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

Okay, I read the entire string, and I see some valid points here. First of all, I've never hunted from horseback, and if I did, the gun would be empty. Second-my hunting has all been done in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. I've never hunted the western mountain ranges, and I can see where one would not want to risk an AD on steep slopes or in the "Black Timber" I hear you guys talk about. I should also clarify that my gun is never carried loaded when crossing a fence or climbing a treestand. However, I can't imagine sitting in a stand with an empty chamber. The buck I shot this fall came in on me very fast. I was very alert, and took the shot when the deer stopped to look over the clear cut I was watching. The whole thing took less than 5 seconds. That deer had no intentions of hanging around for very long, and I have no doubt that had I needed to open the bolt, dig a round out of my pocket, chamber the round and aquire a sight picture that that deer would have been long gone, or at best left me with a tough running shot. The doe I took was in a similar circumstance. The opportunities, at least the ones I experience, happen lightning fast. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to watch an animal for any length of time before getting a shot, and this is while hunting from elevated tree stands. I am constantly checking my safety. I've never once found it in the "off" position when I didn't want it to be. Muzzle control is always exercised. I wont' hesitate to let someone know if their gun is pointed somewhere it shouldn't be, and I expect the same of them. Outside of the instances I've sighted, my opinion is still the same. I do, and will continue to hunt with a round in the chamber.

You'll love this...

Even the boggers couldn't keep it from going rubber side up I have been there a few times in the rock lobster. Took a hell of a roll in Moab on the Widow Maker......fitting name for an obstacle!!

I should have mentioned that proper Toy's wear Swampers.......that is a nice mini truck that rolled in that picture

Ah Moab...
Your rig makes sense now, I have been to Moab a few times to mountain bike-got to see some of those jeeps crawling up Amassaback(sp?)
Incredible!!

I should of mentioned in my last post I love your rockcrawler yota.Just needed some time to wipe the druel from my chin...grin..Sweet truck Poot.

I am foot and horseback hunter. This truck is a one trick pony for rock crawling, so it would't work well filling the shoes of an atv. As you can tell from the photos, it shrunk a bit and doesn't have much cargo space

Just a figure of speech, Poot!
Still, that is heck of a rig, must be mucho fun.

Thanks. It is going to look a lot better than in these photos; I have been running my Miller mig and the tube bender lately and it is starting to morph into a proper rock pig. I will post some photos when it nears completion.

I know, I was just giving you a hard time!! Atv's are cool tools, unfortunatly people just abuse the hell of the forests hear in Colorado with them. I suppose I could drive my truck all over hell and back as well, but I am a huge supporter of "Tread Lightly" and keeping these rigs on designated trails, etc.

I am with you, I prefer to hunt on foot, I don't even own an ATV.
I do know hunters that are very careful with their ATVs-I guess it is the way things go, a few bad apples give other users a bad name...

Bingo....I totally agree. Same in the off-road crowd. A few bad apples get good trails closed because they won't stay on the proper designated trails.

Nice Poot!

I had a TJ partly built and then gave up 'cause I needed to buy a new truck... had to sell it.

Wonder when they'll start Tundra's? They any good that way? I have one but it's way too new (for me) to hack into.

-jeff

Ford. She just missed the transfer case.

I just stuffed this lump in my 67 fastback mustang..... I like it!!

Thanks Jeff,
In order to bring this thread from hell to and end, I am going to hijack it and post picture of wheeling in Moab in a Chevy powered Toy. This re-directing technique tends to work well with my three year old

Please promise me you will not do anymore "Poll" type posts or "Cult of" posts on contraversial topics that will polorize the entire forum

Thanks Poot for taking this thread to a better level....theres a few other threads that need help too.

I too believe a firearm should be handed to a person with the action opened.
Here's one for you.
Last week i stopped off at a pawn shop that now and again has some pretty nice rifles and at a decent price.
Anyway there was a Winchester rifle and i asked to see it.
Young guy gets it and lays it down on the counter with the bolt closed.
I picked it up and with the muzzle pointed at the ceiling i opened the bolt and at that time i inserted my little finger into the chamber to make good and sure it was empty.
About that time someone behind me spoke out and said"Finally,someone who knows how to handle a firearm"
It turned out to be the store owner and at that point started berating his young employee about ALWAYS opening the bolt AND to check the chamber.
You know there are such things like extractors that can and do break.

So having said all that i freely admit that i have been hunting at least for 45 years and have always carried a hot round in the pipe IF the terrain conditions were satifactory in my judgement.
Every one i know does the very same thing.
However after reading these threads about this subject and the Accidental discharge thread and the fact that my all time favorite hunting rifles are Remington 600's which i own several and are prone to have AD's when flipping off said safety(which at this point has never occured on mine)and since i plan on doing a lot of walk hunting in a few weeks when i go deer hunting i am going to give the cold chamber style a try.
I certainly hope i dont blow a good shot doing this but to there credit those rifles can be cycled pretty damn fast(you gotta love a short action rifle!).
Anyway i will give it a try.

Yes, but only because I like your pics... don't care while your chamber was hot or not

Poot,

There are several shortened Toy's in my area; they look like a lot of fun!

My TJ was a good time. I regeared it to 4.10 and had 'em put a Tru-Track front and rear at the same time... got it set up with some nice bumpers and Warn... a lift and some 33's was next, but then my old beater truck blew the engine HARD and I looked around and went... crap, I can't really afford to have a $12k vehicle that's just toy, not when I have to buy a new truck... so away went the Jeep.

I'll get another one someday.

As far as promises... well, can't do that, sorry! :-) You know, I didn't actually START this whole thing. Go look at the Butler Creek scope covers thread; it started there and was nicely contained and actually sort of winding down. Then Steelhead, in his infinite wisdom, did HIS cute little Idiot Post of the Year thing, and then I did start this thread because I was simply interested, at that point, in finding out roughly what the ratio of hot/cold hunters was.

I guess I need to scroll through this huge sumbitch at some point and tally it up... does anyone CARE what the exact number is? I'd guess, 85/15 carrying hot? Seem about right?

-jeff