Backup Rifle

[Guy Miner]

Nitis brought up a "which rifle" question, and 2Shaky brought up what I thought was a good point - bringing a backup rifle on a hunt.

How many of you do that? Bring a backup rifle?

I was well set on my bear hunt last week. Was hunting with the .375 Ruger Number One, which was an absolute hoot. And my son was carrying the ancient M1917 .30-06 which I've been shooting since the late 1960's when I was a kid. If the big Ruger failed, got dropped or for some reason was out of the picture, I'd have been fine. Could have just grabbed ye old .30-06 and taken my bear with it.

My 5-10" 135 pound teenage son wasn't in such an enviable position... He's a little intimidated by the .375 :grin: Seeing how just this year he worked up to shooting the .30-06 with confidence. The '06 is the biggest rifle he's shot, and he wants nothing to do with my .375 H&H. Go figure!

Re the backup rifle thought - I've taken one several times, but am always at least a little worried about it being stolen while I'm not around. I've left a backup rifle in the motel room, in camp, and locked in my truck - but am never completely sure it's going to be there when I return. Worth considering. For the past 15 years or so I haven't hunted a lot with the old .30-06, but it's often along. Sighted-in as always with 165 gr Noslers at 200 yards. It never changes, it's always there. And I know that I could have just used it all along to take the various game animals.

Hunting close to home, I just don't bother taking a backup. If I stumble and break my rifle or something I might miss a half-day of hunting while I go back to the house for something else. It's those week long trips into the high mountains, or out of state when I'll drag along a second rifle.

Do you take one? What do you take? Security of that rifle when you're not with it?

Guy

 

[1Shot]

I pull a camper and park beside my friends sporting goods store in the back yard of his mothers house. I don't worry too much about getting things stolen. I always take a FEW weapons with me when I go on my annual deer hunting trips. I hunt different stands and have different rifles and pistols that work better in some than others. For instant one stand that we call the "Phone Booth". It is about the size of a phone booth and you don't have much room to move around a long barreled rifle. I take my custom Rem 700 with a 21 1/2" barrel 308 Win to use in that stand. It handles much better there than the long 24 to 29" barrels on my other deer rifles. I have one stand set up just for use on one side for pistol shooting out to 125 yards. Other stands I hunt over fields get the long barreled long range guns 25-06, 264 Win mag etc. I used to play golf and I know it takes 14 clubs to play the game so I try to do the same thing with my hunting. :roll: :lol: :lol:
Some excuse is better than none for that new weapon. :grin:

 

[DrMike]

It is not unusual for me to have two rifles when I hunt. Things happen in the bush and a spare can rescue an otherwise ruined hunt.

 

[257 Ackley]

I will always have a backup rifle with me for any hunting trip, even if it is only to the family farm up North. If it is an extended hunt where you are in "the bush" or high country base camp, there is a need in case something mal-functions. Last year while hunting elk near Dillion, Mt., the bolt in my partners 300 mag Savage (not a shot at Savage rifles :lol: ) wouldn't function properly and he had to use my 338-06 for the rest of the hunt. I like having a flat shooting 400 yard shooter to go with more of a brush round like a .358 Winchester when I am in the thick stuff.

 

[nitis]

Always take a backup no matter what

you could slip and fall and tweak your scope anything can happen

one year my dad had a case split in his HH fortunately that was while checking zero so he at least had his 270 to fall back on as teh cas was stuck in teh chamber and only the head came out!

As far as worrying about things getting heisted thats what insurance is for and someone would have to have a few screws loose to try and steal guns from the field cause I know for sure I would lob a few rounds that way if I saw it happening! And my guns can shoot a long ways!

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

I always take a back up rifle....or two....

 

[JD338]

I always take a back up rifle as well. Things happen....

JD338

 

[lefty315]

Guy, like you, if I am hunting close to home I do not worry about it. Whenever I travel away I always take one with me. Usually my Remington .30-06 is my backup gun. I have taken the .35 Whelen when Elk has been the target before. Last year I took that as the primary and my .300 WSM as my backup. One thing to consider if it is possible to pick up some anterless tags for meat. I have often taken up to 3 or 4 guns that I have not used in a time. Once the buck tag gets filled, the others get to come off the bench and get some playing time.

 

[SJB358]

Same here, when I am close to home, I don't carry a back up, but when I head West or North to hunt, I carry two. The first rifle is always the flavor of the day, the second one is almost always my 270WSM. It seems to fill in 2nd string pretty well! It has played out front quite alot! Heck, I carry a back up everyday, on my body too, so it just goes with the territory! Scotty

 

[Elkman]

If I am hunting in the timber country of Western Wa and Oregon I carry my .300 mag and the Whelen for a backup. On my Wyoming elk hunt I will probably carry my STW and the .300 will be backup. I always bring along two, and always bring along the .300. :grin:

 

[Divernhunter]

I always take one or more back-ups plus usually one or more just for fun rifles/pistols. They are locked in my pick-up(4 door with camper shell) or trailer or when I am in Wy at my friends home. I can no longer back-pack in so that is the way it is.

Next week when I go to Wy for pronghorns I will be taking my 257weatherby for first rifle and since I have 3 tags if possible I will use the 6.5X55 and the 7mm-08 Tikka's for the other two. Unless I get a chance with my encore pistol. My back-up rifle will be my 25-06 which always works.
In addition to these I will take my 223 and 204Ruger rifles for PD's along with the 223 barrel for the encore pistol. I always have to take at least one of my 50bmg rifles for fun and just maybe I will get the chance to use the 600gr Barnes-X bullets on a speed-goat.
Almost forgot a 45ACP for when not hunting or a 2"38special.
All rifles are in hard cases and some of the pistols are.

 

[hardpan]

I always bring a backup, and I try to keep it in the same caliber. Cannot do that with the .3 Bee, but the rest have a backup, and ammo for them as well. Nothing worse than a scope or rifle problem on a hunt and no fix in sight!
Hardpan

 

[Elkman]

Nothing worse than a scope or rifle problem on a hunt and no fix in sight!

I agree, even though in over 50 years of hunting I have never had a failure of either. Thats why I carry a spare, when I don't have a spare Murphy will jump in and make my trip a stressful one. Have a great day all I am headed to the blind :grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[2shaky]

Short day trips an hour or so from home usually don't get a back up. Any farther then back ups are in order. Now there are 2 270WSM's so you don't grab the wrong shells.

 

[jmad_81]

I bring two. For elk this year it will be my 280 AI, backed up by my trusty 338 WM. It is usually a long drive back home to get a different rifle, and I'm not about to take the rath of crap my brother would give me if I had to use his .308 in elk camp!

 

[6mm Remington]

I don't usually carry a back-up, but on a trip about 3 years ago I ended up with some debris inside my bolt and general crud. It had been a tough huntin below zero temperatures with lots of snow, ice, dirt and debris. The Remington 25-06 I was using cost me an elk when it would not fire. the combination of all of the above factors made the firing pin not fall as hard as it should or make the complete contact that it should so it would not go off! I had a raghorn bull stand there broadside (with about 8 other head) at about 200 yards. I tried 4 cartridges and shot that bull 4 times, but not once did the rifle go bang. All I got was a click! Of course he was standing on top of the ridge and would have been a piece of cake to get out!!
I came home a couple of days later (that was planned) and then went back with the same rifle after I had torn the bolt down and thoroughly cleaned it! I used it to kill another bull a couple of days later, same conditions with the cold and everything, but it went bang the very first time and I killed a spike bull at a little over 300 yards. Of course it took my son and a friend a full day to get this bull out because he was shot in a jungle on a 60 degree north slope! I usually take a spare rifle if I'm going over to the central part of the state hunting, but I'm more inclined to take one with me even close to home such as this elk hunt which was only 1.5 hours away!!

Some thoughts to consider on having rifles stolen. It does help if they cannot be seen from the outside of the vehicle. If they are in a case stuck behind the seat, on the floor covered with coats, or whatever it takes, that does help lessen the attractiveness of breaking into your particular vehicle. Always make sure your vehicle or camper is locked. In a camper there is usually those little cubby holes under the bed and other places where you can hide an extra rifle or other firearms. Use those as bad guys don't want to be in there or your vehicles any longer than they have too!

This sounds excessive but it really is not, especially if you are going on a trip someplace far from home, or even a couple hundred miles. Use one of those wonderful digital cameras we all have and lay the firearms you are taking on this trip down on the floor on a blanket in a group and take a couple of pictures. I suspect that most of us are basically adept at computers by now (ugh) so print the picture out on a sheet of paper and before you print the photo list the make, model, and serial number of each firearm you are taking with you. That includes optics such as scopes and binoculars. Print it out and take it with you on the trip. You can print it small in size and fold it up and carry it with you in your wallet stuffed behind your driver's license.
If you don't do this, at least list each firearm with the make, model, and serial number at a minimum!!! If the worst thing in the world happens and your 1917 Enfield 30-06 that you used as a kid and your son is now using is stolen, you will have all the exact information to report this instead of just a general description. This can be important in a couple of respects. The quicker the Sheriff's Department or law enforcement jurisdiction this weapon was taken in has this information, the quicker it very well could be located. All items with serial numbers or even things without serial numbers can be entered into the National law enforcement computer system so that if that identification number is ran by an officer, it will return as stolen if it's properly entered. How do you enter a firearm (maybe you have a really old one) or other object that does not have a serial number. If you have etched or engraved your social security number on the item someplace, your name, military I.D., or some other relatively permanent mark someplace such as engraving, that item can then be entered into the system using that as the identifying characters. I know, how do you mark an antique firearm without ruining it. How about removing the buttplate and having it engraved on the bottom of the plate itself, or stamped in the wood under the plate on the stock. This would be better than not ever recovering the firearm itself, but most have serial numbers so this really isn't much of a problem.

If a rifle is stolen get it reported as quickly as possible with this information. It will greatly assist in the recovery of the stolen item. Many stolen items, not just firearms will be quickly pawned or sold by suspects looking to find some quick cash. If the items have had their identifications entered, it makes it so much simpler!
We can all help each other out too by being alert and watching out for one another. There are @#%&@ out there who are not real people, sportsman, or anything else, and I cannot put the real description of them down. These folks will target trailheads, recreation areas, and hunting spots looking for vehicles to break in to. By just being alert and paying attention to details, you could very well prevent a theft from taking place, or assist in catching someone. If you get a gut feeling about a vehicle and the people in it and that something just doesn't seem right and it looks like they are up to know good and are scoping things out, take a couple minutes and write a vehicle description and license plate number down if you can, or do the best you can anyway. Maybe the persons description as well. If you later see a Game officer, Forest Service Law Enforcement guy, or otherwise, you can pass that information on to them. IT DOES NOT HURT TO CALL 911 AND REPORT THIS EITHER. If you see or notice something that really makes you think something is up and you have taken the time to write it down, it does NO HARM in then getting that information to someone who might be able to use it!! Call and just tell the dispatcher what you observed and give them the information and how you can be reached if an officer needs to later on. I got off track here a little bit, but we can really make a difference by looking out for each other!! Here's to a safe and happy hunting season. :grin:

 

[nomosendero]

I do take one anytime the hunt is out of state or far away.

What do I take? Depends on what I am hunting. For Antelope/Mule Deer the back-up is a 270, some times I flip flop that with the primary & for Elk/Blackbear or big animals my 30-06AI is backup.

For security, on the Mule Deer/Antelope I leave it at the Rancher's place, for Elk last time I left it in camp. We had an older gent with us who did not want to hunt, but likes to go & cook, so he guards the camp. Wish that worked every time. :lol:

 

[Greg Nolan]

Ditto
One day hunt no. If I'm going for more than one day yes. I've taken 3 on a 10 day elk hunt and ended up using all three. Climbing in rough country in snow it's not uncommon to slip and bump the rifle against something. A tree or rock is most common. Probably didn't change zero but since I sight in out to 500 yards it's loud and inconvenient to verify so I just swap rifles. If I pack in I bring a extra pre-sighted scope I can swap to. To me it's kind of like the umbrella. If you don't bring one

 

[HTDUCK]

Seeing as it's a 6 hour drive to my deer lease I always take at least one backup rifle and usually two or three handguns.
All of my rifles have those $4.00 elastic cartridge sleeves on the rear stock and all of them have 10 rounds in them. That way if something does go awry I can just grab another rifle and go.They are stored in the safe in that fashion as well.

As for security, while traveling all the iron is inside the cab of the truck.If we stop for fuel,food etc one of us will stay with the vehicle while the other goes inside whatever we stopped for or,we'll park close to a window where we can see the vehicle at all times.

Once we arrive at the lease we are quartered at my friends house which is out in the sticks,but just off the highway. His mom and dad live next door and dad hunts right behind the house in a blind we made for him to hide his wheelchair in. There are also 3-5 labrador retrievers in the house most of the time ( we duck hunt on our deer lease as alot of it is flooded timber and chock full of mallards) so should someone just "happen" to knock on the door they are gonna get a very noisy reception.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I didn't mention security because I normally have my trailer or a motel room that I keep the spare in. There's always a chance of a rifle or anything being stolen. My guns can be stolen or my house burn down while I'm away hunting. If I carry a spare in my pickup during the hunt it's usually a shotgun of the $100 variety in case of a grouse attack. There are cheap single shot rifles I could carry as backup in the truck but I prefer to go back to the trailer/room and get my good backup.
Lots of options and of course insurance will cover some loss.
Good Hunting
Greg