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Loaded or Unloaded Rifle when Dark

We have some bears around. I load. Double check safety at base of tree. Attach pull up rope through both scope bases. When pulling up/down the gun lays on the side instead of the barrel being directly up or down.
 
Lt.Dan said:
So is it a rope breaking or a knot slipping? I can't fathom a rope breaking lifting a <10lb. load up a tree. Unless the rope was so frayed it would be obvious that it should not be used. Just curious about this "breaking rope" thing.
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I used to have a bow pull rope that had little clip on the end. Run the rope through the bow and clip the end back to the rope. Was pulling up my bow and the clip broke. Bow went 15 feet to the ground and shattered the lower limb and broke the sights.
 
BSK said:
I used to have a bow pull rope that had little clip on the end. Run the rope through the bow and clip the end back to the rope. Was pulling up my bow and the clip broke. Bow went 15 feet to the ground and shattered the lower limb and broke the sights.
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This almost the same thing…the clip broke. Not a carabiner, but a little aluminum spring clip.
 
I don't start into the woods until 1/2 an hour before sunrise or later. I leave the woods about 15 minutes after sunset. I think I might be a little lazy in that respect. I am sure I scare deer this way but that's ok. I walk in loaded ready to kill and walk out the same way. If I go far in the woods and I do sometimes I will go in and leave At sunrise / sunset or earlier so I can see. I very rarely gun hunt. I use a crossbow. I could use a compound still but screws and plates in me make that an effort. I rarely use a stand but when I do I pull up the weapon with a rope. Hunting regulations I do my best to follow them. I figure if your shooting something before or after legal hunting times you are wrong. It can be tough to find and get your deer out of the woods in the time allowed by law. I am sure a lot of us have had that problem.
 
AT Hiker said:
Key takeaway after reading this thread; there are several grown men afraid of the dark on this forum 😛
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Lol I don't use a light ever. Been hunting our farms for many years. When my wife hunts with me it freaks her out, and when I take kids. But I tell my wife if something is mean and big enough to kill me I don't want to see it at the end of a light.
 
I'm always in my stand at least 30-45 minutes before daylight and walk in with the magazine loaded but the chamber empty. I have a pull rope from Third Hand Archery (I believe) that has a cover that slips over the muzzle and a strap that goes around the stock of the gun. The way it is made, it is meant for the firearm to be pulled up with the butt of the gun facing toward you and the muzzle towards the ground. Once I get settled in the tree and pull the gun up to me, I take off the pull rope and load one into the chamber. Reverse the process for getting down once the hunt is over.
 
BSK said:
I used to have a bow pull rope that had little clip on the end. Run the rope through the bow and clip the end back to the rope. Was pulling up my bow and the clip broke. Bow went 15 feet to the ground and shattered the lower limb and broke the sights.
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That sucks. I hate when equipment fails. I use a carabiner attaching my crossbow, but just a loop through the sling and over the barrel of my gun. The loop is tied with a bowline know. Never slips.
 
When my 336 fell, it was a plastic piece on the sling that broke. One of those slings that the strap weaves through. A lot of places going to plastic because it's quieter than metal... hitting the gun. In really cold weather, plastic gets brittle. Guessing that's what sent mine to the ground.
 
BSK said:
I have rounds in the magazine but not one in the chamber. And I take the round out of the chamber before climbing down.

Once out of the stand, I put the round back in the chamber for my still hunt out. Then round comes back out of the chamber before loading gun in transport vehicle.
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Exactly how I do it. I can't tell you how many times the ultra-lazy part of myself says "Oh heck, just leave it loaded while you lower your weapon to the ground". Then, the tiny smidgeon of the smart part of my brain says - "you idiot, it only takes five seconds to unload and ensure there is no stupid accidents". This is one battle the David part of my brain beats the dumb Goliath part of my brain everytime.
 
Not TN, but when I was in AK hunting I usually just kept the bolt empty unless going through brush. On an elk hunt, the guide told me to keep a round in the chamber on safety and maintain muzzle control.

Everywhere else, I load before I start moving from vehicle to stand. The exception is with younger kids and we did not load the round until we got to the stand, but loaded the magazine.
 
I still hunt in, and still hunt out, so I'm locked and loaded both ways. If I'm gun hunting, it's generally with a single shot TC Encore, so I unload during the trip up or down the tree. I use a pull rope. Reloading in the tree doesn't make as much racket as getting up the tree, so I don't see that as an issue.

I also wear a harness whilst in a tree. I'd still wear a harness even if I didn't fall asleep at some point during 80-90% of my sits. My general SOP is to have the rifle hanging from a hook when my eyes get droopy. Then again, that percentage my go down this year now that I have a CPAP :)
 

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