[pikergolf]

I carry an auto loader for pheasants, always loaded with the safety on. My partner and I are always split up so no danger there. I used to carry my rifle with one in the pipe but with the trigger uncocked. I found out how unsafe that was on this board so I no longer do that. I don't hunt deer and when I hunt coyotes it is always from a stand so I have no reason to have a cartridge in my shouldered rifle so I don't. I set up on my stand load and put the safety on. When I move I remove the cartridge from the chamber, but keep the magazine full.

As an aside, about four years ago my partner and I were moving to a new stand with me in the front. We went to cross a creek and my feet went out from under me and I took a nasty fall. I ended up on the ice on my back with my slung rifle pointed at my partner. I often think about that incident and what could have happened had I been carrying a cartridge in the chamber. Even worse I wonder about the way I used to carry my rifle, with one in the tube and the firing pin resting on the primer.