reason or another. I can recall only a couple of instances of malfunctioning safeties.

 

[ironsighter]

I will definitely agree with you on the second part of this statement, never shoot at a running deer, you don't know what is beyond your target, and the chance of wounding it is to great. I don't do it even though I consider myself a pretty good shot, and one of my favorite parts of our archery tournament is the running shot (even though I think it conveys the wrong message, especially to the young archers).
I'll have to disagree with you on the first statement about the heat of the moment being slow and methodical.
How many times have you been standing at the edge of a clearing or clear cut and heard a deer or moose come crashing through the edge and out into the open and stop standing broadside, or come across a big buck or doe over the next rise and it raises it's tail getting ready to bolt. These are pretty intense times, and in my mind no time to be fumbling around with a gun, and very dangerous if your with your hunting partner.
I can still remember those days when as a young lad' " in the heat of the moment", my mouth would go dry, and I could hear my pulse beating in my head.

Not much fumbling involved in pulling the bolt back and then closing it again. If there is insufficient time to do this before the animal bolts, you just find another animal to shoot. Here in BC, the deer basically just stand there and wait to get shot most of the time, in my experience. Maybe that's because we aren't freaking out and making them nervous. I dunno. We typically have lots of time to discuss the size of the animal, range the distance, get the rifle up on the shooting sticks, load a round into the chamber, aim carefully, and pull the trigger.

Perhaps if I really needed to shoot quickly I would need to walk around with a round chambered, but I don't, so I don't. There's no advantage to it for me and the people I hunt with.

 

[ironsighter]

If you cant walk around safely while hunting with a loaded rifle you shouldn't be in the woods.

That's your opinion.

I know I don't need a round in the chamber to successfully hunt, so I don't do it. End of story.

 

[ironsighter]

Or at least you shouldn't try to retrieve dangerous wounded prey through tight underbrush.

In this case, I would obviously choose to have a round in the chamber, just as I do even when I approach a deer that I am pretty sure is dead, out in the open. If there is a reason to anticipate needing to shoot quickly, then it makes sense to have a round chambered. If not, then I don't. Pretty simple.