Rifles and hotel rooms
 

So, we'll be staying in a hotel room while hunting. What do y'all typically do with your rifle? Just leave it there and trust the hotel? Have never stayed in a hotel while hunting before.
-Jake

I always felt safer locking the long guns in our vehicle out of sight, the handgun stayed on my hip and went on the nightstand when I went to bed..

Depends on the area...Nebraska and Wyoming I'll either leave it in the truck overnight or just carry on my shoulder into the room for the night.

California I'll lock it up hidden in the truck.

It's going to be a couple nights near miami florida, and a couple nights somewhere around Lake Okeechobee.... I'm hesitant to lock it in vehicle in case the vehicle were to get broken into...
-Jake

I have a metal lockable long gun case. When I leave the hotel room my long gun goes in there. Someone could take the whole thing but at least the way I see it the gun is safer there than in a vehicle. If the motel stay is in transit on the way out or back home then we always leave the truck packed and locked in a well lit spot in the motel lot. So far no issues.

I disagree. People have access to your hotel room, not all of those people are trustworthy and a gun in a lockable case can be easily carried away. Out of sight in a vehicle in a parking space that is under lights close to the hotel is safer in my book. I carry my long guns in a lockable hard case but it can be easily carried away, to steal it from a vehicle will be harder. I never leave anything that looks like it has value visible in a vehicle no matter where I am.

I don't leave the case in plain sight....I hide it under the bed. Nobody ever would look under there. LOL

I have hunted both out of a motel and used it in transit and thankfully never had an issue with something taken either out of the room or the vehicle.

I'd be concerned that an out-of-state license plate in the parking lot would make the vehicle a target. I feel safer with the guns in the room out of sight.

I suppose on one hand the only person going into your room should be whoever is cleaning it. And you hope they are trustworthy.. On the other hand the vehicle is locked, and while harder to get in to, it may be more accessible to "undesirable" people than your hotel room would be, if they were to choose to try to steal something. I think I'll take them into the room. I've had cars broken into before and have always been nervous leaving things in a vehicle.
-Jake

I travel for a living, usually get between 100-150 hotel nights in a year. I almost NEVER leave anything in my hotel room when I'll be gone for anything longer than a trip to supper or the gym. Even then, most often I have everything in my vehicle.

I put an underseat rifle vault in my company truck. Convinced the company it would protect my business sensitive information and company IP to put it in, so they even paid for it. Ain't cheap, but I know it's a lot more secure than my hotel room.

My mother and some friends were in Houston on a trip this winter, apparently it was a common scheme going on, but drug runners would buddy up with hotel attendants to hide stuff in rooms, grab some sleep, and rob patrons. Her and her friends' bags were stolen while they were at supper one evening, nobody broke in, but someone entered their room with a key. Wasn't a master key, it was a dedicated single room key, coded for their particular room. Mom got her bag back, didn't even look like they had opened it, and her pistol was still inside. One of the friends' computer bag and jewelry bag were not recovered yet, doubtful they will be. The attendant was arrested on charges for aiding the theft, as the front desk video showed him keying 3 cards when they checked in, setting one aside, then only giving them two cards. There wasn't video of who took the card, but the attendant is on camera at the front desk during the time when the door lock record shows an entry to the room, so they had a partner. The attendant was the supervising shift manager who had several years on staff there, so it wasn't just some lacky on the job who was bouncing in and out just for this hit.

All comes down to situational awareness. Where you park, where you eat, where you stay, what you label on your car, etc - it all plays into how likely you are to be a target.