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How many people have taken two guns to go hunting if not for the reason of having a brush gun or an open sighted rifle for those times when the brush is so thick it's not practical or smart to be using a scope. How do you deal with the vast diversity of hunting conditions with just one rifle. Then there's the problem that will at some point happen and that's when someone in the group will have a mechanical or optical failure with the gun or the scope and after spending considerable money for license and tags and gas and accessories and has driven several hundred miles to his favorite hunting location without a functional firearm. Let me know what you take along and your reasons for it. I always had a "behind the front seat" military rifle or 30-30 lever.
 
Edit...

Thought op was talking about bringing a sidearm, not a back up rifle.

If you don't trust your main gun enough, bringing a second rifle and leaving it in the truck doesn't hurt.

Having a gun with two types of sight systems doesn't hurt either.
 
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Depends on the hunt. Normally I'll carry one rifle. On some hunts I might have a backup longer range set up in the truck.

If I'm solo and backpacking, I'll take a rifle I trust with iron sights and a Leupold scope on it, say a Pre-64 M70. I don't worry about it much.
 
When I went to Alberta Canada for a moose I did take a back up rifle.
But when I'm hunting in state I do not one. If there are multiple members in camp it is no problem to borrow one if someone is tagged out. Otherwise you would just go with someone to help them out.
I have to say that we have been lucky and have not needed a back up in my 50+ years of hunting.
 
I always have a secondary rifle, typically a Marlin 336 in 30-30. When walking through chest-high ferns and salal in the Coast Range, the scoped Remington 700 becomes quite unnecessary. When sitting on a nice clear-cut, however, it is nice to have the extra range and precision.

Even if I were always hunting wide-open country, I would still probably bring a spare rifle; better to have it and not need it...
 
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When i hunt eastern oregon i always take a backup rifle - it is eight hours one way. It is cheap insurance in case i or someone in our party has problem with a primary rifle.
 
I hunt the Tillamook State Forest above the Rockaway Beach/Wheeler area. Dense coastal rain forest, can't see too far.
I had an elk down in a clearing about 20' around. After gutting and quartering I left the rifle at the truck on the first quarter pack out, it wasn't too far away. While I was back at the clearing loading up another quarter something came crashing through the dense brush toward me on a fast run. And there I am with just my knife and a pile of steaming elk guts at my feet. Whatever it was stopped just short of the clearing and I never did find out what it was.

I now carry my Ruger Blackhawk .357 Mag in a shoulder holster when I am in the woods hunting.
It was a for sure 110% on the sphincterometer!
 
When i hunt eastern oregon i always take a backup rifle - it is eight hours one way. It is cheap insurance in case i or someone in our party has problem with a primary rifle.

Same here. Western Oregon no but Eastern with a draw tag absolutely. I have damaged a scope on a nasty fall before and that extra rifle was super handy and got me one of the best antelope I have ever seen in Oregon.
 
I typically hunt from a camp and always have a backup rifle in camp. I've used a backup once when I left my primary in the truck and a hapless deer came wandering through camp. I've had to use my dad's rifle once when I had a Winchester premium ammo failure to fire from a bad lot of ammo with 2 rounds. The deer just curiously stared at me while I fiddled with my rifle and then switched guns. The surprised look on its face haunts me still. I reloaded my own from there on out.
 
Depends on the distance I travel to hunt. 1 day hunts close to home, no secondary rifle. If I am traveling and staying overnight, I take another rifle just in case.
 
I typically hunt from a camp and always have a backup rifle in camp. I've used a backup once when I left my primary in the truck and a hapless deer came wandering through camp. I've had to use my dad's rifle once when I had a Winchester premium ammo failure to fire from a bad lot of ammo with 2 rounds. The deer just curiously stared at me while I fiddled with my rifle and then switched guns. The surprised look on its face haunts me still. I reloaded my own from there on out.

Reminds me. I roll my own but also bring a separate second box of ammo just in case somethimg happens like it get wet or something. I keep it in a different location separate from the first box.
 
I've been lucky but the one time we actually needed a backup we didn't have one. Me and dad were hunting out in Klickitat county and my dads Remington 700 with a Leopold scope got bumped sometime and we didn't know it. It was noon and getting hot and the deer were all bedded down so we decided to shoot a rock about 75 yards away just for fun and my dad took a shot and it hit over a foot to the right of it. He took another shot and it did the same thing so we knew something was out of wack. we had no idea what happened but my dad was short a rifle the rest of the day. We really didn't have enough ammo to sight it back in and even if we did we were sure something must have got bent or loose.
 
I bring 2 rifles and a sidearm. I alternate the rifles based on the terrain for the day. I have a few standards for hunting rifles and that is they come with or are fitted with open sights, I am a bit of a traditionalist as I trust open sights better more any scope. If I can hit bowling pins at 150 yards open sighted then I am sure I can have success shooting big game at 200 yards.
 
I almost always carry two rifles, just in case. Most times, the reason is the area I hunt can be right on top of them close, to several hundred yards off, and the size of the animals can vary greatly, so it's usually a battery of .30/06 and .338 Mag, or for the really big monsters, the .30/06 and the .375! :cool:
 
I only remember taking a backup rifle once, for antelope over and down by the Oregon Nevada border. Didn't end up needing it.

My buddy always brings an extra bow when we hunt the Northeast corner of the state. Last season I found an arrow on the ground on an elk trail with one of those light up nocks. My buddy was curious as to whether the nock still worked, so he shot it at a target. Turns out the arrow was somehow compromised and it broke apart just in front of the fletching. As far as we could figure, the string hit the ragged end of the remaining piece of arrow and ruptured his string. What a mess. Fortunately, he had that backup bow, so he didn't miss out on any hunting. I would probably take a backup bow along, but don't because I know I could use his if needed.
 
A long gun, a sidearm and some kind of rimfire or two.

Before I had so many guns, it was a rifle and a .22 revolver because that was pretty much all I had for quite a while.

I don't hunt anymore (you would be likely to find me collapsed somewhere if I tried), but if I did, it would be whatever rifle I decided on, my 329PD and a lightweight .22 rimfire something.
 
I hunt eastern (pending tag draw) most years. I have my rifle of choice for the hunt @ hand. I also have a single shot shotgun (my truck gun) with 3 bird and 2 slugs available on the stock which has secured many birds. Though I have shot no deer with the slug, years of practice leaves me confidant it, and I, will easily take them or a bear @ 50 yards or less so is my back up second.
Really rough terrain for goats and sheep, I would rethink the back up option but never had the opportunity.
 
.30/06 and .338 Mag, or for the really big monsters, the .30/06 and the .375! :cool:
Right,, real rifles.
For me it was the 1886 .45-70, and the .375,, areas with dense cover or areas with a lot of open terrain/clear cuts.
Also, I'm with a previous poster, a Model 70 with a set of open sights in case the scope took a dive.
 

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