Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Hunter Shot and Killed in Colorado

I have two husqavarna actions.

When on safe you can open the chamber.

If you open the chamber and close the chamber

It is no longer on safe.

You never leave the truck before legal shooting hours?

How about public roads, ever park your truck on the side of a road where (in most states) it's illegal to hunt within a certain distance of the road?

Rifles can discharge after cycling a round without touching the trigger.My model 70 did it when I was cycling it getting ready to shoot an elk. After the elk left, without me getting a shot, I repeated and it fired again.Lucky I had a 2nd rifle along and the Model 70 went to the gunsmith

RE this case, I've heard through the grapevine that there is some disagreemen about whether the shooter will be charged...if it turns out there is a malfunction in the rifle perhaps like saddlesore described, then some feel that there wouldn't be charges. Others reportedly believe that whether the rifle malfunctioned or not is irrelevant, because the shooter was negligent.

You do not have to depend upon a safety that may fail. Anything can fail. Close the bolt so that the lugs are not locked into the lug recesses. You can feel this spot if you close the bolt slowly. The bolt will remain in this position. The gun will not fire when you pull the trigger when the bolt is in this position. When you get ready to fire, simply close the bolt. It is easy and quiet. It is also very easy to tell when the bolt is in firing position by the position of the bolt handle. Much easier than trying to look and see if a safety is on or off. I picked this up from another forum. I have been trying that method this hunting season. It appears to be a safe way to hunt. The only issue I have is that I am afraid I will accidentally close the bolt an not realize it, so I am careful to keep an eye on it. The jury is still out as to whether or not this is the best way to go. Try it and see if you want something different. I do not trust a mechanical safety.

Also, I hunt alone. Not that I do not have friends and family that hunt. I simply prefer to hunt alone and be with friends and family around the fire afterwards.

I have several rifles with detachable mags. It seems to me his mistake was having the bolt open when he inserted the mag. Closing the bolt chambers a round just like an internal mag rifle. I typically put the mag in but leave the bolt closed and don't chamber a round until I'm down the trail a ways or entering the woods to start hunting.

I had a Browning A-bolt that fired when the bolt was closed with nothing anywhere near the trigger. Was hunting cold, deer came in, chambered a round and it fired as soon as the bolt closed. Sent the gun into Browning and they found the defect and repaired it. So, I know personally that it can happen with a Browning. Don't know if his was same model. Scared the [bleep] out of me when it went off.

He still violated rule #1.

I had a Remington 700 that fired upon closing the bolt and it happened twice, and once when taking it off safety. I installed a Timney trigger/safety.

Quite often, yes, I carry a shotgun with an empty chamber. Mine is an 870 pump and I've used it for doubles at the range. (Not very successfully, I might add, but the occasional success is addicting.) Picking up the second clay is actually more difficult for me than starting with an empty chamber an picking up the first.

There are lots of times when an empty chamber makes sense for a shotgun. Engaging doves might not be one of them. Laying in a ditch waiting for geese might be (and often has been).

Although we hunt empty chamber most of the time with our rifles, the key word is "most". There are times when having a loaded chamber makes more sense and we choose according to our judgement.

And, although I get no end of grief for it, I do the same with my carry weapon. Most of the time (probably 99.9%) it is unloaded in the chamber. If I lived in a different area my carry habits would adapt accordingly - ther are areas where a loaded chamber would be de rigor.

That's a little different answer than you gave the first time you answered this question a few pages back. Have you changed your thinking?

First, when we are near the vehicles and have a distance to go to where we will be hunting, both rifles and shotguns are unloaded. But that isn't so much hunting as travel by a different means.

When big game hunting we will often spend the day and return to the vehicle without ever loading the chamber. There have been things like skylined game and game bounding away and offering only a 'Texas heart shot' that have cost me game but I can't think of a single instance where an empty chamber has done so. On the contrary, I can think of many instances where we loaded the chamber in anticipation of a shot opportunity, but even those were mostly dry holes.

Walking the CRP land, harvested crop fields, grasslands or sage for small game is a different story - we load the shotgun chambers before we start. Laying in a ditch waiting for geese, an unloaded chamber works fine. Hunting doves, loaded chamber - I need all the shots the gun will hold.

Years ago I hunted elk with a dude form LA. Last day of the hunt he informed us his safety was broken. We asked if he hunted empty chamber. His response was no, but he kept his finger off the trigger. We never let him hunt with us again.

Much of my career has been spent fixing things that are broken - and there has been no shortage of such work. Mechanical safeties and humans are both prone to failure. An empty chamber is not.

Neat trick if you dont sit in a stand to hunt.

Half the season, hunting means walking around in the bush, not sitting in a stand.

Muzzle control is of utmost importance.

Any gun that is ever pointed at you should be followed by a beating.

I have zero tolerance for poo muzzle control. Loaded, unloaded, I dont GAF. PIOnt it in a safe direction. Every time always.

The rest becomes moot.

Not at all.

What I said above was I rarely "hunt cold" with a shotgun. I differentiate between "hunting" and "travelling by foot", whether carrying a rifle or shotgun. The two may overlap or I may be doing one or the other, depending on the situation. I don't see any need to have a loaded chamber while laying in a ditch or blind waiting for ducks or geese to come in anymore than when hiking to or from the hunting spots. I'm also hesitant to call waiting time "hunting" time except in the broadest terms. Hunting mode kicks in for me when the ducks or geese are in sight, not when the skies are clear, and there is plenty of time to load the chamber then if conditions warrant.

In any case, I haven't hunted ducks or geese in many (15?) years. Doves are a different story - one in the chamber and safety on.

]https://clockworkconservative.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/gun-safety-training.jpg[/img]

So, when you sit in a duck blind and you can't see birds flying, you don't consider yourself to be hunting, that's an interesting take on it.

To me its kind of like when I find a spot while elk hunting and decide to wait until late afternoon when I expect the elk to show up. You might fine me eating, sleeping, reading a book, trying to stay warm or just enjoying the view - but there isn't much 'hunting' going on.

You wouldn't catch me loafing at the edge of a meadow, stationary, without a round in the chamber during shooting hours. No need for an empty chamber when muzzle control is not an issue and an animal can show up unexpectedly.

Since I started elk hunting in '82 I've spent many hours overlooking a meadow or other area with an empty chamber. Can't think of a single time it has cost me an animal. For that matter, I've watched elk for hours on end with an empty chamber when they were a bit outside my comfort range. In one case from about 11AM to dusk, another from about 9AM to dusk, both resulting in a down elk. Another case we set up on a hillside, listening to the elk in a wooded draw below us. I hiked a mile back to the truck, drove an hour to town, had lunch, and returned to the site where I found Daughter #2 and her hubby sleeping. I joined them in a snooze for a couple hours and he bagged his elk just before dusk. Other cases not so long, some successful, some not, some alone, others with company. In every case, plenty of time to chamber a round and no missed shot opportunities. In yet another case, we were hunting with loaded chambers, as the elk were coming towards us through the trees. My hunting buddy had two misfires (cold/weak firing pin spring) before he bagged his elk. I didn't shoot mine until he was done, and even then I took my time, setting up on sticks and waiting for a full broadside opportunity. No rush at all. You do it your way, we'll do it ours, everyone wins.

Yep, I've also spent many hours watcging animals that were out of range and napping. But those are apples and oranges with respect to setting up in a spot where animals can pass through at any time.