I never go deer hunting without at least one backup rifle along. You just never know. Over the years, I've seen too many scopes get fogged or bumped off zero. Last year, a friend's 760 broke and locked up the action the night before opening day.
My own worst equipment failure cost me a wide Pennsylvania 12 point that would have been my biggest. I spined the big buck right at dusk. It collapsed and then got up and ran. I had a chance to finish it but couldn't reload my .280 Mountain Rifle. A case head separation (the only one I've ever had in my lifetime) had left the front of the brass stuck in the chamber. Back at camp, all efforts to remove the shell failed and I had to leave it with a gunsmith. I didn't get that buck. A friend got it a few days later. But, I was able to keep hunting because I had another rifle on the trip.
