Mike,
I started off as a squirrel hunter and will probably end up that way, clutching that .22LR when they find my skeleton under the hickory nut tree. This nut won't fall very far from the tree.

But the real genesis of my hobby was firing the 12 guage for kicks when I was 8 years old, before venturing into the squirrel woods.

I swing between one and ten on your scale, sort of like Mac' and 'Sarge, so I will pick 6.0 (six) just to be similar.

I'm a 1, hunting is my pursuit and rifles and shotguns are the tools I use. But I do put a lot of time into perfecting my tools, but really that's more of a way of extending the hunting experience.

Hi Mike:

Put me down as a 5...... I love them both for all the reasons everybody said for each one.

I love my guns and I love the hunting experience, for me they are married together in one great experience.

Regards... Jim P.

Probably a 7 or 7.5 here...

Some of my Guns are a 1, some others are at the 10 end of things. Most are somewhere in the middle of enjoying the gun while putting it to use.

I am a 10 plus.

If I was going out to shoot roos and pigs next week and I was then told I had to take some rifle/calibre in which I had no interest then I would probably cancel the trip.

Mike

I'm a 12.Setting here at computor in my own gunsmith,lab,
tv studio, with gun case behind, lathe to the right,reload
bench to the front, case spinner lathe to the left, a thousand gun books and mags all around,desks full of brass
and projects,working on 5 at once, and squeeezing you folks
in also.Supporting site to promote a Shooting TV network,
doing wildcat work, and many years of ballistic studies,
I'm buried so to speak in the gun hobby.Ed.

I'm a 'rifle looney' and can't shoot for shit, so make me a '7'...

Let me start by saying that I am no 5!

I am a 1 and a 10!

I am first and foremost a hardcore hunter.
I plan every last little detail.
I am the first out and last in and never waste a second of precious hunting daylight. I hunt harder and farther than very few others. Only my long time friend and equally obsessed hunting partner can stand to hunt with me. I can't tolerate any less than a 100% effort from myself or those that chose to hunt with me (silly those).
My hunting guns usually look like they have been left on a highway and driven over repeatedly.

But here comes the ten part.

Every gun I own is the epitome of what I feel is pure perfection for the task at hand. Every gun lovingly coddled tuned and fussed over by my gunsmith. Not a single component will have escaped my obsessive deliberation. While the stock and metal work may be scratched and dinged the gun functions to perfection...every time.
Every piece of clothing or equipment is either perfect or it stays at home.
Strangely I enjoy this obsession.

The culmination of years of deliberation, blood, sweat, testing, and tears is annually put into action on the hunting grounds. And thereby the ultimate test.
So far I seem to be the weakest link!

I guess that makes me a 10 also.

I suspect most guys here are both one and ten.


Just don't call me a five!

Jamie

I don't have a clue where I am on this...I have some fine custom expensive rifles. Most of them I built for the most part, others are from England, Searcy double rifle and I use them like a club for the most part, I hunt constantly and I don't baby my guns, I use the heck out of them, if they got too rough then I would perhaps refinish them, but each scratch, nick and gouge holds a special memory, so I probably won't touch them..

I love to hunt (I love to fish), if I didn't have a rifle I'd use a rock/spear/whatever,so that makes me a 1.
I love guns, I love the look of fine wood,engraving,deep bluing ect. I like Doubles and would love to own one one day, so that makes me a 10. Sooooo I'm an 11

Ray,

I would you put you about a 7 because I think the rifle/calibre combination will forma large part of the pleasure you get from the hunt.

However, a 10 like me if going to Africa would be likely to use a 460 or something similar on plains game to see how it went and a 7mm Ultra on Buffalo with Barnes X.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I think I would be a 3 because I love to hunt but at the same time I like my rifles to be the best that they can be so I can hunt efficiently. I only own 1 rifle that I would think twice about taking out and putting throught the gamut on a hunt but at the same time I have a second in the same chambering that's ready to go. I love accuracy out of my guns and if it's not there I'll go to the end to find out why not and fix it. I consider that part of being efficient while hunting. I would like to think it possible to be a 10 at the same time as being a 1 but it's not really practicle for me. I'm hoping that a 3 means love to hunt with good rifles.
Take care,
Dave

My passion for guns and hunting was fueled by my Grandfather Guy Anderson and my Uncle Guy Anderson Jr.

Most of my collection was handed down to me when they passed on. Since I grew up shooting almost everything I own, every rifle/shotgun has a memory attached to it and I never pick up one without recalling an event surrounding it.

I'd like to say that I view them as tools for a specific job, but I'm guilty of taking a rifle/shotgun hunting because I remember good events around it and want to add more.

As for my place on the scale, just depends on what day it is!

Total 10!

I guess I'd have to be closer to a 10 than a 1 on this scale. I certainly have many more guns than I "need" for purely utilitarian reasons, and I'm fascinated by the different action types, calibers, and cartridges plus the historical aspects of firearms. On the other hand I'm not much, if at all, into "guns as art" and my guns are "users" more than "lookers." So, I'd probably guess I'm somewhere around 7 or 8.

I am constantly experimenting with bullets of varius makes and design and seldom hunt with the same caliber very long, I have about tried them all...I am a gun trader, love to trade guns back and forth...I have a certain few that will probably never get traded, I say probably because I distrust myself on that subject....

My English 375, Searcy 470 double, and 416 Mauser, my 338, 300 H&H, my 30-06 and the family guns will always be in my gun cabinet but the rest will go down the road after I have shot some stuff with them. My Brno M-22F Manlicher and my Win 54 in 9.3x62 are relitively safe, at least at the moment...

I use the heck out of all my guns, don't abuse them, but do not baby them, I'm a stock maker and can refinish and re checker if needed, but seldom do that...when I get to many guns I sell them off but they keep coming back and stacking up around here, its a sickness, but I wouldn't want to take a cure...I trade, buy and sell guns a lot I guess, because I just love guns and can't afford all the guns I want, I can't turn down a deal on a nice rifle...Its just my hobby.

I have enough loaded ammo in most calibers to last 20 years longer than I can possibly live if I shot 2000 rounds per day and I still will load up a 100 rounds if I get hold of a new bullet...just gotta test it on game...I have more dies than RCBS, more bullets than Sierra, but can't find anything because I can't get into my shop for the piles of horns and skulls stacked up everywhere.

I am quite suprised at the number of people who went around the 7 to 10 area and especially on the Big Game Hunting forum. I was expecting this forum to full of 8s and 10s and the Big Game Hunting Forum to full of 1s and 3s etc.

Although I think if the question was put on some other sites, such as those which have a general chit chat forums as the number 1, then perhaps the percentage of people being a 1 oor 2 would rise a great deal.

I think this site and also HuntAmerica tend to be very guns and ammo orientated sites.

Mike