Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Kifaru Gun bearer. Yes another ???

Well you guys (most of you :-) )have me convinced. Unfortunately Kifaru says probably a month until they can even think about shipping.

So, bigwhoop or anyone else have a long universal they want to part with??

You need one for a hunt or something? I could loan you mine, but I don't want to sell it.

Yeah I was hoping to get one for chasing spring bears around.
I appreciate the offer smokepole, but I hate borrowing things. If I can't find one soon I'll do without for te spring but have one by fall!
Thanks again for the generous offer though :-)

Sorry, Vance, I threw it away many years ago.

Smokepole, I've been doing a little thinking & reconsidering, & if you really don't mind I think I'll take you up on your offer.
I have a hunt coming up in 2 weeks where it would really be an asset & a good test to see if I like the syetem. I'll be more than happy to stick money in when I return it to repay your layout for shipping priority mail. I'll pm you.
Thanks!

OK, Vance, let me make sure I have both parts. There's a good chance I'll be coming through there around June 21-22, maybe save you some postage.

That's a bit more of a challenge for me as I'm fat enough I can't see anything below my belt...

Vance,

I use one with my longhunter pack. Once you adjust it for your comfort, it's a beautiful thing to be walking the mountains hands free. The gun is right beside you but it does take a bit to get used to when using binos with the gun positioned here. The right hand has to negotiate the barrel because the barrel does stick up a bit. I see it a small trade off.
I'm buying the universal model to go with a day pack that is not made by Kifaru. It's great not having to carry the gun in my hands all day, saves arm fatigue and I still have the gun ready in an instant.

i have two and two more on order with the new lt. wt. Kifaru packs.


i use to use a backpacker by Dark horse leather that put the rifle more in the same position as the Eberlestock.

had a velcro strap at the top attached to the frame, so you could still access your rifle


but I've had a bum shoulder for most of my adult life (that I finally had surgery on this year)

the gunbearer is the ticket for me, I've stumbled across two different grizzly bears and a couple of sheep (not legal but still glad to have such quick access) while hiking, all 3 times I could have hit any of them with a rock


I'll stop and take a break too, but normally I'll look for a rock to sit on, so I don't have to unazz my pack, just give my shoulders and back a break and sit to the left side so the butt of the gun hangs off the rock.


if that doesn't work, I don't mind unazzing the rifle and restoring it when time to move.

jwb, if taking a quick look with the binocs, I'll wrap a little finger around the barrel and use it to help steady my binocs

I use 10X so I normally sit if going to glass hard, but for just a quick glance it sure helps steady them

Its been reported the upper clip/shoulder strap portion of the gunbearer setup can break or fail if one suffers a slip and falls on their rear. I haven't experienced this issue but trust the advice of those that state it can happen. I still use the lower portion of the gunbearer but switched out the upper piece for a simple piece of nylon webbing and a nylon side release buckle from REI. It releases just as fast as the original piece but is much stronger.

MtnHtr

that idea would seem to have merit, I've heard of the same thing happening.

I carry a backup buckle along with the hip belt buckle spare, but on my original buckle on first gunbearer never had a failure, that things gotta be 10 years old or better.

Vance, how was the bear hunt and how did the gunbearer work for you?

I slipped and fell right on my rear with my day pack and Universal Kifaru on. The buckle certainly didn't break- in fact, it held so tight that I was worried it jammed into my stock or scope and knocked it off zero.

I shot at and missed a deer on that same trip. Probably coincidence and that can happen anytime you're carrying a rifle, but it was awkward the way I came down and the gun was rigidly fixed to my pack and therefore to me.

I'll still use the Kifaru because I love not having to constantly adjust my sling trying to slide off my shoulder, but I will be a bit more cautious now.

There is a sure-fire way to see if your scope was knocked off zero.

No doubt. I'm normally obsessive about rechecking my sight-in after something like that, but I didn't this one time.

How about since then? Just curious, as I've taken a few falls in my day and worried about knocking the scope off zero, but never had it actually happen.

curious on the scope gig myself. I've taken some hard spills while holding or carrying a rifle and it's never happened to me personally.

I've had more than a few clients that after just traveling in a hard case we've had to re-zero their rifles.

to be honest it has always left me scratching my head how a rifle scope get knocked off zero riding in a hard case with foam lining. Sure I get how falling down 10 ft. of boulders in high country can knock a scope off, heck it can break a lot more than a scope!

I'll be the first to admit I'm no great rifle shot, just normally good enough to get done what I'm trying to accomplish.

those itty bitty groups have always escaped me

but while in the minority I've often seen guys spend big $$ to come up here to hunt that didn't seem to have much of a clue as to even go about sighting in their rifle. They left here with a much better idea of how to both sight in and use their rifle, figure it was just a bonus to them as they'd paid for me to be in the field and my job was to aid them in their quest for a successful hunt.


so How many of you guys have had your scope knocked off zero while in the field?

I'm embarrassed to say I haven't been back to the range to see yet. I did test it off my pack and hit my 100 yard target afterwards, but I'm not certain of the zero.

I'll try to report back after I confirm a problem.

Well, went to the range today. Rifle is still sighted in right where I left it. So, in spite of the tumble with the Gun Bearer on, it didn't change my point of impact.

Point is, a properly mounted scope on a tight rifle doesn't just get "knocked off" zero, in my opinion.