The ideal number of cartridges to carry while hunting

[hoytcanon]

I agree. I dont know why someone needs 20+ rounds of ammo to shoot a animal or two. I carry whats in the rifle. If its just a day trip.

My trip to maine this year I took 2 boxes. So 40 rounds. Did some plinking and confirmed zero. But when actually hunting. Just what was in the rifle. And when sun set put them in my pocket so no game warden could say were hunting at night

Unless you just carry 20 because thats whats in a box. Some the bumbers posted seem wildly high.

That practice of just what's in the gun may bite you in the azz someday... I can't think of a good reason not to keep at least another magazine full in your pack.or pockets. It happened to my father one time, old school fella, just carried one loaded clip for his BLR .308. One day he shot a big buck that was walking through the timber, the buck went down and then got up and started trotting away, my dad emptied his rifle but kept hitting trees, when he was empty, the buck stopped in an open lane and stood broadside for two minutes, and then slowly walked away, all my dad could do was watch. We did get the buck, but I had to track it two miles through a swamp and finish it, then haul it all the way back out again... my dad started carrying a spare mag after that.

 

[Flbt]

Nope.
But id pick up my bullets. And even then you dont need 30-40rounds for a day hunt

Swamp you can’t all ways find them
And sounders of hogs

 

[farmer_john]

That practice of just what's in the gun may bite you in the azz someday... I can't think of a good reason not to keep at least another magazine full in your pack.or pockets. It happened to my father one time, old school fella, just carried one loaded clip for his BLR .308. One day he shot a big buck that was walking through the timber, the buck went down and then got up and started trotting away, my dad emptied his rifle but kept hitting trees, when he was empty, the buck stopped in an open lane and stood broadside for two minutes, and then slowly walked away, all my dad could do was watch. We did get the buck, but I had to track it two miles through a swamp and finish it, then haul it all the way back out again... my dad started carrying a spare mag after that.

im not against having an extra mag worth. Just some the folks saying there toting dozens of rounds on the hunt itself. Seems a bit much.

And I dont shoot 8x at game. And i also wont take a shot unless I know its going to be a good one. Id rather not shoot the biggest deer in the world. Than make a bad shot that causes prolonged suffering. And alot of folks ive seen who tey to chase a deer after the first shot with followups rarely hit them with a a second and if they do its not a good shot.

Swamp you can’t all ways find them
And sounders of hogs

Fair.
And shooting saunders if hogs squirrels birds ect. I put in a different catagory than large game.

 

[hoytcanon]

im not against having an extra mag worth. Just some the folks saying there toting dozens of rounds on the hunt itself. Seems a bit much.

And I dont shoot 8x at game. And i also wont take a shot unless I know its going to be a good one. Id rather not shoot the biggest deer in the world. Than make a bad shot that causes prolonged suffering. And alot of folks ive seen who tey to chase a deer after the first shot with followups rarely hit them with a a second and if they do its not a good shot.

If you wound an animal (it happens), you finish it... at that point it could very well be fleeting, difficult shots through brush at a moving target... you can go through your mag pretty easily, and the animal you said you would NEVER wound goes on suffering, while you hike back to the truck or drive back home for more bullets. IMO "just the bullets in the rifle" is borderline irresponsible... it works fine... until it doesn't.

 

[farmer_john]

If you wound an animal (it happens), you finish it... at that point it could very well be fleeting, difficult shots through brush at a moving target... you can go through your mag pretty easily, and the animal you said you would NEVER wound goes on suffering, while you hike back to the truck or drive back home for more bullets. IMO "just the bullets in the rifle" is borderline irresponsible... it works fine... until it doesn't.

Im perfectly ok with a pocketfull of ammo and a nice hike.

Not trying to knock your story.
But
The issue isnt ammo quantity. Its making a bad shot. Followed by the decision to make 7 more.

 

[hoytcanon]

Im perfectly ok with a pocketfull of ammo and a nice hike. What comes from it is Gods will.

Not trying to knock your story.
But
The issue isnt ammo quantity. Its making a bad shot. Followed by the decision to make 7 more.

Wrong... your arrogance is going to bite you in the azz. Good luck with that.

 

[Flbt]

Im perfectly ok with a pocketfull of ammo and a nice hike. What comes from it is Gods will.

Not trying to knock your story.
But
The issue isnt ammo quantity. Its making a bad shot. Followed by the decision to make 7 more.

Also depends on where you hunt.
Here we are not that farm from civilization.
Pots mostly legal. So you probably won’t run into big pot fields
But meth labs now could be a issue. That’s a reason for more rifle rounds.

 

[farmer_john]

Wrong... your arrogance is going to bite you in the azz. Good luck with that.

I Appologize in advance for my ignorance. But how. If I never take the shot?

I can always relocate.
I can always come back.
Still 1 in the chamber 4 in the gun.

 

[farmer_john]

Also depends on where you hunt.
Here we are not that farm from civilization.
Pots mostly legal. So you probably won’t run into big pot fields
But meth labs now could be a issue. That’s a reason for more rifle rounds.

That falls into mettc territory. Wich is how i base my decisions.
But by that logic I can also throw in African militias/mexican cartels . Or Russian T-72 tanks/bmp-3s supported a few companies of infantry and artillery.

Were talking a day hunt for deer in a place your legally allowed to be. Not throwing in other wild variables in to play the what if game.
Obviously your not going to go kets get in a gun fight with a knife and 5 bullets.

 

[Flbt]

That falls into mettc territory. Wich is how i base my decisions.
But by that logic I can also throw in African militias/mexican cartels . Or Russian T-72 tanks/bmp-3s supported a few companies of infantry and artillery.

Were talking a day hunt for deer in a place your legally allowed to be. Not throwing in other wild variables in to play the what if game.

Not throwing out wild variable’s.
I didn’t think about it today until a buddy told me he had to investigate a meth set up in wma
Found buy a hunter this morning. A county over.

 

[farmer_john]

Not throwing out wild variable’s.
I didn’t think about it today until a buddy told me he had to investigate a meth set up in wma
Found buy a hunter this morning. A county over.

Honestly on public game lands. Id be more worried about trigger happy hunters with no situational awareness.
Thats alot more likely a situation to find yourself getting wrecked in than a shootout with drug dealers. Not that there not pot grows and meth labs around. Having some kind of IFAK would be higher on my list of concerns than more bullets on public lands.

 

[Flbt]

Honestly on public game lands. Id be more worried about trigger happy hunters with no situational awareness.
Thats alot more likely a situation to find yourself getting wrecked in than a shootout with drug dealers. Not that there not pot grows and meth labs around. Having some kind of IFAK would be higher on my list of concerns than more bullets on public lands.

I am not talking a combat load out.
Just a gun load or 2
Hell I all ways carry my ccw anyway

 

[Flbt]

Honestly on public game lands. Id be more worried about trigger happy hunters with no situational awareness.
Thats alot more likely a situation to find yourself getting wrecked in than a shootout with drug dealers. Not that there not pot grows and meth labs around. Having some kind of IFAK would be higher on my list of concerns than more bullets on public lands.

I was looking at some news articles about math on wma there one about a Fwc officer finding one in a dog box a mobile meth lab in a wma.

Florida man is real act/ carry according lmaf

 

[farmer_john]

I am not talking a combat load out.
Just a gun load or 2
Hell I all ways carry my ccw anyway

I know. All yall are getting hung up in the weeds on variables we all agree would be reasonable to have more rounds.

And as stated previously. METTC is what governs everything. Even going to work.

But to just go out on a normal day to drop one animal maybe you dont need a billion bullets. If you dont have a clean shot dont take it.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

That falls into mettc territory. Wich is how i base my decisions.
But by that logic I can also throw in African militias/mexican cartels . Or Russian T-72 tanks/bmp-3s supported a few companies of infantry and artillery.

Were talking a day hunt for deer in a place your legally allowed to be. Not throwing in other wild variables in to play the what if game.
Obviously your not going to go kets get in a gun fight with a knife and 5 bullets.

The OP’s original question was about a Dangerous Game Hunt. You’re on a forum for African Hunting, mettc would dictate a response in kind vs one about deer hunting or on public lands in the US.

There’s a member on this forum who had to utilize the extraction service from Global Rescue due to a gun fight with an African Militia. There are other members on here who’ve encountered armed poachers over the course of their hunt and aided in their detention. Members on here who are hunting in Niassa following a recent ISIS attacked a hunting camp(s) earlier in the year. Members who’ve gotten sideways with a wounded DG animal and been charged by another, or who’ve gotten into some culling to help an outfitter or the community out.

 

[mdwest]

Everything is situation dependent..

If we’re talking a buff hunt in South Africa… that’s something very different than a lion in Mozambique… which is very different from a whitetail deer in Texas … which is different than a hog hunt in Texas..

When I’m hunting whitetail from a blind in TX, I load the rifle to capacity.. and that’s it.. if I need more than 5x 308 rounds on a whitetail hunt from a blind, where my side by side is less than 50 yards away and my camp is less than a mile away… I’m doing something very wrong…

If I’m hunting pigs at night from that exact same blind… that’s typically 40 rounds… I’m usually sitting up there with an AR10 with a thermal and a suppressor… and as often as not I’m dealing with a sounder of pigs… I usually take 2x 20 round mags with me… I am never getting 40 rounds off in a single engagement.. but.. I want to be able to swap mags if there’s a malfunction.. and if I’m carrying the weapon, I may as well have topped off mags..

Buff I already addressed earlier in this thread.. I’ve got the gun loaded to capacity, plus I have a 6 round slide filled and I have a couple of loose rounds in a pocket..

Etc..

Every hunt is different … every hunt gets different consideration…

 

[steve white]

Some have suggested poacher/insurgent activity as need for more. Agree. What about running onto a group of angry cow elephants, getting lost--not likely but possible, then needing to signal, kill something to eat, etc. We always plan as though the unexpected will never happen, but it sometimes DOES happen. Better a few more to have if needed.

 

[farmer_john]

The OP’s original question was about a Dangerous Game Hunt. You’re on a forum for African Hunting, mettc would dictate a response in kind vs one about deer hunting or on public lands in the US.

There’s a member on this forum who had to utilize the extraction service from Global Rescue due to a gun fight with an African Militia. There are other members on here who’ve encountered armed poachers over the course of their hunt and aided in their detention. Members on here who are hunting in Niassa following a recent ISIS attacked a hunting camp(s) earlier in the year. Members who’ve gotten sideways with a wounded DG animal and been charged by another, or who’ve gotten into some culling to help an outfitter or the community out.

I believe if you read the OP
how many rounds do you carry while hunting (DG or else) ?
And proceedes to talk about what he carries for non dangerous and dangerous game.
that makes it hunting in general vs just DG. Or maybe im just an idiot out in left field.

The latter bit sounds like an interesting tale to share over some beers.