Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles your back up rifle on a trip

Another boredom survey: do y'all take a back up rifle on caribou/elk/moose trips in the same cartridge as your primary? (I know there's no right or wrong answer here, just curious.)

Back up rifle, Yes. Same chambering, No. Why, because I do not have a lot of duplicate chamberings.

Always on a deer hunt where I could lock one up back in the cabin or in the truck; though I always worried about one in the truck. Elk hunting was out of a tent and a buddy had a .280 back in the tent, but that was a little too available for anyone who happened along that thought that it would be good to “borrow” a .280 long term. Never the same chambering as the primary rifle. Cartridges don’t weigh that much.

I always take a "back up" but it is almost never chambered for the same cartridge as the "primary" rifle. More fun to have two distinct choices...

No on rifles, but backup scopes are nice. Usually bring one of those if going to be far from home.

No rifles only scopes. Way too much weight.

Deer hunting in WI the backup is whatever seems like it needs to go into the woods for a bit, usually second week end. When travelling a spare scope comes along. Another rifle takes up way too much space.

I almost always bring a 30-06 as a back up or loaner if I'm going hunting more than an hour or 2 from home.

I usually bring 2 rifles whenever/wherever l go hunting, an accurate bolt action that is good for longer shots, up to a quarter mile or so, and a shorter, quicker handling, lever, pump, or semi-auto for hunting tight cover where a quick follow up shot or three might give me an advantage.

My primary elk hunting combo is a CLR in 270 and a Remington 760 in 270, both shooting the same ammo.

The deer hunting rifles that I have cached in NH are a Ruger 77 RSI in 260, a Savage 170 in 30-30, and a Winchester 100 Carbine in 308. The Savage 170 is my ME/NH/VT loaner, 'cause a lot of rural people in those states believe that the 30-30 is still as capable a cartridge for killing whitetails as it has been for 125 years. Plus, ammo is inexpensive and easy to come by, even if you have to bum a couple of rounds from another hunter.

I usually don't bring a back up rifle with me because I usually hunt close to where I'm staying. I do, however, carry a .375 Mag revolver in the woods with me. I used it twice. Once to put down a deer that was wounded but not dead that my brother shot, the other time was to scare off some PETA types that actually took a shot at me! Their bullet struck a tree just above my head. I did not shoot at them because I could not see them, but I drew it and walked in their direction and heard them scampering off out of the woods. Called the troopers, they said they knew they were in the area and they were students at a local SUNY school and were harassing hunters in the area. That is why I no longer hunt in NYS.

I always take a backup rifle.

Pronghorn & Deer: 25-06 & 280 Rem.

Elk & Moose: 35 Whelen & 338WM

I always take a back up rifle, but it's always in a different caliber. One MTM plastic ammo box of 50 cartridges for each rifle.

Always backup. Never same chambering. Usually something like an '06 where I can drag along factory ammo.

How many have needed to USE their back up rifle?

I wonder if Phil Shoemaker, Alaskan master bear guide, brings a back up rifle? Just curious.

I always have a back up, some times the same caliber, sometimes not. I do like pairs of rifles. This is my favorite pair, couple 264’s

Three or four times, ejector broke once, dropped rifle-jacked up scope, firing pin broke one time.

I always take a back-up rifle, different caliber than the primary. This fall my primary was a .35 Whelen with a 4x scope, back-up a .30-06 with a 3-9x. I used the .30-06 because longer shots were presenting themselves and the extra power was helpful.

I don't take a backup rifle , but do take different rifles different terrain or hunting style bolt action for calling coyotes in the open and a combo gun for the thicker stuff. Deer hunting a bolt action for more open country or sitting on a stand and a Lever 375 Win or Pump 35 Rem for still or tracking. Then there are times I just take something to see how it works. I have a hidden locking gun locker in my hunting truck.

For most of my life I brought 2 rifles, sometimes the same chambering sometimes it. Often they were a “morning” rifle and an “afternoon” rifle, one left in the truck while the other was carried. Sometimes it was a pain while flying but I wanted my guns upon arrival and hated the thought of borrowing one. Then in the late 90’s or early 2000’s I started worrying about break ins and didn’t want to lose a cherished rifle. So now it’s just one that goes, usually picked based on the weather. The only time my backup was needed was when one of my brothers, who wasn’t really a rifle guy, wanted to borrow one.

Nope.

I'm a blessed man. I've hunted Alaska and numerous western states (elk every year) since 1973 and have never taken a back up rifle. Never needed one on any of my hunts. Always used either a ruger 77 or win model 70. I always take an additional shotgun when I go pheasant hunting, only because I want to hunt with a different gun after day 2 or 3.