Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Poll: Do you hunt with a round in the chamber?

Sitka deer -

When writing that my thoughts were not that one might wander around the countryside or go poking through the alders going after wounded game but rather that a hunter might find himself standing his ground in a defensive situation where the time spent fumbling with a safety might make a difference in the outcome.

In particular I was thinking of smallish (like the Ruger) three-position safety and gloved hands or a safety that has been subjected to moisture in freezing weather (I had one freeze up in the "safe" position one day). I was also thinking in terms of pack animals like wolves or hyenas or maybe a pride of lions. In such situations is is not a all hard for me to imagine I'd slip the safety to the fire position even if I was praying I never had to actually fire.

One might argue that such a situation is not "hunting", but that's a pretty fine point if the situation occurs in during a hunt.


P.S.

I freely admit I didn't give the whole idea a lot of thought as it quickly became apparent that I could not imagine all possible situations let alone evaluate them.

I also admit that such situations are likely to be rare in the extreme rather than commonplace, as are events like getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery.