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John:

I must say that I'm amazed by this particular segment of this string. I'll say again, it was an irresponsible statement.

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When I start a stalk on dangerous game my rifle is (corrected from "un-cocked" to) safety off.. Indeed EVERY PH I have used would probably insist on it.

I really think that you've misunderstood them somehow. If not, let me know who you've hunted with, so that I don't make that mistake.

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What do you do, stalk up to a herd of cow elephants, step in front of one at 20 yards and THEN ONLY uncock your rifle as you mount the double rifle! Just adding another thing to possibly forget or go wrong in the heat of the moment.

I don't really know what to say, other than we are on totally different pages on this one. Your question leaves me stunned and rather speechless. If a pedestrian walked out onto the road 75 feet in front of you while you're driving along it at 70 MPH, would you forget to stand on the brake pedal or turn the wheel to try to miss him? How in the world could someone forget something as fundamental and reflexive as punching the safety off as they shoulder the rifle to shoot? If you have to "remember" to do it - if doing it requires any conscious thought at all - you're not familiar enough with the weapon to know how to use it safely in the field.

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While any mechanical device should be treated with caution, at least an uncocked double adds a margin.

It adds no safety margin whatsoever if you're stalking with it cocked!

Safe gun handling has many facets, and proper use of the safety is only one of them. But, NO safety can work if it isn't engaged. Gee, maybe Bramble is right, perhaps there ARE differences in how this is done around the world, although I find that impossible to credit. When you say;

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When I start a stalk on dangerous game, my rifle is (corrected from "un-cocked" to) safety off..

...you're saying that you actually HUNT (stalk, which means to me that you're walking forward on game, and not standing with the gun mounted waiting for a clear shot) with the safety OFF? I can guarantee you that anyone who would suggest that in conversation, let alone actually do it, would not be welcome to hunt with anyone I've ever hunted with in this country. If a hunting partner of mine caught me doing that, I'd be GONE, and would feel lucky not to be beaten senseless for it.

I once hunted with a guy who was having trouble getting the safety of his double gun off quickly enough to shoot before the pheasants we were walking up were out of range, so he decided to "stalk" with it off safe, figuring that he had his safety "between his ears" anyway. The first barrel of his accidental discharge missed me by inches. His second barrel (he actually managed to pull off both) hit another guy in the trouser cuff at maybe 10 feet range, without hitting meat. Needless to say, he was immediately disarmed, his kit packed for him, and escorted off the property poste haste. Had we known about what he was doing before the AD, the result would have been the same.

That the game may be dangerous makes no difference. There's no game animal as dangerous to the guys in your party as a rifle bullet or a CQ shotgun blast. Sure, we all try to be cognizant of gun safety at all times, but it's delusional to believe that you can ALWAYS control the muzzle and protect the trigger under ALL circumstances. Nobody can - and so the safety. When hunting (stalking) with the gun loaded and the safety off (gun cocked), you're a rodent burrow away from a dead man. What's so senseless about it is that there is ZERO reason to hazard the risk (which is usually to someone else, rather than yourself). With a rifle that the user is thoroughly familiar with, and which has a safety of good design, there's not a nanosecond of speed gained by stalking with it off safe in the first place. Learning to disengage it instantly and instinctively (so that you never have to "remember" it) as part of the mount, preferably when the butt touches the shoulder, is as inseparable a part of learning how to shoot it as is learning how to load it. It's the users responsibility to learn how to do that and, because it's so simple to learn given the choice of the right gun, there's simply no defense to stalking with the gun off safe. If something about a given long gun's operating system (Greener side safety, Krieghoff cocker, etc.), makes me think that having the safety on will have any effect on my speed in getting off a snapshot needed by complete surprise, I don't buy it, and I sure as hell don't hunt with it.

Sorry to rant John, and I don't mean to cause offense but, to me, this one is as basic as not driving drunk.

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