Hunting With A Live Round In The Chamber

[ninefoot]

How do u post a poll? Im curious as to how many hunters here carry there firearm with a live round chambered while hunting?

It always amazes me how often i get seasoned hunters as clients with absolutely zero awareness of where theyre gun barrell is pointing (like at the guy in front of them...aka, me!), and how often those guns are chambered with live rounds, many times after being told repeatedly about the obvious dangers of such practice (not to mention my allergic reaction to having loaded guns pointed at me while its owner flounders through broken terrain behind me!)

This forum is full of avid capable hunters: so be honest...how many carry your weapons loaded and chambered with safety on while in the field

My preference is a full magazine with the bolt closed on an empty chamber, safety off (for quick chambering or hand feeding)

Any way to get that up as some sort of poll?

[akair]

never, not even considered an option.

[Tearbear]

Hunting With A Live Round In The Chamber

Ninefoot asks....

I'm curious as to how many hunters here carry there firearm with a live round chambered while hunting?

It always amazes me how often i get seasoned hunters as clients with absolutely zero awareness of where theyre gun barrell is pointing (like at the guy in front of them...aka, me!), and how often those guns are chambered with live rounds, many times after being told repeatedly about the obvious dangers of such practice (not to mention my allergic reaction to having loaded guns pointed at me while its owner flounders through broken terrain behind me!)

This forum is full of avid capable hunters: so be honest...how many carry your weapons loaded and chambered with safety on while in the field

My preference is a full magazine with the bolt closed on an empty chamber, safety off (for quick chambering or hand feeding)

(This question and request for a poll was posted by ninefoot. I have made this poll for him.)

[limon32]

I'm always amazed how many hunters will carry a loaded and chambered handgun but not a rifle.


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[BTK]

I hunt alone in brush. I put a live round in the chamber as soon as I start walking. I am just as afraid of being shot as I am of bears though. If I was with someone, the chamber would be empty.

[BrownBear]

With other hunters on hand, never a round in the chamber. Hunting by myself, always a round in the chamber.

I'm a nazi about people pointing loaded guns at me, and I simply won't hunt with anyone who carries a round in the chamber around other folks. No second chances, so chamber-loaders need not apply.

[AKmud]

It's been beaten to death....


http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...hlight=chamber

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...hlight=chamber

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...hlight=chamber

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...hlight=chamber

[gbflyer]

Hard to generalize. If I were tracking a bear in the alders that had been hit, there's probably one in the chamber. If I were out in the plains putting a stalk on a speed goat, probably not.

[Steven_JR]

I carry a round in the chamber if 1) I'm hunting alone or 2) I'm the first member/leader in a group of hunters. Otherwise I just keep the magazine loaded beneath the bolt, but the chamber empty. Same rules apply for anyone else I'm hunting with. Easiest way to prevent an accident is by keeping the chamber empty.

[anchskier]

Like AKmud said, it's been discussed on here a lot. I was actually surprised at how many people claimed they do carry one in the chamber on a regular basis. Not something I would do except for in a few specific cases, such as approaching potentially wounded game or approaching a kill site after being away from it for a while (potential bear problem). I don't trust safeties.

[ppine]

Smart people. I used to hunt with a guy that insisted on a live round in the chamber, and he carried an old Remington 700 that was his Dad's. I had to give up on him as a hunting partner even though he had a lot of other skills, shooting was something he was never really good at and he was certainly not safe enough for me.

[Steve_O]

Every since I started letting my kids follow me through the woods I would never carry a live round in the chamber. I figure if I teach them right then that will carry down for generations to follow. No trophy or animal is worth an accidental discharge.
Steve

[anchskier]

Never a round in the chamber unless approaching potentially wounded game or returning to a kill site. Other than that, if I am walking around, alone or with others, chamber is clear. Even alone, I know sh#^ happens, people slip or stumble, brush catches on triggers/safeties, etc... Even pointed in a safe direction, I don't want that going off without me intentionally pulling the trigger. Even walking as lead in a group, what's to say you aren't going to unexpectedly fall over backwards or have the gun pulled from your grip as you fall in some brush and end up aiming back at others following you? Heck, this last season, my shoulder sling came loose at one point (first time I have ever had that happen). I was lucky and caught the rifle before it even got below waist height, but by the time I did, it was aiming directly behind me and I was grabbing at it as a reflex and could have very easily grabbed the trigger in the process.

[Catch It]

Hunting skittish whitetails in tight country, I had always hunted with one in the chamber.....but that carried on to most everyone I knew back in the midwest......even for squirrels, bunnies etc. I look back now and am so glad that everyone is still in one piece (althought I was ardently taught, to the point of the gun being taken away if I didn't comply) on extreme muzzle safety, unloading at fences, and all the stuff in the book.

However, I love the fact that in AK there is no need to walk around with one in the chamber. I lost a shot at a blacktail that was ridiculously close on POW last year when I had to lever my model 94 at about 8 yards when he came around a windfall, he he stopped 50 yards out and the result was the same. Other than that, i have had no ill effects on chambering a round when I had either A: spotted game or B: heard one coming (deer to call or moose grunting thrashing etc.) ALL of my hunting partners are of the same mind and I am thankful for that. How to handle a firearm seems to be as sensitive a subject to folks as the intelligence of their kids, beauty of their wife, or faithfullness of their dog. And I stick to my opinions of what safe is as vehemently too.

I carry my guns as Tearbear does, mag full, tube empty, trigger pulled, safety off.

And as far as bear scare BS. I know full well the odds of me either gettign shot by someone with their poor practices, or by myself if I do so as well, is sooooo much higher than me getting wacked by a bear because I had to rack and fire instead of having one in the tube.

If I was tracking a wounded animal and I expected a super quick shot (and I was first in line) I would be one in the tube, safety on, finger off the trigger and safety, gun at the ready, not on my shoulder. Firearm emptied as soon as the search was over. I don't prescribe to a loaded tube when processing game either.....just not worth it.

[wiso_67]

Rarely do I keep a round in the chamber. usually I load the weapon and push down on the rounds and ride the bolt over them.