What back up do you carry in the field?

[bamaranger]

follow up

I quit hauling a rifle and a serious handgun to the hunt a while back,..... too dang much stuff. I still do tote a Ruger Bearcat in my old wool pants pocket when bowhunting, not so much as a backup, but a signal device and last ditch SD piece.

As far as following up game goes, I love to bowhunt, and following up a bowshot deer is part of the game. Usually, I know from the hit and sign if I've got a deer down, or am in for a tough recovery. When gun season runs concurrent here with archery, and I can do it legally, my follow up for a poorly hit deer with a bow is a short 12 ga coach gun and OObuck, logic being you'll jump the deer close in thick cover, and have a running shot. Oddly enough, I've never had to use the shotgun, ever! Minimum of 4hr on a borderline hit, and 6-8 is better. Only ever lost 1 to coyote damage, the others were usually there with diligent tracking.....and a pretty low loss rate too.

 

[979Texas]

I agree with you 100 percent Boogershooter, it's completely legal right here in your neighboring state of Texas and it makes the job at hand easier when needed.

I also have a few pristine special edition rifles passed down from my Grandpa and I like to shoot them but if it's raining or the weather is downright nasty I'm not even going to take those guns out of the house so I don't damage them. Let alone crawl through jungles and up and muddy creek banks while holding on to vines and tree trunks all the way up while my beautiful passed down family rifle gets scratched to hell and mud jammed up the barrel. That's what my AR-15s and Glock 20 is for.

 

[buck460XVR]

Originally posted by 979Texas:
I agree with you 100 percent Boogershooter, it's completely legal right here in your neighboring state of Texas and it makes the job at hand easier when needed.

I also have a few pristine special edition rifles passed down from my Grandpa and I like to shoot them but if it's raining or the weather is downright nasty I'm not even going to take those guns out of the house so I don't damage them. Let alone crawl through jungles and up and muddy creek banks while holding on to vines and tree trunks all the way up while my beautiful passed down family rifle gets scratched to hell and mud jammed up the barrel. That's what my AR-15s and Glock 20 is for.

Again, the minute you leave the "pristine" rifle at home it is no longer your primary weapon. It is just another gun at home. What is in your hand or on your hip is now your primary weapon, not a backup. A back-up is a secondary weapon, carried in addition to your primary. The title of this thread does not convey the real question the OP is trying to ask. I think this is where the confusion is coming from. I too have some old firearms that have been passed down to me. Gramp's ol' .32 special Winnie, my dad's model 97 Remington. Both still hunt, but only when conditions and the feeling is right. Gramp's ol' Fox SxS 16 ga, is still my go to, everyday pheasant gun tho. It was the first gun he bought when he came home from France after WWI. I learned to bird hunt with it and it fits me like a glove. The finish was gone, the stock scratched, the butt plate cracked and the broken trigger guard replaced with a homemade one from a can, long before I got it.