How much ammo when hunting?

[phil mcwilliam]

There has been at least half a dozen occassions over the last 30 years of hunting where I have been involved in locating lost hunters in remote areas by them firing locating shots. I always carry 1 box minimum.Better to have too many rounds than run out. The extra weight of 16 rounds that arent already in your rifle is negligable.

[kaylorinhi]

Spear's and Trident's never runout of ammo!

[crghss]

While I take box with to camp, I carry one in the chamber and two in the magazine when I go a field. Never had a problem. For deer that is.

Small game, at least a box, maybe two.

[Dannyl]

Hi All,
My hunting is never done less than 700 Miles from home, and more importantly, a similar distance from the nearest gun shop. I therefore take with me 100 reloads for my 30-06 and the same ammount for my handgun if I am about to hunt with it. (I also take a spare scope and tools to replace on if need be)

A scope can be bumped- requiring to replace or re-zero it, this can consume quote a few rounds.

When I am hunting, I carry 4 in the rifle and 8 in a plastic strip in my pocket. for the revolver, one full cylinder and one speed loader. Never needed half of it, but like a my carry gun, I'd rather have it and not need it than have it the other way around.

In any event, the amount of water I carry weighs far more than the ammo, and I would never leave it behind either.

Perhaps It is worth adding that my hunting trips are usually a week long, with 5 days of hunting. often more than one buck per day, and I stay out in the bush from early morning till late afternoon.

Brgds,

Danny

[James R. Burke]

For deer I use a Ruger No 1 in 30-06. I reload. For deer I use the Nosler 165 partition, and carry about eight. I am about 400 yards from my truck were I have about 100 of them.

[Crankylove]

I take 20-30 rounds for each rifle I am taking. (took 6 rifles and a scattergun on this years Elk hunt.......gotta have backups for the rifles and the shotgun for grouse ). Most of the ammo stays in camp, but when I am out hiking, I have a full mag in the gun I am carrying (plus one loose to stuff the chamber), and 10 in an ammo pouch on my belt. Have never needed more than that, and very rarely need to use more than what is in the gun itself. I usually carry a pistol as well, with bottomfeeders getting a full mag, wheelguns a full cylinder.....no spare ammo carried for the pistols.

[lefteyedom]

Normally I take two rifles with 2 boxes each to camp. When I am hunting in the field the rifle is loaded with 3 or 4 rounds plus 2 more in my pockets.

FWIW I load tend to load magazine and then close the bolt feeding the top round to the chamber. As apposed to loading the magazine full then putting a (plus one) into the chamber. Old M-16 habit, but I trust the rifle to feed the second shot better by doing this.

Pistols, 18 rounds of 44mag, and 100 rd for the 22lr

On the A-10.....
2 AIM-9 Sidewinder
1,174 rounds of 30mm
2 AGM-65 Maverick
2 pods of Hydra 70 rockets

[Crankylove]

1,174 rounds of 30mm

What is that............4-5 bursts out of that cannon they built the plane around?

[Double Naught Spy]

I only hunt hogs. There is no legal limit on ammo on board or any other sort of restriction. I am not apt to get lost as the property is my own and only 46 acres, so I won't be firing signalling shots. I carry at least 20 on board in the box magazine and then have a pistol with a spare mag. I have this hopeful fantasy that I will see a giant sounder of slow moving hogs and will have a need for all the rounds I have. Of course, that has never happened, but I have never run out of ammo either and I have known some folks who have. I simply refuse to let a trip be spoiled because I didn't have something as simple as enough ammo. It isn't like ammo is all that heavy compared to the time and effort involved in making each hunting excursion.

[kd7sgm]

It depends on what I am hunting. When I go deer or elk hunting I load three in the rifle and three in my pocket. If I am going chuck hunting with a mini 14 I have at least one hundred rounds. Birds and rabbits with a shotgun I take as many as my vest will hold in addition to the shotgun mag tube full.

[hooligan1]

Since I believe that the OP was talking about DEER HUNTING, then let's leave it at DEER HUNTING. And the original question was how many cartridges you carry for the hunt. And if you stand on your laurel's 1 cartridge per deer, is necessary. I mean if you only shoot to YOUR limits, and have practiced. (actually he just said hunting, nevermind!)

[Big Bill]

I only take 1 bullet.

There are either a lot of great shots that have posted in this thread; or, their are a bunch of liars that have posted in this thread. I'm not 100% sure which is which. But, I have my suspicions.

[eaglesnester]

I live and hunt in the bush in the northern interior of B.C. so when I leave the house I carry a pouch of 16-17 rounds from which I load my rifle.

[hooligan1]

Hey bigbill, if you are calling me a fisherman,? Then whatever.I totally represent that remark.

[nefprotector]

I just throw a box or two 20rd each in my truck and its always there when needed.

[Uncle Buck]

BigBill Said:

There are either a lot of great shots that have posted in this thread; or, their are a bunch of liars that have posted in this thread. I'm not 100% sure which is which. But, I have my suspicions.

I usually take three in the gun and three in my pocket. (Lately I come home with three in the gun and three in my pocket.)

[markj]

Heck, sometimes I dont even carry ammo, well that is when I left it on the counter then drove 4 hours....... no stores.........one gas station had wrong ammo........glad I took a camera

[sc outdoorsman]

When I hunt our land close to home I take 8 rounds of rifle ammo or 10 buckshot. I like to have enough to load my gun twice. If it is further away or an overnight trip I usually take 20 rounds with me. I never have needed all of it, but I dont want to need it and not have it.

[natman]

Centerfire rifle, 10 rounds because that's what my cartridge carrier holds. If I were packing in, I'd have another 10 rounds back in camp.

Turkey hunting, 5 rounds in my vest. I used to carry a box of 10, but shotgun shells are heavy, there's a one per day limit and I've never fired at a turkey more than once.

Rimfire - a box.

[bassfishindoc]

Depends, if I am hunting areas close to home that I am extremely familiar with I will load up the rifle (3-5 rounds depending on what I am using that day) plus have the equivalent amount in my pouch. If I am going out for a day or two, or in an unfamiliar area, I will generally carry 15-20 rounds or more, again, it all depends on the situation.

[FairWarning]

On my person I'll have 5 in the Mauser and 10 more on WWII style stripper clips on my belt.

In the truck/cabin I'll have 20 rds of 165 gr HP and 20 rds of either 150 gr or 196 gr SP depending on the situation.

[the blur]

NY state hunter saftey class says:
3 in the rifle only.

1 shot for the deer, and 1 for the kill shot, and 1 spare which will never be used,

[Doc Intrepid]

Originally Posted by the blur

"NY state hunter saftey class says:
3 in the rifle only.

1 shot for the deer, and 1 for the kill shot, and 1 spare which will never be used,"

It sure must be nice to be one of those New York guys able to foresee the future and know that you'll never need more than 3 rounds; you'll never get lost, never encounter a situation where there is any chance of a threat, or never have an opportunity to miss your shot for any reason and have to fire 2 or 3 or 4 more.

Most guys spend some time and money to pull together a week long hunting trip. Like others have said, ammunition is relatively inexpensive and not very heavy, and to have a hunting trip end unsuccessful or worse due to running out of bullets doesn't seem like very wise planning to me. Then there are also the 'low probability/high consequence" scenarios...

I carry two 20 round magazines during Deer season, 1 in the rifle and 1 in a pocket; and only 1 magazine during Elk season. We go up for a week or so, and its just convenient to carry spare rounds in a magazine. But we also have a situation where the marijuana harvest is in full swing in the national forests around here during Deer season, but the marijuana harvest is pretty much over by the time Elk season kicks off.

The whole "cartels in the forest" thing is becoming quite an issue where I live. This is a (2010) article from a few months ago in Northwest Sportsman:
http://nwsportsmanmag.wordpress.com/...nting-grounds/

It's not only a problem in Washington state where I live, but in other parts of the country as well. This article is from the Examiner:
http://www.examiner.com/immigration-...shocking-video

There have only been a couple shooting incidents here in WA, but in CA recently there was a shootout that left one of the pot grow guards dead. Here is an account in Lake County News (CA):
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/15502/919/

Wandering into a marijuana grow while hunting has happened to a number of Washington hunters this year. So far they've been told to beat it by armed men, and they've left. (But they got the location on their GPS and reported it, and the grows were busted.) An altercation is generally unlikely, but as the stakes get higher for the pot grow guards it's clear that the potential for problems increases.

All things being equal, I'd rather have more than just 3 rounds with me.

Your mileage may vary...

[FrankenMauser]

It sure must be nice to be one of those New York guys able to foresee the future and know that you'll never need more than 3 rounds; you'll never get lost, never encounter a situation where there is any chance of a threat, or never have an opportunity to miss your shot for any reason and have to fire 2 or 3 or 4 more.

Most guys spend some time and money to pull together a week long hunting trip. Like others have said, ammunition is relatively inexpensive and not very heavy, and to have a hunting trip end unsuccessful or worse due to running out of bullets doesn't seem like very wise planning to me. Then there are also the 'low probability/high consequence" scenarios...

Low probability/high consequence can be applied to many things: Survival, lost animals, or even failed self defense attempts. One that comes to my mind....

Last year, I was flamed pretty nicely for explaining how an antelope ended up with 5 bullet holes in it (the subject was even referred to several times in several threads after the original).

It was one of those unfortunate situations, where no matter how much planning, preparation, and practice goes into the first shot... Everything just falls apart.

A misjudged shot, and mistake with ammunition caused a fatal wound to the antelope, but it was still very mobile (and showing it by hitting 45+ mph). So, three hunters went into "salvage mode", stopping at almost nothing to stop the goat (which would quickly be lost). We would rather have massive meat loss, than have a wounded animal get away. In the end, something like 12 shots were fired, and it had 5 wounds in it (ended up being two chest shots, a head shot, and two that wasted almost no meat). It was far from a proud moment for any of us, but we were glad we kept the animal from escaping to suffer a slow, painful death.

It's not a common occurrence, and not something any good hunter thinks they will ever have to deal with, but terrible situations do arise out of even the smallest mistakes.

Taking enough ammunition to get the job done is never a mistake. Taking a minimal amount is just an invitation for disaster (unless you're unethical, or arrogant enough to think it'll never happen to you).

[22-rimfire]

I carry a couple reloads and keep a full box of ammo in the truck for each firearm I take with me. If I use up all that ammunition, I deserve a long walk back to my truck for ammo.