How many of you have actually had to do this?

F

Fullboar

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I always hear people saying you should take caliber Y over caliber X because they sell ammo at some Gas Station in the middle of nowhere. I have even heard “I would take the 30-06 instead of the 308 because it’s easier to find ammo” at some Convenience Store.
Has anyone ever not taken enough ammo, forgot it or lost it and had to buy ammo from some Country Hick Store in some One Horse Town?
I don’t know what you all do but I usually work out how much I will need then take at least 5 times as much, for instance if I go for a quick hunt close to home in the afternoon, where 1 shot is a possibility I will take at least 20 but probably more like 40 rounds with me.
Thanks
Fullboar
 
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Both ranges I go to are less than 10 miles from my house, so not much of an issue. But I have considered weapon calibers by how easy it is to get ammo in general, especially after the ammo scare in 2009...
 
The first time I went hunting, I figured a box of shells was more than plenty seeing that the limit was 10 dove. I shot a whole box and went home with 3 dove.



I learned my lesson.
 
Yep, I've done it once or twice in my 45 years of hunting. Usually bring anywhere from five to ten different guns, some loaded in the truck from the past weekend at the range or finding out someone used up the "camp" ammo. Most convenience stores and gas stations (up near my hunting shack they are one and the same...all two of them within 10 or so miles). They seem to always have .30-30's, .30-06's, and maybe .308's or .45-70's once and awhile.
 
I shoot handloads.I sight in careful.I would not know POI with Bucks Beer Bait and Bullets ammo.
To complicate matters more,my hunting rifles are a .257AI,a 30-338,and a 375-338.All wildcats.
I am OK with going hunting with 10 rounds.Thats all I carry in the field.Usually take more,but 10 is plenty.
I suppose that is why I decided to build a 30-06.
I guess I do not worry too much about ammo resupply.
 
A buddy of mine was on a group hunt in Canada about 20 years ago. One of the other hunters brought a less common caliber rifle and one 20 round box of ammo. His scope got knocked out of whack sometime after he left and before he got to camp. After missing an easy shot, he checked his zero later that day. The scope was way off. He spent the rest of his ammo getting properly zero'd and then asked the guy where the closest place was that carried his caliber. In the end, he ended up shooting somebody else's gun.

I find it surprising how many folks spend thousands of $ on hunting trips and fail to consider possible problems or bring sufficient resources.
 
Since I reload, I do not worry about availabilty of ammo at the corner 7-11 if it is a range visit around home, I only take about 50 to 100 rounds per gun. If we are traveling and visiting friends or relitives out of town, I take 200 to 300 rounds per gun, just incase I run accross an IDPA match I want to shoot (150 round needed per match).


Jim
 
Been dere dun dat but the worst example I saw was at my first PPC match. One of the competitors was using a 45 colt and was one round short of completing the course. Meantime since it was a timed event the clock kept running. People were running around checking their trucks, cars and ammo boxes and one guy finally found a grease and dirt covered box in his trunk under his spare tire.

The ammo worked and it was a fine example of gunners being good sports and doing whatever it took to help a fellow competitor. A couple of years later I found myself in the same shape but a local policeman was shooting 45 ACP in his revolver and he split what he had with me so I could stay there and keep shooting.

Lets face it. If you play the game long enough you will forget something and it will be inconvenient but rarely a tragedy. However its a good reason to bring a 30-30 instead of a 32 Win Spcl or a .243 instead of a 25-20 if you are going out into no mans land. Your chances of getting ammo is better. On the other hand I got my last box of .348 at a hardware store in the middle of nowhere and got it for the tag price on that dusty old box. He said it had been in the store close to 15 years or better but nobody was shooting it. I have priced it since then, Oy Vey!
 
your right most comp. shooter will do anything for a fellow comp shooter but being perpared for the worst is the best out come
 
When close to home, I rarely carry more than 15 rounds for deer hunting, but on hunting trips, I bring enough for myself and others, should we want to stop at a gravel pit.

My rifles all use Weaver detachable top mounts or a facsimile, so I often have two scopes sighted-in for my deer rifle. When planning a trip, I throw the second scope in the bag, just in case. When changing scopes, the Weaver system provides NO measurable change in POI between scopes.

I also have a target scope that I use for shooting groups, then switch to my hunting scope after testing loads and verifying any re-zero necessary with a new load.
 
Yeah, It's happened to me.

20 odd years ago I was on a 3 week hunting trip that envolved culling wild goats, kangaroos & feral pigs from properties in the Goodooga & Walgett areas near the NSW/ QLD border. Since you are from QLD you now that this is a reasonably remote area.
We culled a lot more goats & roos than expected & had to purchase more ammunition in Walgett. All you could get back then in centerfire was the basics .222,. .223, .243, .270, 30/30, .308, & 30/06 which suited us, but anything else would mean a 6 hour return trip to Dubbo, and even then if the cartridge had MM in it, prepare for a trip back to Sydney.
If you were out shooting just one deer for meat you're not going to have this problem.
 
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I always hear people saying you should take caliber Y over caliber X because they sell ammo at some Gas Station in the middle of nowhere. I have even heard “I would take the 30-06 instead of the 308 because it’s easier to find ammo” at some Convenience Store.
Has anyone ever not taken enough ammo, forgot it or lost it and had to buy ammo from some Country Hick Store in some One Horse Town?
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That is what I recommend.

I hardly hunt anymore, sticking to paper punching. But I have arrived at the range with all my gear except ammo :o

Given my lack of memory and overall low intelligence, I would not put it past me to forget to bring ammo on a hunt.

All the little country stores around here have 30-06 and 30-30. Plus "Big Gulp" drinks at less than a dollar!
 
Has anyone ever not taken enough ammo, forgot it or lost it and had to buy ammo from some Country Hick Store in some One Horse Town?
I don’t know what you all do but I usually work out how much I will need then take at least 5 times as much, for instance if I go for a quick hunt close to home in the afternoon, where 1 shot is a possibility I will take at least 20 but probably more like 40 rounds with me.
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Having too much ammo is like having too much fuel when you're in an airplane. Only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire. Only time you have too much ammo? Never.
 
Now IF, let's say, I ever get to go "West" to hunt say Elk or Moose, and so on, I will pack myself plenty of ammo, at least 60 rnds. Just in case my scope get's knocked or we keep getting charged by awnry critters. But when I hunt deer here in my home state, I never leave home with more than a box, and only two cartridges leave the car on a hunt, 1 for my deer, 1 for that coyote, that you always see instead of a buck!!;)
 
I don't buy guns based on the "ease" of finding ammo for it. The ammo shortage taught us that hardly any caliber, no matter how popular or widespread can become difficult to acquire. (Did you ever think you'd see the day when 9mm and .22lr would be hard to find?)

It does make sense for a hunter to have a rifle in a readily available caliber. This is especially true, if you travel to pursue your sport and need to get ammo on the spot. Preparation would help prevent such a problem BUT it could still happen through no fault of your own. I could imagine a person going to Africa (or other remote place) and having your ammo seized by local custom agents (or even TSA in the good ol' US of A) for some silly reason. In such a scenario it would be nice to have your rifle chambered in a readily available cartridge oppossed to a wildcat or fancy boutique caliber.

I think overall, caliber selection is based on a number of things and ammo availability is just one of them.
 
On the other hand I got my last box of .348 at a hardware store in the middle of nowhere and got it for the tag price on that dusty old box.
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Must've been the same place I found in Northern Wisconsin, he had ten dusty boxes of Winchester .348 Super X's, had a price tag of $12 on 'em. Wanted to buy 'em all, but the elderly gent run'n the place reminded me that others in the future might be need'n 'em too.

By the way, I reload also, thousands of rounds a year. But, I also shoot thousands of rounds a year. Besides having a range within walking distance of my home, I have multiple ranges(15 yard, 25 yard, 50 yard, 100 yard, and a 200 yard) set up just outside the back door of my hunting shack which is 250+ miles from my home. Just last week we had a group of seven (all old friends and shooters) come up for a coyote hunt. Counted on the outside gun rack last Saturday morning a total of thirty seven rifles and fourteen hand guns. Even though at least five of us handload and I alone brought up seven hundred rounds of ammo, we still ran out on a few of the calibers. Heck, we burned up over 1k of ammo just on the M1 carbines, 'course we all have one of those and makes a fine substitute for .22's (nobody even brought one of those!).
 
It's not just a problem out in the sticks anymore. Typical flood of last minute activity the week or two before the season didn't go well for many trying to feed grandpa's old 35 Rem or 30-40.
 
Old Timer THAT sounds like the most fun man!!:) Wish I had a cool spot like that, I'm in complete envy!!! Happy shootin dude!!I am also that guy who LOVES to clean rifles and handguns after a shooting session.;)
 
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