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

rem_7

Apparently you have a reading comprehension problem. Wildswalker had admitted there are times when he may hunt hot and I have stated many times that I hunt both hot and cold depending on circumstances. There have been others as well.

That said, cold is ALWAYS an option and it is the ONLY option that is 100% safe with regard to ADs. Period. Could it cost the hunter an opportunity to take game? Perhaps, but an honest evaluation comes to the conclusion that such instances are relatively rare.

(Note that I am talking about ADs, not going into the brush following wounded DG, in which case I would be hot with the safety on.)

Someone else pointed out the risk/reward factor where (paraphrasing) the reward equaled a squirrel in the pot and the risk equaled injury or death. There are a lot of people here that have always hunted hot, loading up as soon as they leave their vehicle and staying hot until they return, and probably always will. It seems that many of these hunters are somehow threatened by the fact that others come to the conclusion that hunting cold is a safer method. Cold hunters have been incorrectly slandered as too stupid and/or clumsy to handle firearms safely when in fact they choose the safest possible method of carry, knowing that neither mechanical safeties nor good gun handling can always prevent injury. Mechanical systems are prone to breakage and people are prone to failure. Either can result in the unwanted when the chamber is hot � and often HAS resulted in same.

You cannot recall a fired bullet and �Oops, sorry� doesn�t cut it.

ETwin,

The original question is kind of a yes/no question. I would like to think that most people probably would say "some of the time". Clearly, no one will ever fire a shot if they don't "put one in". So, what happens with a yes/no question is that people respond to how they tend to run things most of the time.

I run "cold" as I have indicated, and that happens 98-99% of the time. If I'm lying in wait for geese to fly over, then there's one in, safety on. (If anyone gets up to walk around, actions are opened.) If the gun is on my back - which is where is is most of the time- it's cold. If I'm wandering through bear thickets I'll most likely have the rifle in my hands and there'll be one in the pipe - safety on. (But I won't second guess what others do in this regard, and I'd be very uncomfortable if there were any others carrying hot if I was in the lead.) If I feel there is a high need to carry hot, I prefer to carry a weapon that can be carried uncocked safely- like an exposed hammer gun. I think this is one reason for the popularity of the Marlin Guide Guns in Alaska.

But I survived my youth and it wasn't necessarily because I deserved to. And I have managed to live through enough experiences to realize that the rules of safe gun handling are not without merit, nor should they be cherry-picked. And while the rule of muzzle control and pointing the weapon has been frequently cited in these many pages without refute, many folks seem willing to overlook another one of the basic safety rules about keeping the chamber empty until you are ready to take the shot. (This has nothing to do with how one might carry a weapon when hunting, or being hunted by, humans; I'm not really sure why that was brought in except, perhaps, for lack of more logical straws to grasp.)

The bottom line for which there can be no argument is that a cold chambered weapon is a safer condition in terms of having an accidental discharge than is "sometimes hot". Whether that may make one miss a shot opportunity or not may be open to argument. However, it is probably also without question that in most cases an instantaneous opportunity taken is going to be one where other accepted rules of safety being violated.

Klik, I have absolutely no issues with what you have just said. I was merely making an observation of what some guys do. I also need to state that these same guys are extremely careful and aware of their muzzles regardless of which flavor rifle they have in hand. Don't think for a heartbeat that I haven't busted their balls about it either.

I find it funny some accept the possibility of 100% muzzle control, yet feel carrying sometimes hot is safer due to greater inherent concern over loaded guns. Either the human animal can do something as important as staying safe, or they cannot.

I obviously feel I can make mistakes...

There it is in a nutshell, and why i almost never carry a hot chamber.

Yes. Of course. But, to say that a hot chamber is more dangerous than following up wounded DG while cold by extention suggests that an unloaded gun in the home when an intruder enters is the smart thing to do (so you can't shoot yourself?).

I reckon it's fair to say it doesn't make sense.

Coyote, Klik, ET, Art.....much more eloquently said than I can muster.

Would be nice to end this on that note, but we all know different........

It seems like alot of accidents really happen when someone is loading or unloading there rifles. Everyone I know around here carries with a round in the chamber. Can't recall any accidents. Not saying it is safer ,because that is just not possible.Guys that are nuts are the guys that road hunt with a loaded chamber.Do police carry with a empty chamber?

Do police go everywhere waving their gun around, standing in line at the doughnut shop, walking in the hospital, taking the kid to school? Pistol always out of the holster and in hand?

Course they ain't any difference between being paid to 'serve and protect' and a deer....

I expect the police hunt with 270s and such like other do as opposed to their service 40s or whatever. Not sure how what police do at work, or how a handgun in the nightstand relates to hunting? I would think that many LEOs would be more inclined to follow the "letter of the law" so to speak when it comes to hunter safety guidelines. I could be wrong.

I recall a certain video where a cop was demonstrating to school children why only trained professionals should handle guns - as he shot himself in the leg.

Seems like cold carry would have been more appropriate...

Thinking the cop (was DEA, right?) also proved who was right by suing his employer because they did not stop the video from leaking... And he lost the respect of his peers and was subjected to ridicule...

Yeah, but he didn't kill anyone.

Actually,he was cold until he decided to chamber a round in front a classroom full of kids. Bad case of dumbazz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am-Qdx6vky0

Just some thing to think about. How many of you hunt with friends and family? Is accidentaly killing one of them worth having one in the chamber. Would the 3-5 seconds it takes to jack a round in the chamber going to make that big of a difference? Could that few seconds give you a little exrta time to make a good decision about your shot?

I cary a loaded handgun every day and never (knock on wood) have had a accidenal discharge. But here is something to think about.

I was at the range one day with a new rifle that I had shot on 2 prior occasions and was setting up to shoot a group. I put one in the chamber and put the safety on. I then took a second to look through me spotting scope at the target and the next thing I knew I was hit in the chest with the butt of the gun. I was in shock. I look at my budy standing next to me and we both were in disbelief. The Gun just went off with no one touching it. I then looked over the gun and found nothing that would tell me there was a problem. I loaded another round and it shot fine. shot 2 more and then boom it happened again, now we looked closer at the gun and found that If the bolts was just barely touched or even shock wave from some one shooting next to me would drop the firing pin without ever touching the trigger. thank god no one was hurt.

Now take that gun in the field with a round in the chamber and give it to you 12 year old son to take his first deer. Is one in the chamber worth risking the chance of hitting the 1 in a million odds and destroying your family?

YOUR CHOICE CHOOSE WISELY. I choose not to have one in the chamber.

Just wanted to share a thought.

OK, he went hot when there was not only no need, but when it was really dumb to do so.

Your point is...?

My point? he's a DUMBAZZ!!!!!!!!

CH,if your comparing yourself to him......???

Nothing could be further from the turth - I wouldn't instruct a classroom full of kids with a handgun with cartridges in the mag. Incredibly stupid.

Cold would have been better...

You mean, because it can happen to anyone?

watch it again, read the post again..