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

There once was a man from Nantucket......

You guys stop me if you've already heard it.....

Huh - how do you hunt with an empty chamber, especially in thick cover where a quick shot is all you might get (if lucky).

This reminds me of the instructions that came with a Colt Double Eagle (remember these?) warning: "Always carry the pistol with an empty chamber; load when absolutely certain that you will shoot." And this was a pistol Colt hoped to sell to police departments. No wonder Colt is nearly out of business.

Hunting with an empty chamber is easy. Shooting with an empty chamber is impossible.

Yep!

Well, I wasn't gonna say anything becasue Art asked, but now I've gotta chime in.

Do I hunt with a round in the chamber?

Heck no, that would make it very unsafe when I use my scope to check things out.

I'm joking, please don't start another thread.....

My thoughts exactly











I can't believe this thread is still alive............

Casey

"If I am hunting yes.
If I am in transit to the place I am hunting, no."

bingo.

djs -

When hunting heavy timber I usually have a cartridge in the chamber, especially when using my bolt guns. Somewhat less likely to do so when using the levers.

But a lot of my hunting is done in open country where the time required to load a cartridge is relatively unimportant. Here are a few pics from the last few years:

This first picture is not mine but rather Klikitarik's - a grizz taken in Alaska with a Marlin .45-70 in what looks to me to be pretty open country. Don't know but I suspect starting with an empty chamber would have made little difference in this case.



They are hard to see, but there are a LOT of elk in this picture - total herd size probably 1,500 to 2,000 including out of the picture to the right. Private land that we can't hunt, but some people have access. We have watched hunters glassing the herds from up close for long periods of time as they chose the animal they wanted. Clearly with the time they have taken an empty chamber would be no detriment.


Here's an open ground antelope I took in 2003 with my Marlin in .375 Win. The shot was 167 yards across grass. Loaded the chamber just a couple seconds before the shot.


Here's a small 6x6 bull I took in 2003 with my Marlin .45-70. Loaded the chamber shortly before the shot, after walking about half a mile through the sage:


Here's a picture of my hunting buddy, Dave (in orange hat), and his 2003 cow. Mine is down in the snow field on the far hillside. Started with a loaded chamber but had plenty of time to load had it been necessary.


Here's a picture of the first of two cow elk I took last fall. Started with a loaded chamber but an empty chamber would have made no difference in the outcome:


Dave scoping for deer last fall. Clearly an empty chamber would be no problem here:
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/811532704-R1-14-9.jpg[/img]

I took 2007's second second cow elk on this hill. Spotted a small herd over a mile off and watched them untill they came right up over the hill at me. My shot was maybe 40 yards but only because I waited for a cow to clear - the closest opportunity was under 25 yards. Didn't load the chamber until I knew the elk were headed towards me, maybe 600 yards out.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/811532703-R1-03-22_004.jpg[/img]

Yup, there's often deer and even elk in the sage:
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/811532703-R1-07-18_008.jpg[/img]

Like this forkie, 2007. Started with an empty chamber and loaded just before the shot.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/811532703-R1-05-20_006.jpg[/img]

Coyote Hunter - this topic may be getting worn out, but I have sure enjoyed looking at your photo's - thanks.

yeah, what odessa said.

Coyote Hunter,
Great pics of a hunting world and terrain absolutely foreign to folks who hunt timber, rough country where shots on elk or bear or lion are often measured in seconds and softball throwing distance.

Being old school mil-police-hunter for many years, I carry hot always.CHP & hunting..

Never had an AD or killed anything or anyone who wasn't my intended mark.Jim

My sister never died until she died.

Jim -

You are correct about such places being foreign to some folks. I understand people hunt different terrain but even if they didn't I don't have a problem with people in my party carrying hot provided two things are true:

1. The mechanical safety or safeties on their weapon are functional. Had a guy one year that carried hot for a week. We found out on the last day, after getting back to camp in the afternoon, what he had known all week - that his safety was busted. The rest of us showed considerably more restraint than he deserved and I never hunted with him again.

2. That the person or people carrying hot observe good handling techniques. Had another person I hunted with that couldn't control his muzzle and when it was brought to his attention denied there was a problem. That was my last trip with him, too.

My post was not meant to suggest that people should do it my way (which is actually a mix of hot and cold depending on circumstances) but rather to provide those to whom it is foreign a graphical demonstration of circumstances where hot ot cold makes no difference in the final outcome.

For what it is worth I sometimes carry concealed and usually do so with the hammer down on an empty chamber, safety off. My older brother carries concealed daily, locked and cocked. Both ways work. If I ever need it, I'll probably wish mine was cocked and locked, too. Flip side, he will never forget the day his thumb slipped while lowering the hammer, causing a hole to suddenly appear in the floorboards of his car...

Coyote Hunter,
I really didn't want to ressurect this controversial thread...:)

ALL my handguns have no 'safety' ..pistols or revolvers..other than my own cognizance..

Longguns are infinitely more 'safe' than handguns in the hands of a competent hunter..safety or not.
I don't rely on any mech safety when hunting.
When the firearm needs to be unloaded it's unloaded.
Otherwise, it's ready to deal a killing shot in the hands of the competent hunter.
Each hunter should assess his own hunting needs and circumstances, competentecies, and ensure his firearms are in proper working order and make his own decisions concerning hot carry.Attend to your companions also ..if any,... for IF in company of others..THEY are the largest potential threat..Jim

I just don't know if I can bear to see this thread die. It must have been hunting with a loaded chamber

Just goes to show you, stupid knows no end.

Scoreboard.

-jeff

Plus one, absolutly.

I can't believe this thread is still alive. Can we chitt can it now and move on.??

OK, a couple questions, some agreement and - surprise - a disagreement.

First the disagreement. A long gun is not "infinitely more 'safe' than handguns in the hands of a competent hunter". Not even close, although I agree they are much easier to control. Still far short of "infinitely" safer. Relatively speaking, they are closer to the other end of the scale.

I do agree each hunter needs to make their own assessment. I also agree that hunters need to watch their fellow hunters closely. As far as I recall most of the Colorado shooting incidents that occur while hunting involve a shooter and a shootee. I assume the same is true in other states.

Now the question. Just what kind of pistols and revolvers are you and 'jim in Oregon' shooting that don't have any safeties? Every handgun I've ever fired had at least one safety, some have multiple safeties.

Does not putting your finger on the trigger until ready to shoot count as a safety? If it does then that is the only one I figure most sensible people need. Gun Ownership 101: Treat every gun as if it were loaded, do not point a gun and put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to do some damage to what it is pointed at.

Answer to Poll: Yes I hunt with a round in the chamber.

Coyote Hunter, could you show me where the safety is on my single action army revolver.