2 comments then I'll leave it to others to comment (better than I can I mean).
First, you are correct that an unloaded chamber won't kill anyone. But my point was, a significant number of gun accidents occur when people just "know" that the gun was unloaded (the ultimate unchambered, yeah?) but in fact, it wasn't. Obviously, those are careless people- no argument there. My point is not that a loaded chamber is safer than an empty one on some sort of physics level, 'cause it ain't. My point is that people get careless when they think the gun is not loaded. During the course of a day, with game around, I can certainly imagine a gun being chambered and then unchambered (maybe, and that's the point) several times. That's got serious potential for problems.
Second comment... only 3 of your examples happened during what I mean by "hunting". Hunting is being in the woods, game on, killing mode on... Riding in an ATV is a CLASSIC empty-chamber scenario; so is climbing a tree or crossing a fence, or having your gun in the back of your truck with the dog flailing around. That's common sense and I'm sure you agree. Personally, any time there's a "force multiplier" like a long drop, a horse, an ATV, etc involved... the rifle should be unloaded IMHO. Because the operator cannot control the muzzle, and because the physical stresses that the rifle could be subject to go far, far beyond just falling on your butt in a clearcut.
I truly believe that a lot of this is just regional. If I were lucky enough to hunt with an empty-chamber guy in, say, Wyoming or Arizona where there was really not a lot of chance of killing animals in tight quarters, but the idea was rather to spot them from far away and then work closer, I would have no problem carrying cold if the person I was with was really hung up on that. On the other hand, I don't care what other folks have said- there is NO WAY some of the deer I have killed would have been tagged if I had to chamber a round. No way. And thinking through them (I've only killed 16 so I can remember them all), the added need to chamber a round would have been one more thing to deal with- in a negative way, a potentially unsafe way.
And you don't get many 2nd chances hunting our 18% blacktail tag in Oregon, either, which ties into things too. On a practical level, in areas like Calvin described when he talked about "taking out a visiting buddy who killed a nice 3x3 and two forkies for the freezer" (not an exact quote) missing out on a buck is obviously not a big deal. Around here, it is...
In the final analysis it comes down to safe gun handling. I think it's possible to be a safe gun handler in the woods with a loaded chamber. Others don't... to each their own.
Thanks again, I respect your opinion and enjoyed reading your post.
