Do you pack defensive heat when hunting?

[TTSX]

Puma concolor is much easier do deal with! The snack packing kind can turn into a stage 3 clinger

I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm bored.. Let's go see my parents, why are you always at work, why didn't you take more overtime... I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm hungry again

 

[thorborg]

NO. I love the one I'm with.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

NO. I love the one I'm with.

Stephen Stills has entered the chat...
Andy

 

[Catfishmoon]

As far as the potential lethality of .22lr in a rifle goes, I certainly have respect for it. Would not be my first choice, but shot placement is king...
I would bet that few two legged predators continue the fight after being shot in the head from a .22 rifle.

Google grizzly bear killed by .22, multiple instances... The most famous being a huge bear taken by a native female in Canada in the 1950's. Here is a well documented instance in 2019 where a man in Wyoming killed a grizzly with a single shot from a .22 (and paid a $25,000 fine for doing it).

. https://www.powelltribune.com/stori...k-for-accidentally-killing-grizzly-bear,17152

 

[joshkk]

Twice over the years, I have encountered trespassers hunting on private land that I was the only one supposed to be hunting on.... In all cases it worked out peaceably, but I was definitely aware of everyone present being armed and in both cases there being two of them and one of me. I have good "people" skills but probably would have felt marginally safer with a magazine fed pistol on me in addition to a bolt action rifle.

 

[Tlock]

Twice over the years, I have encountered trespassers hunting on private land that I was the only one supposed to be hunting on.... In all cases it worked out peaceably, but I was definitely aware of everyone present being armed and in both cases there being two of them and one of me. I have good "people" skills but probably would have felt marginally safer with a magazine fed pistol on me in addition to a bolt action rifle.

I now manage some of the best blacktail and turkey hunting ground in the Willamette valley, the company I now work for has had terrible problems with trespassers and squatters. It's gonna be interesting this next hunting season....the ground is all posted and gated but that doesn't stop dirtbags

 

[Alexx1401]

I have ALWAYS carried some kind of defensive gun when hunting, fishing, or even hiking. If I was hunting with a handgun, that was good enough as when I did this I was using a handgun that would also work for this. Long gun, ALWAYS had a hand gun with me. For me it was not as much the 4 legged threats I wanted one for. Always a chance of running into one of those. The fact that I may run into 2 legged made me FAR more careful.

 

[Alexx1401]

There's a video of a cop unloading a magazine from his pistol at his SUV after an acorn fell on it. He screamed on the radio that he was hit, he wasn't.

The part that "bothered" me a LOT about that is the supervisor who hears him yelling and shooting at his own vehicle so she also sends a few rounds at the vehicle. I told a kid I work with she should also have been promptly fired. He was trying to defend her actions. I told him (now that he carries) to remember one important rule. You are responsible for every bullet that leaves your gun. Both of those clown got over the top lucky they did not actually hit anything alive.

 

[Xaevian]

I'm with @Andy54Hawken on this one. I don't carry defensive heat when I hunt. Maybe a few hand warmers to fend off the aggressive cold temperatures, if that counts.

 

[pacNWvike]

I never did when modern hunting, however since switching the muzzleloader I always do now. Full size 1911 in a leather chest holster.

Here I will carry a 9mm outside of hunting season (sometimes during), generally loaded with Buffalo bore or underwood just in case.

 

[oremike]

WTF is defensive heat?

 

[Tlock]

WTF is defensive heat?

Heat! It's called heat! I honestly have no idea but it sounds cool I guess. The only heat I have comes from my wood stove

 

[Twodogs]

I started carrying a handgun hiking and hunting years ago, with the way thing are now around here I will keep on doing so, just finished setting up a 10MM for a woods gun.

 

[OutwardHound]

I would carry my .357 mag while bow hunting. Carried while hiking and camping of course. Come to think of it, I never carried fishing. I guess I didn't want to lose it in an unfortunate wading accident.

 

[Xmark1]

I have hunted for over 50 years and never needed a sidearm. I figure if my long gun does not take care of business then I need to fold up the tent and go home.
I do carry a side arm when fishing.

 

[Nosferatu]

Yes, but mostly for 2-legged negative encounters. The ones with 4 legs are rather predictable.

 

[Ruger Rich]

I carry and always have an old 9 shot H&R 22 revolver. It serves at least two functions.
First if I get to a downed animal and there's still a breath left I can dispatch it with
a shot to the head. I've seen guys use their rifles and it busts the head up real messy,
eyes pop out, and busts up the skull. 22 works for the mafia and me too. Second, it's
small and lite weight. Additionally I can carry a box of 50 in my pack occupying a very
small amount of space and I've plenty of extra ammo should I need it for signalling.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I always carry a handgun.. and mainly hunt with one too, sans long gun.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I understand that times ain't what they used to be....
And that there are indeed threats out there , be they two or four legged.

I also have no issue with those who choose to carry a sidearm for defense while hunting.
You ain't "wrong" for doing so....for you that is.

However after reading more than a few posts and threads here at NWFA about this matter...
One would think that it would be near suicide going out in the woodline without a hand gun...rifle and a platoon of pissed off Rangers for support...

Again I get it...things are out there...and things happen.
Something to consider here is that self defense is much more than having a firearm.

Pay attention to your surroundings...
Cultivate a non-aggressive , but alert demeanor...
Keep a clean camp...
If push comes to shove...keep your head...and fight smartly as well as decisively...
Use what you have...not what you wish you had...

I have camped , hiked and hunted in many a wild area...
Wild as in terrain and the wildlife...counting both two and four legged beasties.
Many times this was done with what many would call a "substandard" arm...
Things like only a knife...or bow...or .22 rifle ...or Muzzle loader...or no arms at all.
Often this was done in grizzly country.....
And yet here I am...alive to tell the tale.
Luck , sure...woodcraft as well.

In any event :
"Remember though , your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp - provided it's loaded."
Andy

 

[Tlock]

I understand that times ain't what they used to be....
And that there are indeed threats out there , be they two or four legged.

I also have no issue with those who choose to carry a sidearm for defense while hunting.
You ain't "wrong" for doing so....for you that is.

However after reading more than a few posts and threads here at NWFA about this matter...
One would think that it would be near suicide going out in the woodline without a hand gun...rifle and a platoon of pissed off Rangers for support...

Again I get it...things are out there...and things happen.
Something to consider here is that self defense is much more that having a firearm.

Pay attention to your surroundings...
Cultivate a non-aggressive , but alert demeanor...
Keep a clean camp...
If push comes to shove...keep your head...and fight smartly as well as decisively...
Use what you have...not what you wish you had...

I have camped , hiked and hunted in many a wild area...
Wild as in terrain and the wildlife...counting both two and four legged beasties.
Many times this was done with what many would call a "substandard" arm...
Things like only a knife...or bow...or .22 rifle ...or Muzzle loader...or no arms at all.
Often this was done in grizzly country.....
And yet here I am...alive to tell the tale.
Luck , sure...woodcraft as well.

In any event :
"Remember though , your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp - provided it's loaded."
Andy

Andy....I'm afraid I'm unloaded! No scalp sence here, I just wounder thew the wood aimlessly