Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Poll: Do you hunt with a round in the chamber?

Jim,
Point taken, but a lot of us do hunt in steep nasty locations where it is easy to lose footing. I just can�t imagine putting a gun �only� on safe when the possibility of taking a tumble is high. An empty chamber makes me feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in those situations. I think it is really a matter of semantics with regards to �what is hunting�. I consider myself hunting from the moment I leave the trailhead. I have shot more than one animal while crossing a steep nasty scree slope that I never would attempt with a round in the chamber. In those situations I steady myself and quietly jack a round in the chamber. This adds all of one second to the whole process all while decreasing the possibility of the gun going off should I fall.

The bottom line is I never know when a elk, deer, mtn goat, etc.is going to show themselves, therefore, I am hunting from the moment I start hiking. If I cross a nasty spot I don�t need to take the gun off my shoulder and remove a round from the chamber and then put a round back in the camber once I get to a section of easy walking, like you describe. If I leave the chamber empty I am safe for all conditions; I can hike as fast or slow as I want and I just need to run the bolt once to prep the gun for business.

I do too. No arguments, discussion or apology for same.

BCR

PootPeak,
Everyone's experience and terrain will be a bit different from the next fellow's.
Whatever YOU are comfortable with and is safe for your hunting..continue to do it well.Same with anyone else in either 'camp' on this matter.
( and I knew you ain't had twinkies very often..:)


Concerning safeties on hunting firearms:
They either work 100% of the time or don't use them and carry cold as you describe. or can the firearm..
That includes dropping the rifle ..or falling on it .

Mine DO work 100% of the time....But I have good time proven rifles with good designs...in perfect condition (and so few of them I can operate or even field strip them them in the dark..:) Jim

The guys in my favorite gunshop are good guys, but like any gunshop employees they get cavalier.

I believe that a firearm should be handed to another person action open. If the receiver of the firearm does not understand how it works, or it's not open, they should refuse to take it.

This has come up a few times when I've asked to see oddball firearms that weren't immediatly obvious how they worked, and they handed them to me (or tried to) with the action locked up. I hand 'em right back and ask them to show me how to clear the firearm... they look at me funny but do it.

A LOT of accidents would be prevented if everyone did that, all the time.

-jeff

Oy, Jim, what have you said... the "safety police" are gonna be all over you for that one... there goes my thread!

:-)

-jeff

Hot. Someone should pull the similar thread from a year ago.....very entertaining.

I hate to bust your attempt at painting a stereotypical picture of someone who carries "cold," but:

-I play hockey for the Minnesota NHL alumni team. I'm their goalie. I have been called a lot of things in my day, but I have yet to be accused of possessing minimal amounts of agility. Clumsy isn't really on the list either.

-I will be doing the Ironman triathlon in Madison, WI next year, and recently ran a marathon in less than 4 hours with ease. Feel free to tag along for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and the 26.2 mile run. I doubt if you'll be referring to me as "not in good condition" at the finish line....if you can make it that far. Heck, just show up tomorrow at 0545 for my Master's swim team workout. Let me know your opinion after the 3500 or so meters.

I am around 10% body fat. Not a rail, but not exactly overweight.

I rarely drink anything, and I don't drink to excess.


AND


I carry a rifle with an empty chamber.

GOALIE, Good for you on your condition and choices.

Your reading-comprehension skills may need some work tho..

as I said I WONDERED about SOME...>>:)..:)

I read all the posts about hunters falling down , damaging their rifles,jamming their muzzles full of dirt and muck..(even pooping their pants in incontinency), cutting themselves with their own knives.. etc and it does make a man wonder..:)

Anyhow,
IF that shoe don't fit you, good..!!!

Continue to do what works and you feel safe and comfortable with..Jim

why do I feel like I took a ride on the short bus after reading much of this?

I see your side of it as well; the problem is not everybody has good gun handling skills and many never verify their guns are 100% mechanically sound like your firearms. For those folks a cold chamber is a safer bet in my view.

I see both sides of this issue, I just like the piece of mind of a cold chamber.

Most of the time. Muzzle awareness is critical. Just be sensable: climbing into stands, crossing obstacles...unload.

I carry my rifles with one in the spout - just as I do with my shotguns. The "danger" is nil. It's not the absolute faith in my safety that makes it so (although it's always on until a second or so before firing) - it's the absolute faith I have that my barrel is always pointed in a safe direction.

Why this practice is considered unsafe when hunting big game with rifles - and yet is considered safe when jumping birds with shotguns is something I don't understand.

Going down scree slopes, crossing streams, climbing trees and stepping over lots of deadfalls, is the exception to the rule - then I take the cartridge out, and take the safe off.

Until you've surprised a grizzly or two, at real close range - you can't appreciate why.

The only place I've found where it's considered unsafe is on this internet chat forum. I've never heard hunting with an empty chamber advised in any hunter safety course, never known anyone who did it, and in 30 years of hunting never even known anyone who suggested it other than in this cyberworld. To me it's a solution in search of a problem. Maybe some of these guys need to take up knitting, but don't touch the needles until you're firmly seated.

Well said, from the Crow Hunter in Mississippi.......

Yeah, where were you this weekend? :-)

-jeff

Uhm... because... never mind.

-jeff

I am with Crow Hunter on this. Other than the internet I have never heard of anyone huning with an empty chamber.

And that s'posed to mean exactly whut?

I carry hot. I have always treated every gun as loaded and hence have muzzle awareness. I never point the muzzle towards a place I don't want a nice little neat hole. Even in the event of a AD (which I have never had) it would not matter because I am aware where my weapon is pointing.
here is something I just can't visualize- how did the guy shoot himself in the upper thigh with a 7mm? I am assuming it is a rifle- right? imagine how the rifle had to be pointed to do that!

I got absolutely hammered on by the empty-chamber crew this weekend... that's all.

-jeff