[CaberTosser]

The action of cycling a bolt can be enough to scare off game that’s close, and be enough of a delay to allow the animal to escape. I trust my safety because I know how it physically works. Many police and CCW citizens in the USA walk around with cocked and locked 1911’s daily, have you heard of an epidemic of accidents from that? Sound to me like the guy that fell and got shot in his back forgot about keeping his muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Sounds weird anyways, if he had the rifle slung how the heck could the muzzle be pointed at his back? Did he not have the rifle slung and he let go if it’s while falling? If so that’s on him, one should never let go of their firearm when falling and they should keep their muzzle pointed in a safe direction. An untrained reflex is just as much to blame in the given example. I have fallen with a rifle in my arms and I’ve never let go of it. Knowing how to fall helps, martial arts training helps in that regard. Sure if you’re traversing some particularly difficult terrain then it might be a good idea to clear the chamber, but I don’t see it as being necessary for normal hiking. To me this is a personal preference issue rather than something written in stone such as muzzle direction, proving clear when handing someone a firearm, etc.