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It really does depend on the situation
Posted by Buck Nelson on Jan 15 2006
I've done a lot of hunting where it really wasn't a tough choice: bird hunting, still-hunting whitetails in heavy cover, or tracking elk in thick lodgepole. In the latter two situations, I'm always hunting by myself, and to hunt with an empty chamber in any of the three situations usually just isn't practical for me. Those types of hunting are completely different from Dall sheep hunting or caribou hunting for example, where there is nearly always time to load a round.
I don't like to have loaded firearms in vehicles, or around other hunters except for just before a shot, (with a very few exceptions such as in bird hunting.)
I will have a round in the chamber approaching a downed animal, even though I don’t know if I’ll be shooting again or not, and when approaching cached meat, even though I’m not bear hunting and I don’t know if a bear is guarding the meat.
An unloaded gun is a safe gun; on the other hand, an unloaded gun is a useless gun.
It’s all about managing risk in a reasonable way.
When in doubt, keep the chamber empty. In general, I think hunting partners with loaded guns are more dangerous than bears!
Buck
Alaska Hunting Adventure: 700 Miles Alone by Backpack and Raft
http://www.bucktrack.com/Alaska.html
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