When do you load up?

[drum817]

...I feel there is NO reason to have a loaded gun while walking through the woods 1.5 hours before the birds will fly down...

Noise is the #1 reason for me.

Noise has never been an issue for me and I have sat down pretty much right under many birds....just sayin 

[stinkpickle]

...I feel there is NO reason to have a loaded gun while walking through the woods 1.5 hours before the birds will fly down...

Noise is the #1 reason for me.

Noise has never been an issue for me and I have sat down pretty much right under many birds....just sayin 

You must not be shooting a Benelli auto.   

[drum817]

...I feel there is NO reason to have a loaded gun while walking through the woods 1.5 hours before the birds will fly down...

Noise is the #1 reason for me.

Noise has never been an issue for me and I have sat down pretty much right under many birds....just sayin 

You must not be shooting a Benelli auto.   

Benelli Supernova 

[nstrut]

i load up when i set down at a set up.there is no need to load up before that.and who ever i am hunting with will do the same.

[catdaddy]

I load up when I leave the truck. I unload when I get back to the truck. The pistol and shotgun in my bedroom and the pistol in my truck stay loaded. If they were not loaded, I'd prefer to just have a baseball bat. 

[stinkpickle]

I occasionally get loaded up on Saturday nights...and can't control my muzzle.   

[mmusso]

I occasionally get loaded up on Saturday nights...and can't control my muzzle.   

I have a similar problem 

[Ol'Mossy]

At the truck, where I can see what I'm doing and not making all that noise in the trees 

Same here

[chatterbox]

I occasionally get loaded up on Saturday nights...and can't control my muzzle.   

Sounds like me in my younger days!

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

gun safety is about muzzle safety and trigger finger consciousness.

i carry a gun with a chambered round every day of my life. they don't just go bang on their own. in my opinion, if you're not competent enough to carry a loaded firearm through the woods, you probably aren't competent enough to be carrying a gun.

the last thing i want to be worrying about when im sneaking in tight on a gobbler is whether my gun is loaded.  there is no way a gun can be loaded silently.  there are always multiple, audible, metallic "clicks" and "clunks" when an action is being moved rearward and then forward; even when the operator is trying their best to minimize noise.  why someone would ever do that to themselves is beyond my comprehension.

[bird]

gun safety is about muzzle safety and trigger finger consciousness.

i carry a gun with a chambered round every day of my life. they don't just go bang on their own. in my opinion, if you're not competent enough to carry a loaded firearm through the woods, you probably aren't competent enough to be carrying a gun.

the last thing i want to be worrying about when im sneaking in tight on a gobbler is whether my gun is loaded.  there is no way a gun can be loaded silently.  there are always multiple, audible, metallic "clicks" and "clunks" when an action is being moved rearward and then forward; even when the operator is trying their best to minimize noise.  why someone would ever do that to themselves is beyond my comprehension.

Ditto!!!   

[GobbleNut]

I am acquainted with (at least) two individuals that have been involved in fatal hunting accidents involving the discharge of a loaded firearm that one of the hunters in their group was carrying.  In neither case, to my knowledge, was there an immediate and urgent need for the guns to be loaded, in neither case did the shooter intentionally handle the loaded gun carelessly, and in neither case would someone be dead if the guns had not been loaded at the time.

Yes, safe gun handling is always the essence of the matter, but common sense comes into play, as well.  To needlessly carry a loaded weapon around, especially in the presence of others, is an unnecessary and mindless tragedy waiting to happen.  Why do it?

I fully agree with the comment that a hunter cannot wait until the last second, when game is near, to chamber a round.  In most cases, though, there are ample opportunities in any hunting situation to put a load in the chamber somewhere between taking the gun out of the truck and when a gobbler is in range.   

[Gobble!]

I have never really believed in carrying a gun that wasnt loaded 

[stinkpickle]

...I've experienced a loaded gun discharging when the safety was pushed to off...

Let me guess...a Remmy 700?

[socalturkeyman]

This issue has caused several dust-up's on 24hourcampfire.com.

Always seems to come down to a East vs West thing.

East carries guns loaded.

West waits until they see game or arrive at stand.

I carry my guns loaded.

I carry a loaded gun every day of my life.

I always get a kick out of guys who say they will never hunt with a guy with a hot chamber because of poor gun handling they have witnessed.

If a guy handled a gun poorly hot or not I'm not hanging out with the guy.

Thats too funny cause Im from the west and always keep my gun loaded to many mountain lions around to be empty in the chamber.