Sidearm Carry

[charvey9]

When hunting I rarely carry a sidearm on my person since it can make it more difficult to be mobile, lay prone, crawl, etc when needed. I almost never carry a sidearm when rifle hunting, the odds of dropping my rifle to grab a sidearm in time to use it are fairly unrealistic. I would carry it on my pack, like I do for bow hunting, when in grizzly territory.

When bow hunting, I do carry a .44 mag revolver easily accessible on my pack's belt. I can't remember the holster brand, but it loops through the belt on my pack and has an elastic thumb break that goes over the hammer (these are much easier and quicker than the snap kind) and also came with an optional shoulder shoulder strap.

Although the .44 mag is overkill for hunting in Oregon, I figure if I am going to carry a sidearm while hunting it should always be the same gun rather than switching back and forth. So I got a revolver that is capable of stopping a grizzly (i know....this can be debated all day long) and have just had to deal with lugging around the 3 extra pounds.

 

[RVTECH]

I am with the no need to carry group when rifle hunting. There is really no need for a sidearm, especially when hunting in the PNW and in 30 + years I never have carried. When hunting I like to travel as light as possible and as mentioned previously a sidearm can either get in the way or get heavy after a long trek in the woods. Now when not hunting and in the woods I carry but for entirely different reasons.

 

[OHshoot!]

Mernickle field carry holster for my 686+ is great.

 

[sandman1212]

I usually carry on the waistband, my daypack straps go behind my pistol and it is easy to get to. I use the same holster I carry OWB with, a Galco leather, it fits, it's comfortable and I have muscle memory with it.

 

[Quackerbacker]

No way would i want to carry in a thigh holster when hunting. I hunt a lot of brush and there is just too much to get in the way, snap twigs, get ground into the mud etc.

When i do carry a pistol in the woods it goes in my front pack. Still plenty accessible and out of the way.

I can't give you a great reason why i do carry it. It would be nice for a finishing shot i guess, although i'm yet to need it. Good for defensive purposes in a backup role i guess, but a pretty damn unlikely scenario. I guess i'm just a gun nut and like to have it on me