Where's Your Rifle?

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CB900F

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Fella's;

A point came up on another site that might bear some investigation here. Consider that you've shot & are field dressing a big game animal. Also consider that there are predators known to be in the area. What kind are we talking about? Whatever's in the area you hunt. Around here, Montana, it can be just about anything including cats, wolves, coyotes, bear of either the black or griz persuasion, possibly even wolverine, or depending on "other factors" sasquatch or bigfoot.

I'd like to hear from people who have actually BTDT, not keyboard pundits. Personally, I'll park the rifle close by & field dress. In the other thread I mentioned 3 yards, a typical distance. I also mentioned that I keep a serious sidearm on my body while I very well might be up to my elbows in elk guts. It was mentioned by one somebody that he wouldn't have his rifle that far away! Uh-uh, no way.

So, does anybody crouch over their rifle while field dressing? Keep it slung across their back? Which I think would be very impractical, but who knows? Mount a bayonet to the rifle & field dress that way? :D

Please keep in mind the question is not what sidearm you pack, how you keep your buddy backin' you up, or anything like that. How far away from you is the rifle? That's the question.

Inquiring minds wish to know.

900F
 
"people who have actually BTDT, not keyboard pundits"

:confused:


People who have gutted a deer/antelope/boar/bear/elk ??????

or ...

People who were gutting some game animal and were attacked by some predator/sasquatch/anti-hunterbimbo ?


:confused:
 
The only predators for my deer are the thieving poachers and deer claim jumpers. :mad: All the same, I have my rifle, with bi-pod mounted, set-up about 12" from me.
 
I usually leave my rifle in the Jeep when I gut my game. I don't worry too much about anything aroud where I hunt. The most dangerous critter besides pigs around us is the occasional moutain lion and they say you will never hear or see them coming. I do however always carry a sidearm when hunting so I am armed at all times.
 
I'd like to hear from people who have actually BTDT, not keyboard pundits.
Click to expand...

Hopefully some will come along, but until then, from this keyboard pundit, my understanding is that in Alaska, you don't field dress without a 2nd hunter standing guard with a rifle. The gunshot is the dinner bell for brown bear.
 
I always keep mine close by, and don't unload the rifle until I'm back to my truck. You never know what you might see. I'm not so much worried about being attacked while gutting an aminal, but would surely bust a coyote or any predator that showed up under most circumstances.
 
Rifle is within reach (under 2' & I have long arms). Either my .45 or .41 are constant companions (typically the .41 if 4-legged predators are real possibility).
 
under the jaw of the animal I am gutting. The neck keeps the barrel out of the dirt and I don't need to move the deer much while I am cleaning. There is a round in the chamber, but safety is on. I do it more to get a shot at another deer than to worry about predators here.
 
I generally carry my duty pistol with me in a holster while in the woodline. I usually have my rifle within a few feet of me in case it is needed for a special occasion.
 
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Can happen anywhere.

Hey There:
I shot a turkey a while back and just as I got up to go get it a Large Female
coyotee show'd up and was very intent on taking my bird.
That dog snarled and carried on at me as if to warn me not to try.
Well she got a few rounds of #6 shot from a Federal turkey load.
This was the only time this has happened to me but I now know it can.
I had never seen a coyotee act like that and figured it would run off after seeing me. NOT...
 
Personally, I never give it a thought except, and that's a big except, if I'm in griz country. If no griz, I put my shooter somewhere safe and out of the way. Hell, it may be 20+ feet away. On Kodiak, the griz thing goes further (Brown Bear are just BIG griz)--a) you don't hunt alone, and b) one should never even think of dressing an animal without another guy present, he holding a rifle and watching, not helping with the work.
 
if still in the woods, then I lean it against a tree within 10-12 feet; if in the clear area near the sleeping house, then less likely to have a rifle near by; either way, I'll have a .357 mag or .44 mag on my hip for those 'just in case' incidents (nosy hunters walking through...who might want my deer, coyotes, bears)
 
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