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

The bird hunting I�ve done is very different from my big game hunting.

First, much of it is done when hunters are spread out in a line with shooting more or less perpendicular to the line, not following one another down a trail. (When we trail to our duck/goose hunting spot we have cold chambers.) Second, much of our bird hunting is done from a stationary position - not much chance of falling when you�re sitting in a blind or laying in a ditch. Third, although I�ve seen an idiot pepper someone else with dove shot 100 yards or so across a watering hole, the pellets didn�t even penetrate the clothing � try that with a rifle. (By the way, I don�t hunt with that particular idiot since that event.)

So, yeah � for me there is quite a bit of difference. And, for what it is worth, I often have an empty chamber when hunting birds. Just takes a split second to chamber one in the 870 and the birds don�t seem to mind.