Ladies and Gentlemen:

When hunting in Alaska, do you bring a back up rifle with you? Have you ever needed it?

Have you run into baggage weight problems by bringing a second rifle and ammunition with you in the bush planes when flying into camp?

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

I always thought 1 back up rifle for every hunting group is plenty. If hunting by my self no backup rifle. If hunting out of a base camp having a rifle there shouldn't be any trouble.

A lot depends what type of hunting one well be doing a backpack trip a extra rifle is too much.

If you are flying in with several other guys and they all know how to watch their baggage weight, bringing a extra rifle shouldn't cause any trouble. Bring a rifle of the same cal of one you well be carrying any way then you don't have to carry extra ammo for it. Just leave 10 rounds with the rifle that well be plenty for a back up rifle

If the people you are hunting with have to bring everything and the sink too the rifle could very well put you over the weight limits

Modern rifle have very few problems but things have been known to break. I think a back up weapon for the party is a good idea if the hunting style allows it.

I should tell a story on myself; One year I brought to moose camp in my 18' jet skiff five (5) firearms! Just for me! It was just a simple case of brain not engaged, but I brought a hunting rifle, a back up hunting rifle, a handgun, a shotgun for hunting and a pistol grip shotgun that I usually leave in the console in the skiff.

It all seemed to make perfect sense to me until my long time hunting partner pointed out to me, (after we got to camp,) that I had brought five guns and only had two hands.

Now I only bring one gun whether its a fly out trip or in the jet boat, and figure that if mine breaks I'll use my hunting partners.

I would advise traveling as light as possible, if using an outfitter or guide, ask them for a packing list and then ask what they can supply in camp.

On float hunts, I bring a .45-70 Guide Gun for backup to my .338 WinMag.

When hunting out of the RV, I bring the .338, the .45-70, and the .300 WinMag, and sometimes a 12 gauge.

When hiking, or alone, just the .338 WinMag.

I also take a .44 Mag Colt Anaconda almost always as my sidearm.

Namibiahunter

If both my partner and I have rifles, then we don't have a backup. If I'm hunting alone, I take a backup SCOPE, complete with rings for Weaver or picatinny bases. It has previously been sighted in so I can simply swap out scopes. In over 40 years of hunting, I've never ruined a rifle but twice a scope. Once, in Wyoming, a horse rolled and cracked the wrist of my stock--we reinforced it with duck tape. We didn't see a worthy elk on that hunt, but I resolved to equip all my hunting rifles with synthetic stocks after that experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Yale:
Ladies and Gentlemen:

When hunting in Alaska, do you bring a back up rifle with you? Have you ever needed it?

Have you run into baggage weight problems by bringing a second rifle and ammunition with you in the bush planes when flying into camp?

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

1 - No
1a- No

2 - Yes

What tsturn said +++. You sure must like torture hauling 2 rifles on a hunt not to mention the the added weight if'n ya gotta fly in on a Super Cub. I don't even take an extra scope since both my .338 and .270 Win have open sights in case the scope craps out. More weight & crap to keep track of.
Bear in Fairbanks

Sheeit, Alaskan's don't even use back-up rifles up here, and lots and lots of them are off the road system for days at a time hunting.

Just extra weight that needs to be left at home.

What tsturm said - I have seen super cub pilots refuse to allow you to take a second long gun - you end up leaving it at their cabin, hanger, or in their truck.

I carry 1 rifle and have a pistol for hanging out in camp but have never had to use it.

I almost never only carry one gun.

I have not needed a backup weapon yet but I did come very close on a deer hunt. My scoped fogged up really bad and it was all I could do to see to shoot my last buck of the trip.

I almost always have a handgun with me so I would likely not be weaponless if my rifle failed.

I am going on a bear hunt next spring and am contemplating wether to bring two rifles or just one with an extra scope. I will have a handgun also.

I've never taken a back-up. For some strange reason this springs bear camp, I brought along my wifes 30-06 along with my 416rem.

Sheared the screws for my scope bases on the 416 and used the 30-06 to shoot the blackie.

Yes, a Browning Safari Grade open sighted .458 Winchester Magnum. No.

I asked the same type of question just a few months back for my Grizzly hunt which starts in 12 days. The gentlemen on this board convinced me to not bring the extra rifle but I do have an extra sighted 4x in Talley Lever Release rings.

Uh, I am bringing the SxS 12 bore for Ptarmigan hunting and my BlackHawk in 45 LC in case I get a short range shot at an unaware bear.

GSSP,
My first black bear was shot with the same pistol under those same conditions.
Don
PS good luck on your hunt, I haven't decided whether to take or not take my Scandium S&W 329, I'm leaning towards Not

a back-up rifle in camp is always a good idea. during my hunting career which spanned 50 years i have needed one on several occasions. i also carried a sectioned cleaning rod with some oil and a few patches. some bush pilots will not allow hard cases, a couple of soft cases makes packing a bush plane much easier anyway. check with your bush pilot about weight restrictions. i have strapped or taped hard cases together to avoid baggage charges on commercial airlines.don't over pack but take what you need, if you can afford the trip a few dollars in baggage charges are no big deal.

quote:

Originally posted by namibiahunter:
On float hunts, I bring a .45-70 Guide Gun for backup to my .338 WinMag.

When hunting out of the RV, I bring the .338, the .45-70, and the .300 WinMag, and sometimes a 12 gauge.

When hiking, or alone, just the .338 WinMag.

I also take a .44 Mag Colt Anaconda almost always as my sidearm.

Namibiahunter

.

Sounds pretty ideal !!!
Right now my spare rifle is a 9.3x62 CZ 550 20" barrel with a 1.5-6 compact scope...A box of 250 TSX @ 2575 fps and a box of 285 Lapua Mega bullet @ about 2500 fps ... A smaller " big game caliber" will ruin as much or more meat , and it is adequet for 300 yard shots and possibly 400 on caribou if they are planly visible ....

It is nice and light and probably would work fine in the bear defense / meat packin role .....