Ever used a back up rifle on a hunt?

[HuskyMusky]

I've always had a back up, though have never had the need.

Had the thought perhaps others have, and perhaps some interesting stories to share...?

 

[JimP]

In over 50 years of hunting I have never had to use a backup rifle and neither has my hunting partner who has over 60 years of hunting.

I think that most will use one when they have something fail on their primary rifle, but if you use quality scopes I doubt that you will have a problem.

I do have a friend that has had to use one but it was his own fault when the 3 wheeler rolled over on his rifle.

 

[kidoggy]

In over 50 years of hunting I have never had to use a backup rifle and neither has my hunting partner who has over 60 years of hunting.

I think that most will use one when they have something fail on their primary rifle, but if you use quality scopes I doubt that you will have a problem.

I do have a friend that has had to use one but it was his own fault when the 3 wheeler rolled over on his rifle.

nope ! never had to use one. never had one fail me.on the rare occasion that a hunting partner had problems with their weapons, it was always the fault of the individual and not the weapon.

I once had a friend slip on the icie snow, slide down the hill and drop off a ten foot cliff. he was o.k. just bruise body and ego but his gun did not fare well. broke stock and scope. he had no backup,so we hunted together that day, so he could use mine if needed. it was not
BUT if one is going to travel a long distance to hunt it might be prudent to have a backup just in case ,one has a darwin moment. none of us are above a brainfart now an then.

 

[go_deep]

Nope, but a guy used mine on an antelope hunt one time. His was sitting in a gun safe 900 miles away, lol! I don't know how you leave for a hunting trip without a rifle, but he did.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

For myself ..no. But my Dad needed one once. He pulled the head off a case after shooting at an antelope because of a case separation. We could not get the remaining brass out of the chamber. After that he always carried a tool for removing this type of brass after a case separation. It was my Dad's fault as he insisted on full length sizing on his reloads, which causes cracks in the case after many reloads. Never could talk him out of it either, we just started really inspecting his spent cases before reloading.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have never needed one in over 40 years of hunting though I always take one. I'd rather have it and not need it than be sorry. One of the areas we hunt is a 14 hour drive from home.

 

[Grundy53]

I have never needed one in over 40 years of hunting though I always take one. I'd rather have it and not need it than be sorry. One of the areas we hunt is a 14 hour drive from home.

Same here.

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[highplainsdrifter]

I was with my wife on an cow elk hunt several years ago in the Red Desert of Wyoming. We saw a herd of elk and did a sneak to get into position. When she was ready to shoot, she discovered the inside of the scope had fogged up. It had been okay hours before. I ran a half mile back to where the truck was parked and got our backup rifle. When I finally caught up with her, the elk had moved some but she had kept with them. She shot a cow at 400 yards. Good thing I wasn't the one that had to shoot because I was puffing!

 

[fackelberry]

If i'm on an important hunt, say out of state or along ways across my state i always bring one. But if i hunt close to home, say an hour i never do. Last year my dad drew a non-resident elk tag here in Wyoming, he lives 4 hours away in South Dakota, He brought his 7 Mag and brought his 8 Mag as a backup. I took my 25-06 for deer, so we had 3 guns between the 2 of us just incase something happened. But i have never had to use a backup.

 

[RICMIC]

I try to adhere to the rule of the 7 Ps. (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) It's a matter of logistics. On a long backpack hunt, I will leave a 2nd rifle in the truck, but on a muzzy hunt I have no backup. Haven't needed one in over 40 years of hunting, but stuff happens, as I relearned when I dropped my newly refinished 700 Rem. 7mm-08 out of my deer stand last November. Ouch! In that case, I had already shot my deer and home was only an hour away.

 

[buckykm1]

In 50+ years of hunting, I have never had to go to a backup Rifle, BUT, I am also a firm believer in Murphy's Law.
when we go out west on our Elk hunts, and when we are driving 1750 miles from home, I always have a Backup Rifle in camp, just incase there is a problem, it is a lot easier to bring one, then to have a problem and not have one. IMHO

Kevin

 

[kidoggy]

when traveling that far ,the most likely problem one might have is a dirtbag baggage handler throwing your gun around,while loading ,unloading plane.
unfortunately , a spare doesn't help much in such situations.

if you fly, always make sure your weapon is still sighted in before you hunt.

 

[xtreme]

I may have gotten mud in the barrel of my 7mm Roger. A bobcat was on a leaning tree that I was about to ride under. The bottom of the drainage was a swamp. The cat was only two feet above the horses head but started to run down the tree. I fired and the gun hardly made any noise so something was wrong. I had to have it rebarreled. Long story short I killed the cat with a stick. I don't remember having a backup gun but I still don't purposely bring one. When legal, I like to have my 243wssm along as a varmint gun. That is not legal in Colorado so I have a 22.250 for varmint, other than that I don't need a backup big game rifle

 

[Timberstalker]

On my sheep hunt I brought both my rifles, .300 win mag and 25-06. After packing my .300 for the first few days I switched to the 25-06. They both shot well but for some reason I felt much better with my trusty 25-06 in my hands. I always bring two rifles when I go on extended trips. I never bring a back up bow or muzzle loader however. My bow is much more prone to fail on me than a rifle is, but I can't justify buying another just for backup

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

In my 65 years of hunting big game, I have only seen one RIFLE problem. Most of the problems have been with scopes and mounts. The one rifle problem was my Dad's. He shot at a buck (missed) and when he extracted the empty, the head separated and the case stayed in the chamber. We could not remove it, so we are on a wilderness packin deer hunting trip and his rifle is down. The case separation in my opinion, was because my Dad insisted on full length sizing his empties every time. The case stretches during f/l sizing and eventually gets thin at the base and a separation can easily happen. Never could get him to change. He made up a tool to remove a case stuck from the chamber and carried it with him on every hunt after that.

Lots of problems with scopes and mounts, especially in the early years (50's & 60's). Some of the guys brought backups and several needed them. Not much problem with todays optics, because IMHO all my hunting buddies use expensive, top of the line scopes.

The only time for me was when I was a teen ager. I totally disassembled my 03 Springfield and cleaned it. When I put the bold back together, I did not screw in the firing pin enough and it wouldn't fire. Yes...I found out about my mistake when I had a really nice 4x4 standing broadside looking at me and the gun goes CLICK!

I never take a backup today and have never needed on.

 

[PlainsHunter]

I carry a backup gun when I travel out of state to hunt. I fell on my gun a few years ago as I lost footing going down hill. At mid day I shot at a target at 100 yards and didn't even hit paper. I switched to my backup gun and ended up shooting a deer the next day.

 

[mcseal2]

I always take one but have not needed to use it. Some hunts in varied terrain I do use both rifles on a hunt but not because of issues with the primary rifle. For example hunting muleys in a region with both steep and flatter terrain I've carried my heavier 264 while hunting the windy open lower ground, switched to the light 300 if that doesn't work and we head to higher steeper places.

 

[Mr Drysdale]

On my first western hunt we rode four wheelers to and from our hunting area for the day. It was very dry and dusty. I had not covered my muzzle and dust apparently filled the barrel. Upon chambering a round on the second day I could not unload the round. I could probably have fired it and got it out but my buddies, who hunted out west often, had a backup I could use. I now keep my muzzle covered even in good conditions. Lesson learned. I have been out west twice since and carried a backup each trip.

 

[Team Kabob]

I always take a backup gun. Most of the time it's a friend that needs it.


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[RICMIC]

I've ridden some horses that seem to intentionally try to scrape you off on trees, and it takes a little while for them to learn that I don't like that. One particular mule was fantastic in rugged country, but when he got on a flat meadow it was time to buck and run. The 2nd time he pulled that stunt, I went flying, he went running, and 20 minutes later when the guide caught him, the rifle was almost out of the scabbard. I almost shot that SOB, and likely would have if he lost my .338 Winchester supergrade. I did shoot a good 6x6 bull on that trip though. So, as was previously stated, Stuff Happens.