How many rounds to you take Stalking

Then Sod’s law it will be a sustained ambush and you wish you’d brought 100!!
I only let on that I have 50, lots more where they came from and easily obtainable by me unless my back up is close by ;-)
If It gets really heavy, I am in touch with air ops so can call in air support ;-)
 
I have two .223s, a sporter and a HB. They have 6 round mags. Which ever one I choose, I borrow the mag from the other one. Gives me 12 rounds.

Cheers
 
I take 10 because my leather wallet takes 10.

That way, if I have an empty slot in the wallet, I've lost a case somewhere...

That advantage aside, 10 seems about right. The most rounds I've ever shot in a day is 4, so I needed 9 by the end of the day for a fully loaded mag.
So, Alistair,
What do you do if you discover you’re (Heaven forbid) a case missing ;)
Ken.
 
I normally take about fifty just in case I get ambushed on the way home and need to hold them off until I get reinforcements ;)
Shotgun and slab handy too if the rabbits decide to gather themselves together and charge you.
If any get through they can chew holes in your boots.
Ken.
 
So, Alistair,
What do you do if you discover you’re (Heaven forbid) a case missing ;)
Ken.

Grumble mostly and lament the cost of fancy Norma brass!

Still, at least I know, it reminds me to pick them up in the heat of the moment and I also know I've lost an empty, not a loaded round.
 
I wouldn’t take anyone stalking who had Only 3 bullets on them. Seems like pure stupidity to me, I always carry at least 10
 
Ok so how many round do you take when stalking?
I tend to carry 25, don’t know why but might be a thing from when I started out with air rifles, always a tin of 500 emptied in my pocket.....
I always err on the optimistic side and also take 25. Probably too many and just think of hauling the beasts to the larder if I shoot too many!
 
I take one mag of 5 plus a few spare rounds in my waist bag...that's it. I don't have vehicular pick up so can only drag or carry one deer out from my shooting land.
 
usually 8-10, 4 in the drop box and a clip of 5 in my pocket. Could easily shoot a litter of fox cubs then a couple of deer depending on weather. Or give up stalking and whack some rooks Instead lol
 
I wonder what the record is for most rounds used to bring down a single deer...

... my worst was very early in my stalking career (I think my 3rd or 4th beast). 100 yard(ish) shot off sticks. Went low and smashed a front leg. It ran, but stood briefly at the edge of a thicket. Second shot grazed back. Bolted into thicket. Waited 20 mins (too short, I know, but I was inexperienced and impatient), then waded in. Bumped it and it limped into a clearing. Rushed a shot as it disappeared at far side of thicket - clean miss. Mag now empty, so fumbled to reload while trying to follow. Dropped 2 rounds in long grass - too thick to look for, and desperately trying to keep eyes on beast.

It then bedded/collapsed in a very thick patch of thorn scrub. Managed to crawl to within 5m of it. Attempted 2 head shots - completely failed to hold off at such short range, misses both. Finally ended up within about 1m, and sighted down the barrel.

6 shots and 2 lost cartridges for one deer.

Ever since then, have always had at least 10 on me.

I learned a lot from that one outing, and fortunately have never made quite so many mistakes in such rapid succession again!

I can match, but not beat, you and your story reminds me of a similar outing very early in my own career.

Out with my mentor, found a roe doe, took the shot (low and back), miss quick follow up shot, doe departs.

Doe disappears over nearby rise, follow it, see it bedded down in middle of large field, shoot and miss.

Mentor grabs rifle (“give it to me”.......accompanied by withering look), shoots and misses. Reloads, shoots....hits deer but fails to kill. Deer gets up and wanders off into cover.

Walk down to cover, see bedded deer, shoot and despatch.

Not our greatest outing, yet unsurprisingly it is a stalk that will not be forgotten.

Like you, I have found that the misses and foul ups tend to yield the most important lessons and thus should be discussed more. The successes, by and large, dissolve in the memory.
 
The story above jolted my memory.....

On our trips to an estate in Sutherland over many years there were frequent references to “Tetley”. Not much imagination is required to figure out how particular stags might have acquired that pseudonym.

“How many bullets?” was a question asked with an alarming frequency over dinner, and as a result for years I felt obliged to carry 30 rounds onto the Hill.

I was fortunate to need two bullets just the once, but that’s a story for another time.

The party consisted almost entirely of serving, or recently retired, members of HM Armed Forces. How we triumphed in the field at Waterloo and Rorke’s Drift remains something of a mystery, but the volume of lead thrown clearly comes into it.
 
The story above jolted my memory.....

On our trips to an estate in Sutherland over many years there were frequent references to “Tetley”. Not much imagination is required to figure out how particular stags might have acquired that pseudonym.

“How many bullets?” was a question asked with an alarming frequency over dinner, and as a result for years I felt obliged to carry 30 rounds onto the Hill.

I was fortunate to need two bullets just the once, but that’s a story for another time.

The party consisted almost entirely of serving, or recently retired, members of HM Armed Forces. How we triumphed in the field at Waterloo and Rorke’s Drift remains something of a mystery, but the volume of lead thrown clearly comes into it.

My one experience of guiding a senior officer (American 1 star) indicates there may be a strong negative correlation between rank and accuracy...
 
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