ammo

Was just wondering how much ammo you guys and gals carry when you go on a hunt. I usually take one MTM 50rd case for each caliber I take with me. more or less depending on laws.

for hunting camp i take two full box of rifle or 50 rounds for the ruger 41... if its critter killen time... 100-200 rounds for the 204 and about 40 for the 357
ive yet to kill a ground hog over 100 yards with my 357 tracker but i keep tryen lol and miss a lot over 300 yards with the 204 but practice makes perfect and as much as i "" practice"" ie miss i should be ""Godly"" in a year or two lol

Dave

When I hunt locally for deer...home in the evenings, sometimes for lunch, I carry five to ten rounds...that's it when carrying a single shot. When toting a revolver, I carry a cylinder full. Should I happen to miss that many times...it's really time to go home.

For varmints, ten to fifteen rounds is about all. If I get that many shots at groundhogs...it's been a GOOD day!!

Depending on the hunt. When I go to Wyo, I carry 300-600 rounds of .223, 300-600 38 spl, 250 .357, 100-200 12 gauge, 300 22 mag, and 1000 or so 22 LR. That will get me through a 3 day weekend.

On a normal big game hunt I will take 40 or so rounds of what I'm packin.

Lars

A dozen or so. For big game that is. Small game is as much as I'm willing to carry. Never know what you'll run into.

I'll usually carry 8 when I'm deer hunting and it varies on other types of game depending on the caliber. If I'm traveling a long distance for big game then I'll usually carry about 50 rounds for each gun.

When I take the 44 mag I have the cylinder full and 6 more in my pocket. When I take the shotgun I fill the gun and put a couple in my pocket.

Hunting close to home one cylinder full,if I travel 20 is about all I take.

I always try to prepair for the worst case scenario, which would be stuck out overnight. That means enough ammo for signal shots, whistle, flashlight(s)spare batteries and enery bars.

with my revolvers i carry a loaded cylinder (5) and a ammo wallet on my belt that holds twelve. My t/c's I carry one in the pipe and 6 on my wristband. when I'm going to a hunting location away from home I'll carry at least 50 rds per gun in case of a handling accident that requireds a sight in from scratch. My long guns carry there mags full and one in the pipe and I wear a ammo wallet or cartridge carrier that carries 20 on my belt.

four in the cylinder- 5 on the belt and 5 in the pocket

When hunting local, four or five in the cylinder, and 5/6 on the bandolier...

Traveling - at least 20 rounds per gun/caliber.

Locally, 5-10 rds out of state-20. That's for each gun I take.

50 when travelling, six in the cylinder + 2 speedloaders in my pocket while hunting - counting 18.

Local hunting with a revolver, 4/5 in the cylinder and 2 in my pocket. With a single shot I use the MTM ammo wallets that holds 9 rounds. Back at the truck I might have a few more just in case they are needed for a quick sight check or if the charlies are thick that day.

If I'm a away from home I take about 50 rounds for each gun that goes along.

When I get to go west for a PD hunt I will have to carry alot.

yes tigger you will have to carry alot a buddy of mine went
and took 500 and that was not enough
larry

For Hunting, I take 6 in the revolver, 6 in my pocket, and the rest of a box of 50 in the Jeep. (SBH Hunter .44mag)
For traveling/self protection or 4 wheeling trips with others, I take 5 in the revolver and the rest of the box in the Jeep.(.38spl. 2")

When hunting with revolvers I have 4 or 5 rounds in the cylinder depending on the gun. Even with transfer bars I don't like having a round under the hammer. For one or two day hunts, I also carry 18 rounds in a MTM ammo wallet. For longer hunts I usually have at least 20 extra rounds in my backpack. I rarely go out without a .22 handgun on my belt also. For this I carry 2 MTM 30 round wallets and usually have a box of 50 in my pack also.

I'm in the middle of reading Elmer Keiths book Hell I was There. He wrote about shooting a mountain goat with a 5.5" SA .45 Colt. He chased it for 2 miles taking shots when he could at distances up to 200 yards. He said he hit it with 10 of the 18 rounds he fired. At that point he was down to 6 rounds which he did not want to use since he was in grizzly country. He was able to slip up on the goat and hit it in the head with his axe to finish it off. He said the old .45 slugs he was using were only creating small holes and not causing much tissue damage. Maybe I'll start packing a few more rounds with me just in case.

Guess I need to plan to take more ammo, or carry an axe in my pack for the "coup de grace"!

I just finished that chapter about a week ago thats what prompted me to ask the question. I guess great minds read alike.

Its a great book! Like SCHunter said, carry an axe along just in case!

When deer hunting, I carry ten rounds for the Contender. That's probably overkill but the shell carrier that slips around the Contender holster has ten loops. In my 45 plus years of deer hunting I've never found myself needing more than two rounds so I think that's sufficient. I generally bring a box of 20 for any weapon I'm hunting with. Whatever I'm not carrying stay stashed in my Jeep. When hunting partridge (Ruffed Grouse)with my 20 guage, I carry about 20 shells.

Mike

He couldn't kill a mountain goat with 10 hits but wanted to save six in case he ran into a grizzly? Pretty optimistic, I'd say.

Mike

I thought the same thing. I guess its better to have something than nothing though. I know my 4" Redhawk seems pretty small when I have come across fresh grizzly sign around here.

I usually take two boxes (40 rounds total) or a 50 round carrier to wherever I'm hunting. Usually 20 make it into the field with me at a time. A certain someone I know took 13 rounds to kill a bull elk so I know its possible to shot a few times at a critter.

Cub, I've seen it and experienced it with elk and bear, even mortally wounded they will pack alot of lead a long ways. This is why I was cautious on the other post about using the 41mag, can it kill an elk, yes, would it be my first choice no. I read some stories of black bear hunts in Reeders book and while he will still allow that the 41 is the minimum for bear he doesn't even like the 44 as black bear gun anymore because it lacks the kinetic energy to plow through and do massive damage, anyone interested in hunting bears with revolvers should buy Gary's book from his website as it is based on his personal experiences. I have run short on rounds before and that is why I keep well stocked, when I go into the woods I'm generally wearing my 4 5/8 Reeder 475 stoked with 400gr XTP mags or 425gr CP's for close up opportunities or to save my ass, it wears a full cylinder of 5 and my ammo wallet carries twelve, my second weapon if I'm in open country will be my contender in 375JDJ if the quarry is elk or bear and my 7mmGNR if it's deer or antelope. I keep one in the tube and 6 on my wrist carrier and if I'm going to be out for a while I'll sometime wear a belt carrier that carries 10 more of the 375'. Alot of what I've heard on this post makes sense for the type of animals being hunted but if you ratchet it up like we do out west where you have elk that many people think they know about killing but don't and we deal with predators like black bears and cougars which thanks to terrible management have lost their fear of humans, I don't think you can be overarmed. I hunted elk and bear for a long time with a 375HH and then backed off to a 300win, 300wby, and finally a 300rum, I also carried my 458 Lott for brush hunting bears. I don't believe in too much gun or too much ammo, especially if your going back into the dark timber. The two bulls i took with my 300wby one dropped in it's tracks from a spine shot at 200yds and the other soaked up 3 180 Game Kings, (last time I used thos) I had no blood trail but he was acting sick, by the time I got to the top of the ridge he was back in the thick stuff and we couldn't find any blood because at 100yds I had zero pass throughsl. I had the same thing happen with a black bear, I had a downhill shot so I aimed for the off shoulder and the bear dropped in his tracks, I was shootin a 7mm Reminton mag with 175gr hornady's. I started down to him and he regained his footing and stumbled off like he was drunk so I punched him with the only shot I had which was a quartering away gut shot, it lit him up like nothing I'd seen before, unfortunately I was dealing with a heavy downpoor mixed with snow rain and sleet and the blood was washed away completely and after two days of doing circles around the area we had to call it quits. I know I had solid hits on the elk and the bear with quality factory ammo (I wasn't reloading my own then) and they still evaded being found even though they both probably died. To this day it makes me sick to think about it but the point is always carry as much gun as you can and as much ammo within reason that you can, things happen especially when leave the deer behind and hunt critters that are heartier and sometimes a little more dangerous. I guess the moral of the story is know the animal your hunting, if you don't then find out from those that have first hand knowledge, next carry as much gun as you own and can handle for the situation because your not always going to get the classic broadside shot for the heart and lungs, carry as much ammo as you reasonably can and last, if you don't reload yet it's time to learn and when it comes to animals bigger than deer don't skimp, sure the partitions or x bullets may be a buck a piece but they will do the job better than the XTP ( which I use and like ) or the factory offerings. Bullet placement is critical but so is the power to break bones and an exit wound is always helpfull in tracking. Sorry to have dragged this on so long but between this and the other post I felt that everyone was trying to be helpfull but without the necessary knowledge of the beast they're after.

Great post Rod, thanks for sharing you experiences. I have only shot one elk in my ife and it was a bang flop at 65 yards with my 300 mag Sako rifle shooting a 180 Barnes X. Going after elk again this year in Colorado with a 338WSM XP 100. I plan on shooting 200grain Nosler Accu-Bonds, I really like and trust these bullets. I have had alot of luck with them on deer, hope they perform as weel on the bigger game. The 475 Linebaugh (BFR) will be on my hip also in case it turns into a fire fight.

Very good post Rod. Solid advice for sure.

Mike

Great advise Rod!

Rod, I give you alot of credit in sharing your life experience with us because I know that talking about lost game is something we usually don`t like to do.When I rifled my first elk in Utah I was using my 375 H&H with a super handload uusing a 270gr Speer
My shot was a cross canyon and I was glad I had that heavy bullet weight to cause the 5x5 to swap ends and hang his head.
I missed the next 3 shots and caught him once more befoer I ran out of ammo. The guide yelled at me to bring more ammo if I ever go on another elk hunt. I grabed my Redhawk from my brother and ran down to finish the elk but he was done for when we reached him.I had my scoped 454 but could not get close enough for a shot and this was the last day of a 5 day hunt.
The last thing a hunter needs is to pay BIG money for a hunt and then hit the creature your hunting only to lose him due to lack of extra ammo. Its amazing to me to look at the empties in my pocket after a hunt to realize that I shot that many rounds to take an animal down.The last elk I took needed 6 rounds
of Winchesters 454 260gr partition ammo before he finally went down. At the first 2 lung shots he looked around to see where the noise was coming from,showing NO signs of a hit.
So I say YES....carry all the extra ammo you want because you never know when you will need it...

thanks guys, I was hesitant at first but losing an animal is part of hunting and it will happen sooner or later and I'm just glad in almost 30 years I haven't lost more than I have but it still makes you sick to your stomach but I'd be more worried about someone who wasn't bothered by it at all.

Thank you Rod great advice and thank you for shareing i know all to well that its never easy to tell others about losing an animal. it just gos to show you you can never be to prepared and no matter what you are shooting its never a sure thing. thanks again and keep your head up.