I'm a relatively new "member" of the Ruger #1 Rifle Club having purchased my little RSI in 7x57 just a tad over a year ago... and the more I read what the #1 owners say about hunting with a single shot, the more I consider using my "ding-less" RSI as a "hunter" rather than just as a "shooter" at my club's rifle range which is what I've done so far with it.
My first big game kill (a running mule deer buck at 425 yards in 1962) was a "dumb" shot on which I never should have pulled the trigger... even though I was laying on a rock outcropping on a Colorado mountain with the rifle resting on my day-pack in a very solid "bench-rest-like" solid position.
It took 45 minutes to climb down the "mountain" (actually just a "tall hill") I was on, cross the narrow valley and climb back up to the same level on the next "mountain" to get to the deer. Then it took a second shot from my rifle and another shot from my pistol to "finish" the suffering buck.
Even though I knew the ballistics on my handloaded .338 Win. Mag. cartridge out to 500 yards, I mis-judged the distance and shot a bit too high and too far back breaking the deer's back. The 210 grain Nosler Partition bullet blew out 4-inches of his spine just ahead of his "hips"... taking out or ruining all of his steaks... leaving a small, football-shaped hole in the top of his back with his intestines "sucked-up" through the hole. A very "nasty" shot I truly regretted.
I felt so bad about the suffering I caused that I vowed to
never take another shot beyond my rifle's "point-blank-range" (250-300 yards depending on what rifle I'm using)... and I never have.
But I digress.
I currently hunt with my handloads (150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip @ 2680 fps) in a 1953 Savage Model 99 "EG" in .300 Savage and don't consider any shot over 250 yards. I like a "repeater" in country that holds bears even though I'm hunting for deer simply because I might run into a "grouchy" ol' bear that doesn't want me on HIS mountain who might decide to "teach" me a lesson in respect.
However, the more I "hang around" guys who "hunt" single shot rifles, the more I find I'm beginning to consider using my "purdy", ding-free RSI for my annual deer hunting trek in the territory around my bestest buddy's cozy cabin in Pennsylvania where we hunt white-tails.
As far as feeling at a disadvantage with a single shot, all of my kills since that first "goof" have been one-shot kills, so a single shot would have not been... nor would be a disadvantage.
I don't feel a single shot rifle would be a "disadvantage" during ANY hunt for non-dangerous game, but admittedly, I believe it is "natural & normal" for a man using a single shot rifle to "choose" his shots a bit more carefully.
If I were hunting
dangerous game (I'm thinking mostly of the BIG bears since I don't hunt outside of North America), I'd want a repeating rifle "just-in-case".
If I were hunting things at CAN "eat" me or hunting in an area where such animals are found, I'd
definitely want a "repeating" rifle.
As far as carrying a round in the chamber, once I am out of the cabin, I load my rifle's chamber, put the safety "on" and, naturally... keep the muzzle of my rifle pointing in a SAFE direction (loaded or not) at
ALL times both "going" and "coming" from the hunt. I unload the rifle once I get back to camp, but BEFORE I enter the cabin. Our camp rule is "
no loaded guns in the cabin"... a "rule" with which I completely agree.
In summary, I frankly don't see any big
disadvantage in hunting non-dangerous game with a single shot rifle. I do believe it tends to make most hunters "choose" their shots more carefully which isn't a "bad" thing.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
