Do you take a backup gun on a hunt?

[Marbles]

No. No. And hell no.

Now gird your loins for my counter rant as I'm pulling out the soap box.

I'm not hauling two rifles up a mountain. I'm not spending money on backups for everything either. Nor wasting the mental energy trying to pack all the back-ups in the truck or make weight on a fly in hunt with back-ups. Or crowed an already stuffed boat with none life preserving redundancy.

The 'two is one and one is none' montra is a good way to end up heavy, rigid, and slow. More accurate is the saw that 'trying to be strong everywhere results in being weak everywhere'. Gear choices are strategic decisions and shouldn't be decided by what-if monkeys.

Ernest Shackleton arguably saved his entire crew of the Endurance because he insisted on not trying to take everything when they became stranded on the pack ice.

S.L.A. Marshall has documented the effects of moving heavy on combat effectiveness.

Take care of your stuff. Make sure it works. If you don't trust it, replace it.

If your scope rings don't return to zero when removed and remounted, change to a better system or learn to be more consistent in how you mount it.


If you made it through, have a great day and remember it in only hunting, have fun and don't care too much about what others think.

 

[MuleyFever]

Nope. I try to not bring anything of value that will have to stay in the truck.

 

[RyanT26]

No. I would be thinking about it constantly if I knew that I had left rifle in the truck or at camp.

I’ve never had anything stolen, but that would be the time

 

[TheViking]

No. No. And hell no.

Now gird your loins for my counter rant as I'm pulling out the soap box.

I'm not hauling two rifles up a mountain. I'm not spending money on backups for everything either. Nor wasting the mental energy trying to pack all the back-ups in the truck or make weight on a fly in hunt with back-ups. Or crowed an already stuffed boat with none life preserving redundancy.

The 'two is one and one is none' montra is a good way to end up heavy, rigid, and slow. More accurate is the saw that 'trying to be strong everywhere results in being weak everywhere'. Gear choices are strategic decisions and shouldn't be decided by what-if monkeys.

Ernest Shackleton arguably saved his entire crew from the Endurance because he insisted on not trying to take everything when they became stranded on the pack ice.

S.L.A. Marshall has documented the effects of moving heavy on combat effectiveness.

Take care of your stuff. Make sure it works. If you don't trust it, replace it.

If your scope rings don't return to zero when removed and remounted, change to a better system or lean to be more consistent in how you mount it.


If you made it through, have a great day and remember it in only hunting, have fun and don't care too much about what others think.

I would never haul two rifles up a mountain, or on a plane with limited space.
I was more referring to parking at a trailhead, hiking in for a few days, or even day trips from a wall tent.
100% agree with you on trusting your gear and if you don't replace it. I have been doing this a lot the last few years. That's kind of where this originated from. I have a few rifles and instead of having multiple expensive ones, I am thinking about building one super badass one and calling it good, or have a cheap backup to it as well.

 

[wind gypsy]

Only needed the backup once.. SWFA 3-9 didnt like being dropped on ice.

 

[RockAndSage]

Unless there is a very clear and distinct reason not to, then yes, always. Not because one of my guns "might go down", but because bad stuff can happen that can put even the best-built setups out of action. Mostly from falls, or outside things falling onto the gun (rockfall, partner fall, etc). A hard-break on a scope, damaging the muzzle crown, etc. Especially with horses. If you're hunting long enough and hard enough, a fall is more a matter of when, than if.

The things that make taking a backup a hard-no relate to theft likelihood.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I ran my bow over in 2020 on an elk hunt. It was dumb.

Good thing you didn’t have your Subaru back then or it would have got stuck and stranded you.

 

[sndmn11]

Good thing you didn’t have your Subaru back then or it would have got stuck and stranded you.

Not with X mode, I'm invincible.

 

[Blurry1]

Never have. If something happens in the field by the time I make it back to the truck I’m probably never more than a 4 hour round trip from another. Besides most of my partners carry so I will mooch. I developed loads for their guns and know how they shoot.

 

[Laramie]

We always have 1 backup rifle in elk camp but generally I don't bring a spare unless it's an oil hunt where the hunt could potentially ruined.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I can’t remember the last time I only had one rifle in my jeeps or trucks.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Usually have my #1 hunting rifle with me for the trip and often a “brush” gun as the back up, typically a blr with a 3-9 accupoint can be used as a backup reliably, but is really there for if weather is awful or I feel the need to still hunt or something…

 

[Hnthrdr]

No. No. And hell no.

Now gird your loins for my counter rant as I'm pulling out the soap box.

I'm not hauling two rifles up a mountain. I'm not spending money on backups for everything either. Nor wasting the mental energy trying to pack all the back-ups in the truck or make weight on a fly in hunt with back-ups. Or crowed an already stuffed boat with none life preserving redundancy.

The 'two is one and one is none' montra is a good way to end up heavy, rigid, and slow. More accurate is the saw that 'trying to be strong everywhere results in being weak everywhere'. Gear choices are strategic decisions and shouldn't be decided by what-if monkeys.

Ernest Shackleton arguably saved his entire crew of the Endurance because he insisted on not trying to take everything when they became stranded on the pack ice.

S.L.A. Marshall has documented the effects of moving heavy on combat effectiveness.

Take care of your stuff. Make sure it works. If you don't trust it, replace it.

If your scope rings don't return to zero when removed and remounted, change to a better system or learn to be more consistent in how you mount it.


If you made it through, have a great day and remember it in only hunting, have fun and don't care too much about what others think.

Love the “gird your loins” comment haha

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Near always. About the only time I don't have a backup is when I hunt in MO or WI as I only keep one rifle out there. And if something really bad happens, I'll just borrow one or at worst, buy one.

 

[UnckleBob]

I suspect most of us have multiple rifles to choose from on every hunt.

I just pick an extra to take with me. I keep it locked in the truck bed under the hard tonneau cover.

Which one I take is largely determined by my mood.

 

[Mtslackcountry]

If I am hunting out of a camp for multiple days I will have a backup.

 

[RockAndSage]

unless it's an oil hunt

Haven't heard of this before - what's an oil hunt?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Haven't heard of this before - what's an oil hunt?

Once in a lifetime.

 

[RockAndSage]

Once in a lifetime.

Ah. Yeah, camouflaged by grammar, my mind went elsewhere.

 

[z987k]

No. No. And hell no.

Now gird your loins for my counter rant as I'm pulling out the soap box.

I'm not hauling two rifles up a mountain. I'm not spending money on backups for everything either. Nor wasting the mental energy trying to pack all the back-ups in the truck or make weight on a fly in hunt with back-ups. Or crowed an already stuffed boat with none life preserving redundancy.

The 'two is one and one is none' montra is a good way to end up heavy, rigid, and slow. More accurate is the saw that 'trying to be strong everywhere results in being weak everywhere'. Gear choices are strategic decisions and shouldn't be decided by what-if monkeys.

Ernest Shackleton arguably saved his entire crew of the Endurance because he insisted on not trying to take everything when they became stranded on the pack ice.

S.L.A. Marshall has documented the effects of moving heavy on combat effectiveness.

Take care of your stuff. Make sure it works. If you don't trust it, replace it.

If your scope rings don't return to zero when removed and remounted, change to a better system or learn to be more consistent in how you mount it.


If you made it through, have a great day and remember it in only hunting, have fun and don't care too much about what others think.

So much this.