How much ammo do you carry hunting?

[Scout21]

I found two threads, here and here, that discussed this, but they were pretty old. Id like to start a new discussion. Go into detail about what, how, and where you hunt. For example, you deer hunt from a stand 100 yards from your door step, or you backpack elk hunt many miles into the backcountry.

I'm also interested in how many arrows/bolts you carry.

I carry 5 rounds total of rifle or shotgun ammo when I deer hunt. I doubt I'll need more or I will somehow lose what I already have. I've never really needed to use more than one, although there have been situations where I could have whacked 'em and stacked 'em, particularly when it comes to does.

Hog hunting, same as deer hunting.

Squirrel or rabbit hunting I'll grab a handful of shotgun shells, maybe 10, and chuck them in my pocket or bag. Alternatively, I'll bring whatever is left of a 50 round pack of .22, usually at least 10 plus what's in my rifle. The packs keep them together, which I like more than them swinging around loosely in my pocket.

Turkey hunting, a few shells. I'm lucky to use one.

I've only been duck hunting a single time in a kayak, but a box of shells was more than sufficient.

I'm rarely more than a 30 minute walk from my truck or the house if I'm hunting at home, so I don't feel the need to carry any more than I do.

 

[FL-NC]

Deer hunting- the 4 that are in the gun, which is enough for a deer or 2 and any hogs or coyotes that interfere with my hunt, along with a full mag in my pistol (40 or 45). Deer hunting with muzzle loader- gun loaded, 2 reloads in pouch thingy on stock, plus loaded handgun. Deer with X-bow- 4 bolts total, plus the loaded pistol. Hogs (on purpose) - 20 rounds, because I use a AR and that's how many are in the mag, plus the loaded pistol. Turkey- the 3 that fit in the gun, plus a couple of #8's for snakes, plus the loaded pistol. Dove hunting- about 3 boxes or so in the hopes of shooting my 12 bird limit, plus maybe a few more boxes in the truck, plus the loaded pistol.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

For deer 5 rounds. Hunting wood chucks rabbits and tree rats. 25 rounds for shot gun. About the same for 22 or 223.

 

[Jim Watson]

I am not a hunter but I knew a gambling dove hunter.
He and his buds would bet on who could get his limit with the fewest shots.
The amounts were substantial enough that they searched each other for extra shells above the box allowed.

 

[jmr40]

I carry enough to fill the magazine twice when big game hunting. That means about 10 rounds most of the time. It's extremely unlikely I'd ever need more than what is in the rifle, but I have fired 3 shots several times. Usually, to finish off a wounded animal.

I've been involved with one lost hunter situation where a guy fired 3 shots after dark to signal he needed help. We heard the 3 shots, but by the time we got out of the tent couldn't figure out which direction, nor we really sure it was a distress signal. It was close enough to legal shooting time that it could have been shots at game. We waited for about an hour for him to repeat, but he never did. The guy spent a cold night in the woods and came out on the forest service road right after sunup near where we were camped.

When asked why he didn't fire more shots to signal for help he replied that those were the only 3 rounds he had with him. If we'd heard another 3-round volley, there would have been several guys moving in his direction.

I do about the same for turkey or general small game hunting with a shotgun for the same reason.

All of my 22's take 10 round mags. I always take 2 loaded mags.

 

[mcb]

For deer hunting for the past few years it's been an AR and I usually carry one magazine in the gun and one spare in my pocket/backpack. With my 450 Bushmaster or 30 RAR that is 4+1 in the gun and 7rd in reserve. For non magazine rifles (bolt gun, lever gun etc) I fill the magazine and throw 4-6 spare round in a pocket in something to keep them from making noise.

For varmint hunting its usually my 300 BO and then its a 20rd in the gun and a spare 20rd in my pocket.

Small game it usually a whole box of shotgun shells or 22LR depending on what I am hunting.

For my revolvers its usually the gun and one spare speed-loader or moonclip, sometime two.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Hog hunting, same as deer hunting.

Minimum 25 rounds on my person, if not 45 (2nd mag). Plus 10 rounds in pistol.

 

[Frulk]

I only upland bird hunt these days. Mostly ruffed grouse. Daily Limit is 4. Almost always take a full box of 20 gauge because when the birds are at their 10 year peak cycle shooting can get hot and heavy here. But mostly it’s maximum effort for minimal return (2,700-3,200 foot vertical gain) on a steep mountain incline starting altitude around 4,600 and maxing out at approx 7,800.

That Ridge and I have been going at it for 20+ years. Sadly I think its winning.

 

[Wolfshead]

I hunt with twice the amount my rifle will hold.
Remington 700 is 1 in the chamber plus four in the mag and then an extra mad with another round rubber banded to that in my pack.
Model 94 is 1 in the chamber and six in the magazine tube and 7 on my buttstock cover.
For my muzzleloader I have 4-6 reloads in my pack.
I will also have my handgun with me now and I’m allowed 10 rounds in the mag and I’ll have two mags with me and one in the chamber

 

[earlthegoat2]

I usually hunt 2 hrs away from home and carry everything I’ll need in the car and just have a small pack for the hunt. Or I’m up in MI hunting 500 yds from my parents house.

I used to only carry a full Mag +1 in the chamber in my 450 BM bolt gun which is 4.

Last year i shot three deer out of the same group using all 4 shots. I really wanted to continue to hunt but I was out of ammo.

I suppose I could have walked the 400 yds to the truck and got some more and came back but since I was already out of the stand and there were three deer that had to be taken care of by myself I figured it was time.

Now I carry a few loose cartridges in a pocket.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I hunt in Upstate New York and generally get one buck tag and four doe tags every year.
Our number one rule is only two deer from one area. Then leave that area alone until next year to leave seed stock for next year.
For does I like to take the yearlings out. They are good eating and generally only have one fawn in the spring. The bigger does generally have twins so by taking the yearlings you are going to have an extra fawn in the area next spring.
We generally do not shoot the fawns from that year. Not much meat on them .
As far as bucks go anything legal is fair game because we can only harvest one per person.
And only take one buck from an area and leave the other bucks for someone else or they are available next deer season.

As far as ammo for deer hunting I only take five rounds. One in my 243 H&R single-shot rifle and four in my front right pants pocket. Ninty-eight percent of the deer I have shot only took one shot and I have shot a lot of deer over the last fifty years.

Most of my shots are from about twenty yards to around seventy yards. Occasionally I'll get a shot between a hundred yards to around a hundred & fifty yards.

At sixty-four I hunt flat ground or I hunt up hill so the drag is on flat ground or down hill.
No more up hill drags for me.

I take my grandson back to New York for small game hunting, mainly gray squirrels.
He uses a old Ithaca model 66 in twenty gauge. I let him carry ten #5 shot or #6 shot shotgun shells. We hunt premium squirrel woods and he generally get his limit every day and has extra shells left over for tomorrow's hunt.
I will be buying out airline tickets this week from Seattle to Syracuse New York. I take him there for two weeks and then I go back there for a month for deer hunting.
This year we just bought non-resident Pennsylvania hunting licenses to hunt deer down there.

I reload my rifle ammo for hunting. My brother got into reloading so I can load my ammo there instead of hauling it across the country.
The shotgun shells I buy here and take it back to New York and leave the shells he doesn't shoot at my brother's house back there.

 

[Armored farmer]

Quail hunting was a self-imposed ammo limit of 2x the daily bag limit. So for our 8 bird limit, my old buddy and I always started the day with 16 shells. We bagged our limit a few times every year. Most days it was three or four birds. We weren't too bloodthirsty and only shot birds that the dogs pointed. I honestly don't remember running out of ammo. I suppose we were down to our last few shots a few times. We also had ammo in the trucks.
My deer hunting is 8 slugs. 5 on the buttstock ammo sleeve and three in my pockets. You might find it interesting that I carry a 'kill shot'. I have old slugs or maybe a brand that I bought that didn't shoot too well. I will put one of those in an ammo loop on my vest. I could pop one of those in if a need a coup de gras. I've never done it...but I carry one. I carry one (2¾" #6)in my turkey vest for the same purpose.
My single barrel turkey gun also has a 5rd sleeve on the stock. So I carry the 5 plus 3 more in my vest.
My .54 Hawken is loaded at home. I carry 6 speedloaders with 2 caps/loader plus one in the pipe.
The crossbow has a 3 bolt quiver and I have spare bolts in the case so I usually knock one up when I leave the jeep....so it's 3+1.
Handgun hunting for deer is 18rds.
Small game (squirrel or rabbit) is my savage 24 410/22lr with 9rds of 410 in the buttstock sleeve and two 10rd 22 speedstrips tucked in the elastic of the buttsleeve .
My bear recurve has its original quiver with 8 arrows.

 

[courtgreene]

I generally carry what the gun will hold, but when bear hunting was told to take that plus a full reload. So… I did. I never asked why. Doves, as much as I can find. I’m a terrible wing shooter.

Archery, I’ll take what the attached quiver holds, and with a crossbow one of those will have a field tip to “unload” into the ground.

muzzleloader: I used to carry what’s in the gun plus a speed loader. Never needed the speed loader. Last year I had a load fail to ignite after two primers. The powder had gotten wet. Speed loaders were of no help at all. From that point on my speed load was a second muzzleloader.

The point earlier in the thread, about needing multiple calls for help, has me thinking that I should probably carry more. I will probably do that when hunting public land from now on. Great advice.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

My main stand is about a 5-7 minute 4 wheeler ride from camp. It's a box stand, and I take various luxuries with me, like a backpack with snacks, first aid kit, extra ammo etc., as well as a thermos of coffee.

As far as the extra ammo, I don't go overboard. 4 in the .30-06 and 3 or 4 extra shells in a Crown Royal bag in the backpack.
I almost always have a sidearm on and there's 6 in that, plus another 6 or so, also in the CR bag in the backpack.
So I have a few extras, but nothing crazy. I've never needed any of them, but I reckon I'll keep taking them just in case.
I have ran out of snacks a time or two. I probably need to re-think that.

 

[Highland Lofts]

Nice conversation, thank you for starting this thread.

 

[ms6852]

The four rounds that fit in my Savage 110 magazine. I always take a box of hunting ammo just in case I drop the rifle or it gets tossed around to re-check zero.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Well, it just depends on what kind of country you hunt, hike or explore. But in any case, I think erring on the side of too much is better than too little. You just never know what can happen, no matter how much you think it out. Low round counts are just not "great". In my case, I get pretty deep into the mountains, remote country. And my stomping grounds are in a Grizzly recovery area. (Harvey Creek Grizzly Recovery Area, North Eastern corner of Washington State. Google it!)

Little story from a long time ago. I had a hunting partner that was very arrogant about only needing the five rounds in his .270, no matter what kind of wild country we were hunting. He was "that good". !!! And of course, what did he need a side arm for? So one day I hear five shots go off in rapid succession, and a while later here he comes huffing up, says the deer is down but very much alive, but he's out of ammo. So I had to go finish it off with my 7.7. That poor deer suffered for a long time.

With a bolt gun, which in my case would be a Mauser, 1891 Argentine, or my 03A3 Springfield, I like five in the gun and then 15 rounds in stripper clips.

I have learned, and it's a fact, that the faster a rifle will repeat, or shoot, the faster you will shoot it.

Single shot or muzzle loader, I'm okay with about seven extra rounds, plus some speed loads. I always have a side-arm.

I would always depend on my bushcraft skills to get me through a cold night in the woods, and never use my firearm as a signaling device. Been there done that. And, don't have much sympathy for those that take to the woods without a means to start a fire, extra ammo, a light jacket, wool hat, and gloves in their pack. A walkie-talkie is a far better choice than blowing off a limited supply of ammo, and I try to insist when I hunt with others that they carry one. I even bring extras to loan out.

Muzzle loader, I always bring six or seven "speed loads". You never know what can happen. Last season, I gut shot a bear, and had to go into the brush after it. The speed loads really gave me confidence.

My bow, I usually carry seven broad heads, and two small game/judo-point arrows. Always a side-arm.

Side-arms, for cartridge revolvers 12 extra loads, and about six shot loads. Cap-n-ball, I like at least 25 extra rounds. My Plains Pistol, about a dozen or so reloads.

 

[Axis II]

Deer close to home 8-10rds. Lots of coyotes and used to have hogs around so I’d rather be prepared.

Deer when primitive camping and hiking miles a day. 20-25rds. Plus a handgun with 2 17rd mags. Got lost one time and figure the extra ammo would help the sheriff find us. Also had issues with locals trying to run us out of areas. It’s more a SD thing than for animals.

Squirrel close to home I take a 5rd and 10rd mag of 22lr.

Squirrel in the national forest at least 50rds and 2 17rd mags for the handgun.

Rabbit close to the truck. 5-6 shells.

Rabbit in the national forest where we are miles from the truck about a box.

Goose at least a box.

Dove about 2 boxes. Can’t hit them for nothin.

Woodchucks 20rds of 223.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

It’s more a SD thing than for animals.

Yes humans are more unpredictable than animals. Extra side-arm ammo is a good thing for that, as is extra ammo in general. No matter how tame your hunting grounds are, SD is an important consideration.

 

[Patocazador]

Usually, I just have the rounds that the magazine holds. That is between 3 and 5 rounds. In 59 years of hunting I have only needed more one time. That was due to buck fever.

For dove hunting the answer is 100 rounds (4 boxes).
That shows how bad I am with shooting the little buzz bombs.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Yes, depends where you hunt, what the country is like. I never needed more rounds than those used in about that many years, and then I met up with that bear. I was so glad I had more than three rounds, which is what I always "thought" would be the maximum I could use, you know, one kill shot, and "maybe" a follow up, but carried more anyways. I finished it off with the fourth shot, had I only three on hand, I would have really been SOL. You just never know.

 

[ms6852]

In my case, I get pretty deep into the mountains, remote country. And my stomping grounds are in a Grizzly recovery area. (Harvey Creek Grizzly Recovery Area, North Eastern corner of Washington State. Google it!)

If I hunted in bear country, especially Grizzly, I would carry two bandoliers a samurai sword (katana) and a 22 pistol to shoot whoever is with me in the leg.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Overnight Alaska hunting/camping.

Carry what's in the gun, 4 rounds.

Other 16 in the factory box back at camp as I'm normally no more than 2 miles from "basecamp".

Even when I was in Pennsylvania, I always carried a box worth combined in the gun and pack.

Had a family member hunting with an old milsurp when he was a solo teenager. Spined a deer in the low back, paralyzed it from "waist down". Tried to reload, dumped ammo in the foliage, panicked, couldn't find it

Charged little whitetail with the bayonet, ended up beating it with the stock and breaking the old wood.

Got the deer, and a certainly interesting, maybe even tall, tale.

 

[WestKentucky]

I have an ammo cuff on the side of my rifle. It gets filled up at home. I drive to hunt and load rounds from there. When I’m done hunting I load rounds back into that cuff as I unload the rifle. I always know quickly if the rifle is loaded or not.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I would carry two bandoliers a samurai sword (katana) and a 22 pistol to shoot whoever is with me in the leg.

I prefer the Prussian Model 1852 Sabre. A .22 pistol is a good idea, I sometimes carry one. Never had to shoot anyone in the leg or foot. Yet.