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How often do you USE the handgun you carry in the woods?

V

Vern Humphrey

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Joined
Dec 30, 2002
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20,775
Location
Deep in the Ozarks
There is a long-ongoing thread in "revolvers" about which revolver you carry in the woods. Looking at some of the answers, I wondered if many responders actually USE the guns they carry.

I'll start off -- I usually carry a Colt Woodsman (made in 1938) and I live in the woods -- I step out my door and I'm hunting. Squirrel season in the Ozarks runs from mid-May to the end of February, so most of the time if I see a squirrel, I can take him.

I'll usually take a squirrel every few days just mooching around, not really hunting.

Let's hear from the rest of you.
 
I step out of my front door and I am in 100% prime black bear and mountain lion territory. A cat attacked our neighbor's dog in their back yard last year. In a 10 minute drive, I am in a suburban progressive bastion filled with NPEs, overrun with vagrancy, the associated drug-based crime, plus the scene of a true grocery store active shooter two years ago. In a 30 minute drive, I am in the middle of typical large urban crap hole. The concept of "carry one gun only" or "one gun type only" is completely laughable and ignorant in my situation. In a given single day, I can go from being armed only with something like an NAA Mini or pocket micro-auto, to something like a 3" Model 10 or 9mm higher-capacity DA/SA, to something like a 4" 629 or other big-bore revolver.
 
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We got those northern Illinois samsqwatchez wandering around, super redhawk will get some carry time but it's not loaded for grizz.
I like to carry my g20 in the woods too, sometimes I'll bring it along if I'm dressed heavy but my ammo choice is different too.

There are no dangerous animals on the Illinois /Wisconsin border but there has Bern a black bear sighted locally over the last few months, an absolute first for me in all the years I've spent here. If I see it I'll probably just wave :cool:
 
.455_Hunter said:
I step out of my front door and I am in 100% prime black bear and mountain lion territory. In a 10 minute drive, I am in a suburban progressive bastion filled with NPEs, overrun with vagrancy, the associated drug-based crime, plus the scene of a true grocery store active shooter two years ago. In a 30 minute drive, I am in the middle of typical large urban crap hole. The concept of "carry one gun only" or "one gun type only" is completely laughable and ignorant in my situation. In a given single day, I can go from being armed only with something like an NAA Mini or pocket micro-auto, to something like a 3" Model 10 or 9mm higher-capacity DA/SA, to something like a 4" 629 or other big-bore revolver.
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I'm almost the same situation. I'm not "step out my front door" close, but 5 min drive to homes that close I am. I do deliveries and very often to off road areas where black bear and mt lion attacks arent uncommon. 5 minutes the other way and I'm in the "War Zone". Being in crime city here, the popular street gun is an AR pistol chambered in .300blk. I find that my Glock 30S is very concealable and powerful enough to hang with the best when modified to chamber 45super. I'm off-roading in remote areas alot, so there is no reason to not pop off some rounds for whatever reason. I like to take some targets with me in the trunk, set them up, and see how well I do hitting them from a moving vehicle. Let me tell you, red dot optics are useless, laser pointers rule. A Glock in 45super placed in a RT 20/21 brace with 30 round mags is a very light and compact package matching the power of .300blk out of a much bigger/heavier platform. Perfect for vehicle carry, predator and BG defense. Yes, I can still holster it. None of that sling thing. The state that I am in, we can carry any type of firearm in the vehicle, concealed or not. A vehicle is an extension of the home.
 
Dispatched a wounded hog on the side of the road on the way to my hunting land once.

Shot a deer with my woods gun at close range instead of my rifle once.

Haven’t seen a snake I felt like killing yet so the use of the mythical snake gun has yet to occur.
 
Chief TC said:
Never and hope I never have to do it.
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You never thought what it would feel like to yell out "yee-ha!" while hopping and popping off shots straight up into the air dual wielding?
Maybe I got the wrong idea. I didn't think the OP meant for serious SD use only. I figured just for whatever reason. There's things you can practice in remote areas that you can't do even in the most liniant ranges. Like putting your car on drive and following behind it using it as cover as you take out some targets ahead of you. Now, that is fun!
 
Yeah, I think it was a general ask of if someone used their handgun in the woods. I only use mine for big critter defense, so that is my answer.
 
Ground hogs are the only scourge around my hobby horse farm. Unfortunately, they do not show on regularity so carry a pistol when feeding the horses gets somewhat aggravating. I'm not real patient when "hunting".

Our Whippet killed a ground hog last spring and is in "ground hog watch" when she gets to go out for her business. A couple years ago, a ground hog did the same routine for several days and I could dispatch it out of my misery. It took four or five 22LR to plant the ground hog,.

I've set aside a light load 32 revolver (327 Fed mag Ruger SP101 with heavy 32 S&WL Loads.) that hopefully will be more effective.
 
I hope not to. But, then, I have car insurance as well. I don’t hunt with hand guns.
 
I've never used one defensively. I've hunted quite a bit with them. And perhaps my favorite revolver-related activity is woods walking and pinecone hunting, and I often dispatch several dozen of them on a half-day outing.
 
Glock 19.3. Same pistol I that CCW. For the woods I load it with Underwood Xtreme Penetrator. I had an encounter with a sow black bear and cub last fall while mountain biking.
 
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I carry all day every day when I am not in my own house. City or woods, I have a gun on me. I have only had to use my carry gun once in the 35+ years I have been carrying. A friend called having just totaled her Accord in a collision with a deer. I rushed to the scene (it was quite close to my house), checked on her and her children to make sure everything was OK and calm them down. Then I found the deer with 3 mangled legs quivering a good 30 feet off the embankment. A .380 round from my LCP in the eye socket put the deer down. The cops arrived about 15-20 minutes later and the tow truck took at least another hour after that.

I carry for my safety and the safety of my loved ones. If I never have to use any of my carry pieces again I will be very happy!

In the woods I often carry my XD mod 2 3.3" subcompact in 45 acp, an excellent gun! I am not a hunter so I have never considered carrying a rifle in the woods.
 
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SterlingBullet said:
Using the GI Joe dolls to frame your trophy is the most clever photography I have seen this year. Bravo.
Click to expand...

(I can't take credit, pilfered pic) IT is a very old social media pic probably easy 20 years old that was posted on the original Marlin Talk back in the day. Humor for humor's sake.
 
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When I walk the property I will often fire 3 or sometimes 6 shots. I go out to see what is going on and if I see a stump a goodly distance away, or a 5 gallon pail lid that I left there, or a dirt clod, I take a field position, estimate the range and take the shot. Some days, I don’t shoot, some days I do.


I find it good practice for hunting.


Kevin
 
Ive used the gun I carry on a daily basis on a few things over the years. Mostly a few shaky-looking critters like raccoons and skunks while working, but a few other things in the yard and around the house as well.

Around here and where Ive worked, the biggest critter we might run across would be a black bear, and they usually want nothing to do with you. Usually run into them a couple of times a year and when you do see them, what you usually see, is them hauling ass south once they see you. Not saying they cant be a threat, but I never felt, nor do I feel under-gunned with a 45acp or 9mm with anything we might run into here.

I rarely hunt much anymore and gave up shooting stuff, just because it was there and I could a long ago. If theres a need, thats something else. If I were planning on hunting, it would be with something more appropriate for that specific purpose too.
 
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