Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How many bullets do you carry?

How many bullets/rounds do you carry in the woods with you? Just to be clear, talking elk hunting here. If I carried zero with me the last few years, I'd have been OK. But always seems like I end up with 20+ in my pack by the end of the season. I guess if I have to take on foreign invaders in some Red Dawn scenario, I'm prepared. This year, I'm think maybe three mags total or 12.

My buddy carried 1 mag full (3+1) until a few years ago when he ran out of ammo shooting at a bull 406 yards away.

How about all of you?

10 in my ammo wallet on my belt, 4 (or 3 depending on the chambering) in the mag of the rifle.

I figure if I shoot all my ammo up the elk deserves to get away.

Casey

That's how I roll, too.

3 in the rifle, 2 in my pockets, 2 more in the day pack.....a superstitious tradition......but I damn sure never needed even that many....

4 in my rifle
10 in my back pack
2 in my chest pack
one or two in my front pocket
30 more in the truck

Maybe ten or so.

I've killed more than a few elk and that's surely enough for eight or nine elk.

kd

3+1 in the rifle and 2 more full mags

Used to not carry anything more than the magazine held. That plan went to hell one time so depending I carry 5 or 10 in my pack plus a full magazine.

4+1 and a couple extry's in my left chest pocket next to the Longcut....

15-20 rounds. Rifle may get jarred off zero several miles from the truck, may wound an elk and need more rounds, you never know. I have never thought to myself, "man I wish I had brought less ammo today."

9 on or in the rifle, with another ten or so in an ammo pouch in the pack.

I have a folding leather pouch that holds 14 rounds.... so 3 in rifle and 11 in the pouch. memtb

10 in the bullet wallet plus a full mag, empty chamber. Often the bullet wallet has 5+5 of different cartridges, 5 for my primary and 5 for my backup rifle.

A few extra is good insurance. Case in point: A few years ago I took a hard fall on shale and landed on my scope. I shot it a couple times and all seemed fine. A few weeks later, I shot an elk with it at about 200 yds. I put her down but the hit was back a ways from where I thought I'd aimed. She slid down hill in the snow and into a pile of brush. I needed a kill shot and got to about 10 yds where I could easily see her neck. It took me 4 shots to hit it, even from a good rest. I was worried that I'd run out of ammo before I got her dead.

I went through a lot of ammo sighting and resighting before I finally found the problem. I'd have it perfect then it would shift. About drove me crazy. It turned out that my fall had broken an ear off the dovetail on the back ring. I couldn't move the scope by hand but recoil could shift it just slightly, enough to throw me off about 4 MOA.

That'd better be Cope Longcut..........


Casey

I load the magazine and go hunting. Whatever fits in the rifle is what I take with.

At least a dozen.

I load the magazine, then take another 10 just in case there's a shoot-out with a herd of grizzly bears somewhere along the trail.

3 + 1 in the rifle, 1 in each front pants pocket so that they don't clank together, 6-8, wrapped so they don't clank, in an outside pack pocket. I have once used the pants pocket ones when right next to my partner and he ran out - same caliber, almost identical load. I try to only need 1, but will follow up if any doubt.

Is there another kind?