Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Backup Rifle

For you guys who take a backup gun on your hunting trip � what do you do with the gun while you are hunting? How do you secure it so it is there when you get back to the tent at the end of the day? I would sure hate to see a good rifle sprout legs and walk away. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I cannot believe the guts required to steal anything from a tent that a person would have a chance of believeing belonged to an armed person, but I guess it must happen in America.

Had a friend lose a small set of moose antlers to a thief up here a couple years ago... a small set of antlers opens the season to "any bull." Spikes and forks can be difficult to find...
art

I leave it in a pickup, locked and behind the seat.



We did have a camp chair stolen from camp a few years back when we were all out hunting, it suprised me cuz we were in a fairly secluded area with few other hunters. Im really not comfortable leaving a rifle in camp though. If it were a pack in hunt i dont think i would bring a spare rifle, maybe a just a scope.

I've tried all the usual things. I hid them under stuff in the tent, locked them in the car, etc. Next time I will put the gun in a water resistant case and hide it under a log or something next to camp.

I guess the times are changing. In my day, anyone who was not too lazy to hike a few miles from the roads was a person of good character. I supose theives are getting in better shape these days. I have heard stories of backpackers having expensive gear stolen from back country camps. Sad commentary on where things are headed.

never yet faced the situation... i suppose that, if i had to leave a weapon in an unoccupied camp, a lightweight plastic coated bicycle type cable lock might be good insurance.....

Messing with a man's camp...isn't that along the lines of rustling - still a shooting offense in many parts of this country? Seriously, I live in a pretty populous state, and have never had a tent camp messed with. I am curious others experiences. Is this common? BTW, the only gun I have left around camp is a grouse shooter, i.e., nothing fine.

I too have heard tales of cars broken into at hiking trailheads, but most of those were driving distance from Seattle and I suspect some enterprising knucklehead figured them an easy mark.

The only way I have ever left a firearm in camp was if there were a "camp watcher" staying there. If he, or she, were hunting, I would do as one of the above posters suggested, put my rifle, shotgun, or handgun, into a waterproof hard case, and hide it out away from camp. BUT, in addition, I long ago started using old pieces of camoflauge material to wrap around the case, to further prevent anyone seeing it.



NOTE: I also always wrote a note to myself with compass bearings, steps, landmarks, etc., as to where I'd hidden it.



As for "camp robbers," just remember that most criminals are creatures of opportunity. Just think how much valuable equipment you take to camp. Or, leave in your very expensive vehicles at trail head. Much of this stuff is very easily portable, and even easier to pawn or dump at a flea market. Much of it too, is very hard to identify, unless one has marked the goods for indentification.



I know two guys who left their camp to hunt all day, and when they came back, their entire camp was gone. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING was left. Some feceshead had backed a truck up to their camp spot, loaded everything and toodled merrily away. Nothing was ever recovered, either.



By the way, if you're camping on horses, etc., you would be wise to leave absolutely NOTHING stealable, visible in your vehicles at trail head. Or, if you're just off for a day hike, same advice. I have two different friends who came back to their vehicles after a day in the boonies, and found their vehicles broken into for CDs, tapes, and players ripped out of the dash, a jacket, and a small binocular. The thieves were never caught.



Be careful out there. All the criminals are not just in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. They're everywhere, including out in the boonies.



L.W.

My buddies and I were discussing this very topic a little while back and decided it would make sense for all of us to be shooting like chambered rifles. The thinking was that if one rifle were to go out of commission, the guy could borrow another rifle and still be familiar with recoil, trajectory, etc.

Really though, it was just an excuse to build another rifle, as we all agree ahead of time who's shooting in what order, so only one rifle is required at a time, maybe two if backup is needed. I can't think of a single time all 4 of us needed our rifles at the same time.

Frankly, I won't take an extra rifle to camp.

You have to figure the level of mentality it takes to steal from a place when you KNOW the owner is somewhere around with a LOADED high-powered rifle in his hands!!! You have to also REALIZE that this person isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree.

If my rifle somehow breaks or I damage it and cause it to be un-usable, I'll go to town and buy a new one. It's a great "excuse" for buying another rifle! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Doing so usually costs less than the insurance premiums YOU do NOT pay after only a few years of buying a "full insurance" rider on the rifle on YOUR home-owners insurance policy.

OR....

If you do take an extra rifle to camp, it's usually insured under one's "Home-Owner's" insurance as part of your home's non-specific "contents" even though the rifle is NOT in your home at the time of the loss. You'd have to pay the $100 deductible and then, let the insurance company buy you a new rifle and scope of equal value.

The extra cost of fully insuring the rifle would be a "push" after a year or two of paying for full coverage vs. paying the lower premium for the $100 or $250 deductible, then paying the deductible yourself in case of a loss.

Something to consider, eh?


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I hunt with my wife and son so I don't need a back-up rifle.If I fall and screw up my scope the sons gun is mine-He's out..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />Short trip for another one except my 14 year old would rather stay home with his buddies.

Good question but I have never takin one.

Best of luck......Jayco.

My solution is to take a $60 milsurp, Mosin carbine as the back up. I stash it under something a few yards away from camp, and I take the bolt with me. It would not likely be found, and it's worth little enough with the bolt, so I don't see theft as a real problem. The biggest danger is having the stock gnawed through by a porcupine.

If I trash the scope on my hunting rifle, or damage the muzzle crown, I still have a gun that is suitable for shooting up to about 200 yards.

here in idaho i found that those found way in the backcountry are of good charecter. were talkn way in the backcountry. i dont have a problem with the mtorcycle hunters or hunters on foot hunting from near by roads and trails.

id rather be way in in there and most of the people that are way in are either die hard hunters on foot or on horseback.

i ounce stumbled across a lost pack mule, i happedn to be on horse back that day and headed up to where i knew some guys were camped with a few head of pack mules. i took my time getn there though doing my hunting and checkn out few places. as it was still farily early in the morning 9am.

i ended up in theyre camp around 1pm, its kinda funny makn my way into a strange camp with pack mule that had been behind me most the morning.

this time was no exsception to the rull. there were two guys in thery lat 30-mid 40s. i think i was probly 18 or 19 at the time, wich im sure looked odd to them. not to many younger kids are huntin on horse back alone or ridn comfortable with mule in two thats not theres.

my stories getn long. my reasoneing for getn into there camp after the good hunting hours was because theyd more then likly be there or headed out lookin for the mule. i wanted to shoot the breeze with them.

as far as packn an extra rifle into camp. i dont do it even on horse back two rifles is a PITA. i do however leave a rifle in the truck

if i was someday to pack rifle into camp i wouldnt think twice about leavn it in the tent..

Evan

Never taken an extra rifle hunting. Just figure the effort in worrying about the damn thing is worth a trip home or to the gun store for another. Oh course this could be much more difficult depending on where and how you hunt.

My wife and I always hunt together! If I need a back-up rifle, I'll use her .338Win..I don't know "what in the hell" she's gonna do though, she still refuses to shoot my rifle. Too long or some such excuse!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> -memtb

I don't see a need for a backup rifle at least not for myself. I have what I consider a very dependable and trouble free rifle. I can count on one hand the amount or rifle failures that would have required a "backup" in over 20 years as a hunting professional.

There have been countless problems with contamination and jammed cases or other wierd things that required some minor repair. However the actual people who had a complete shutdown of a rifle requiring a backup has been almost unknown.

I would not say the same for scopes though! Maybe a set of QD rings and a spare scope in mounts that could be snapped in place would be a logical backup, but not a whole rifle. The vast majority of my hunting in the USA is in back country wilderness type areas. There is no way to even pack two guns in these places. Make sure what you have is functional and reliable and go hunt. don't sweat the gun failures they are just not an issue under anything but the most bizzare conditions. I would worry far more about a sprained ankle or broken leg etc. then a broken gun!

memtb, Your wife shoots a .338Win Mag? That must be one hell of a woman <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

On certain hunts a backup rifle is a good idea if bringing one along is feasible. One type of hunting which comes to mind is if hunting off horseback, I've seen and heard of more than one rifle receiving a trashing!

Here is one story which vividly stands out among the others, probably because "hail, I was there!" (in a Elmer Keith sorta tone)

Pictured is a good friend of mine from Wyoming. When work allows, he will hunt & fish for a full month in the Bridgers for muleys and elk. I was hunting muleys when I snapped this photo of him:

The rifle pictured is a factory Ruger 77 in 338WM, taped off in camo. A few days later after this picture was taken, the horse pictured took a fall while crossing a large creek with its rider onboard.(At least thats what my friend told me, later I found out the real story!) Anyways the rifle did not make it, the stock was broken in two at the pistol grip. The only other rifle he had in camp was a 243 and that was definitely out for the elk tag he had left to fill! So he jumped in his truck and looked up a local who had some rifles for sale.

"She's 3 inches high at 100yds, no need to sight her in" the local told my friend as he plunked down the green for the Browning BBR in 7RM. It started snowing later that afternoon so my friend was anxious to head back up the mountain, the elk would be moving for sure now!. As luck would have it, a nice 6pt bull presented a shot and my friend missed it cleanly at about 150yds! He then proceeded to miss another nice bull and knew for sure it was the rifle and not him.

The next A.M., my friend drove up the road a ways and checked the Browning's sight-in, it was over a foot high and off to the side a bit at 100paces! Probably was even worse at 150yds. The friend then proceeded to elk hunt after sighting in his rifle and took a much smaller bull of course. He later sent me this photo of the animals he and his wife took, they did alot of cut and wrapping that year:


So if its possible, do bring a backup, you may not like what alternate rifle if any you wind up with. I once saw a horse slam a rifle (in scabbard) up againest a large pine and have heard of stock rolling on rifles. Another friend had his rifle dislodged from his horse when a minor rodeo developed, a nice Rem 721 in 300H&H hit the shale breaking the scope mounts. The most recent disaster happened when a friend's father took a spill while backpacking in to hunt muleys in WY, he had knee surgery earlier that year so was a bit wobbly. His Swarvoski scope suffered a broken scope mount rendering the rifle useless (no open sights, would have done no good anyways at alpine elevations)

I've taken a backup rifle many times over the years, hiding it or leaving it with nearby locals if I knew them well enough. Some gunshops will even store them for you in their vault for free sometimes. If you hunt long and hard enough in rough country it could happen to you - $hit does and can happen!

MtnHtr

I keep a rifle I have no sentimental attachment to,locked in the car.

If someone gets the balls to break into the car and take it,I will just get a new rifle and scope since I have full coverage on everything in,on or attached to the car.

Not much of that happens around here though.Folks are smart enough not to mess with people's camps,since you never know if the camp's owner is just taking a squat behind a nearby bush,with rifle close at hand (hey,ya never know when a buck might show up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />).Plus,they know that most of the local mountain folks in these parts would just shoot you and dump you in a ditch if they caught you messing with their stuff.

Never had one person mess with my camp.Of course all my stuff is old and rusty and damn near wore out,so it'd be a favor if someone hauled the junk away for me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

WB.

rc82bttb,
Yes, she is, "one hell ofa woman"! She works very hard at carrying her part of the load. She aint big but has a "lot of heart". She's backpacked more than one elk quarter off the hill.
Our best effort was two(2) 6 pt. bulls(small bulls),quartered and packed to the truck( a short haul, only about 3/4 mile), by a little after 1pm.
We were both a little tired, that evening!! -memtb