BLAZE Magazine Special Edition 2006-2016 | Page 58

Grace, Gear & Guns
Traveling with Firearms
By Joe Balog
T
oday’s hunters pull out all the stops
in pursuit of their quarry. Turkey
enthusiasts crisscross the country
each spring in their individual quests
for a “grand slam” – the successful harvest of
each of the four North-American subspecies.
Similarly, ardent deer hunters chase monster
bucks from the furthest reaches of Canada to
South Texas. Waterfowl addicts often follow
the migration for thousands of miles. Such
travel can lead to the hunt of a lifetime, but
isn’t without challenges.
Problems can arise from the complex logistics
of packing and transporting a hunter’s
necessary equipment. Guns and ammunition
cause the greatest concerns. While traveling
anglers may be content to use rods and reels
provided by their guides, an experienced
hunter simply won’t leave home for a hunting
trip without his or her trusted, personal
firearms.
But traveling with a gun is no picnic. Complex
airline and highway rules coupled with the
constant threat of damage can wreak havoc
Avid hunter and competitive shooter,
Rich Yoder, logs thousands of travel miles
with firearms in tow each year.
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| SPECIAL EDITION 2006-2016
on the traveling hunter’s otherwise well-laid
plans.
Rich Yoder knows all the pitfalls of traveling
with firearms… and how to avoid them. He
logs thousands of travel miles by land and air
each year with firearms in tow. A veteran deer
and waterfowl hunter, Yoder also competes
in 3-gun competition – a fast-paced sport
involving self-defense-style shooting with
shotguns, rifles and pistols. It’s a vocation that
requires Yoder to transport multiple firearms
and a small arsenal of ammunition whenever
he competes. His traveling tips give insight
into stress-free gun transport.
Guns On the Road
When traveling the country in his truck, Yoder
packs his unloaded guns away in premium
hard cases and buries them deep. “When
driving with firearms, my experience has
shown that guns are best stored in hard cases
and kept relatively inaccessible,” says Yoder.
“By this I mean they shouldn’t be in the wide
open.”
Yoder’s reasoning for burying the weapons is
simple. Regulations for transporting firearms
in a vehicle vary from state to state. Some are
quite lenient, while others are much stricter.
Within many states, gun transportation laws
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