Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Rifle in tent?

What does everyone do with their rifle when it drops below freezing and they stay in a tent with a stove? Do you bring a cold rifle in the warm tent for the night and if so doesn't this cause condensation which could cause the action to freeze the next morning when you go back out in the cold? Just asking because this year will be my first sleeping with a stove and have never had to worry about it before.

If you are truck camping, then leave it in the unheated truck over night.

You are correct; you don't want to bring it in the heated tent.

leave it outside in the truck so it don't walk away... if your camping far from the road and don't have to worry about two legged vermin then just leave it outside....

Laying it on the ground under your cot will keep it close, and it wont be warm enough that low to the ground to cause issues.

Keep it in the truck.

If you're on a horseback hunt, leave it in the scabbard on the saddle. Then throw the saddle blanket over the whole outfit. Or lacking that, you can wrap the scabbard with your slicker.

I leave mine in the truck in cold or inclement weather, leaning up against a tree or some other place handy in good weather. Make sure you wrap the muzzle with blue electrical tape if you leave it outside.

Blue does seem to be color of choice for moisture protection...

If not packded in,we usually leave it in the scabbard under the hay tarp.If packed in,we take the scabbard off saddle and lean it againsta tree with the rifle in it,butt down. Tarp it. Don't do this if scabbrad is wet.
If no horses,I would put it in the gun case and leave it outside or in the truck. Either way, you do not wnat it in the warm tent

In bear or wolf country I would sure hate to have mine anywhere but with me. Just deal with the condenstion by servicing the rifle before you hunt just like one always should.

Big handgun in a tent works fine. I'd hate to be trying to swing a rifle around in a confined space, or I'd keep a camp rifle for tent use. Probably pretty small chance of a wolf coming in a tent

outside in a scabbard is the last place a weapon of mine will be. for that matter in a scabbard overnight anywhere will never happen. the leather wears off the protection you put on the rifle and if the leather draws moisture rust follows.

you have to service the rifle anyway so why not in the tent and just leave it in the tent. how hard it it to keep a ziplock with an oil soaked rag and 3 ft of weedeater line in your pack or pocket to service it? usually i lay mine on the ground cloth and cover it. and remove the tape every night too cause it can rust under the tape.

i have seen many guns rusted in guncases too from the foam drawing moisture. leaves a funny eggcrate look on the blue.

Well Ray,Co is a darn sight drier than Arkansas. I did say,not if the scabbard is wet. Guns are suppose to be used and having one sit over night in a scabbard is a lot less wear than what one sees while riding. I never worry about a little scababrd wear,I worry about the thing going bang and the bullet hitting where I aimed.
Unless it got wet from rain or snow,my rifles don't get wiped down every night.

Once the temps are below freezing and stay you are not going to draw moisture from the scabbard.

Leaving the gun in a warm tent and the taking it out to freezing temps is a heck of a lot more punishing on the gun than leaving it in a truck or outside. You can watch the moisture build up on it as it gets colder.Then that moisture gets down in the bolt, etc and before you know it, the moisture turns to ice and you have ice crystals in your action and on the scope. No matter how much oil you globbed on it the night before, ice will still form.Try working the bolt to load a round and see how it goes. All my rifles get wiped down of excess oil prior to the season, and usually do not get oil until after the seaosn closes.

One thing we do agree on is those gun cases with foam lining are next to worth less as a scabbard with fleece lining is. The rest of it we will just agree to disagree I guess.I know you have beendoing your way for a long time and so have I and I have yet ot have a rusty rifle or handgun.
I spent 12 days in Alberta oney ear, 25 below and it never got to zero while I was there. The rifle remained in the scabbard all that time,except when I shot an elk

It's hard to compare the humid southern states to the dry southwest states. If you haven't hunted out here, you probably won't understand it. I can open a bag of potato chips and they will taste fresh for a week or more. When I was in MO, I had to eat them within the hour or they were wilty looking!!

When hunting out of a house or cabin, I still leave my scoped rifle in the the truck at night. I hunted in MT with Mule Deer one year and my improperly prepped rifle took a beating from the warm motel rooms to the cold field. I went to shoot a buck and enough rust had formed inside my bolt body that my firing pin couldn't hit the primer hard enough to set it off.

Never happened to me before and happened at a bad time that trip. I was stuck using his back-up ULA rifle the rest of the hunt

If I am in bear or wolf country, I will keep a weapon with me, If the scoped rifle is all I have, then it has to do. Normally, I have a 12 ga loaded with slugs or buck with me and sleep with it.

I always kept mine in the tent with me. I had no problems at all. Gun is of no use if you cant get to it. I would try to clean up my gun every night anyway. It gets moisture on it when I am out hunting, etc. Wipe it down and put it in the case, laying open. I have never had an issue yet.

We've always left ours in the truck. No problem with fogging that way.

i am not talking of a tent in arkansas but colorado and alaska. i have seen several fellows regret not wipeing down their weapon in colorado. my scabbards have just a little too much salt from horse sweat in them for me to leave a rifle in them. maybe if i used a new scabbard and oiled it a lot i could get by. i think i will clean my rifle anyway.

In well over 50 years of hunting,I have never had a problem with the gun in the tent,it will always be there..Just what is the difference in driving to your hunting spot in your heated truck,then get out and go hunting in cold weather????


Jayco

Good point, Jayco. Here in KS, I hunt all day, then drive to a deer camp in a large farm shed, have a nice meal and knock down a few, tell the same old lies, and drive home to a nice bed. My rifle sleeps in its case in the truck. No problems with a Sav 99.

I'm too old for that mountain stuff now. I would need an outfitter that could pour my whiskey and tie my shoes. Life is good.

Truck, tent, outside have all worked for me. I think it's a non-issue at least if you have a good scope.