Agree with most of the above. The exception would be the hunting with an empty chamber. Only time we ever cleared the chamber in our guns was when crossing obstacles (fences, creeks, logs, etc). If I'm in the woods/field, I'm hunting and my rifle or shotgun is a safety click and trigger pull away from doing it's job. Only exception would be if I'm tree stand hunting and I get to or am leaving the woods after legal shooting light - then it's empty until I'm in my stand and the first rays break over the eastern horizon.

I've always frowned upon the idea of "long-range hunting" as there are just far too many variables that you can't control. As you noted, punching paper and steel at long range is great and will always make you a better shooter, but when hunting medium and large game it's a different story. Show the animal the respect it's due and put in the effort to work in closer and earn that meat you want to put in your freezer. It's called hunting and not shooting for a reason.

Small vermin (groundhogs, prairie dogs) are another matter when it comes to long range as any slight miscalculation will result in a complete miss due to the small size of the quarry.