An article on why to woods carry...

It could also be the attraction of legal marijuana that draws vagabonds to Colorado.

8-10 years ago I took a drive in through the woods West of Ft Collins, CO before the big fire they had. I used to hunt elk up there by West White Pine Mtn and Pennock Pass on the weekends during archery season back in the 1970-80's and did well enough to take a couple of bulls and a few cows with my bow or muzzle-loader.
So anyway, the Wifey and I ran into a couple of F&W Gamies leading around some Ft Collins police on 4-wheelers looking for grow patches in the forest that were becoming more common there. The evidence they were looking for was garbage and trails through the woods. This preceded by years the legalization of pot in the state. Population in 1976 was 2.75M. Now it's 5.5M. Population brings it's own vagabonds.
After a few encounters with bears and cougars back in the day, I started carrying a Ruger .41 revolver. Then just a S&W 66. Lately just a .22 Bearcat in the woods. Now I don't worry about the wildlife much, so I carry MaMa's S&W 66 for trouble.

Lots of tweakers in the woods. Really, truly frightening. They would not think twice (or even once) about jumping you.

Come for the pot, stay for the meth

My son lives in Nederland. I'm always telling him to stay alert.

IlikeSA said:

something larger than a .22.

I have always been a fan of carrying something larger than a .22 when woods walking. I acknowledge that a .22 can get the job done, but it is a lot easier to do it with a larger caliber. This is an article by a local Denver magazine concerning transients and "long term campers" on the Colorado Front Range. While it does not mention carry in particular, as I was reading it I felt it reinforced the point to those with the mindset.

http://www.5280.com/2018/01/danger-in-the-forest/?src=longreads

One quote from the article: "It hit me then, viscerally, that our forests have become places where people come not only for quiet and tranquility, but also to do potentially harmful, often illegal things that are easier to get away with under the forest’s cover."

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A Denver paper wouldn't tell you to carry. They find illegal marijuana grows every month or so in the National Forest West of Colorado Springs. Almost every time there's a connection to the cartels. Colorado Springs and the surrounding forests is infested with homeless tweakers.

The left wing media is always quick to complain about conditions -- and to oppose any sensible measures that would make things safer or better.

The only people that I know [ and VERY few of them ] that do not carry in the woods [ or EDC daily ] are liberals that don't own a gun at all.

Like I said,VERY few of them,guess I don't play well with others.

Minimal for me is a Glock 23,but in the woods might carry a wheel gun in a bit heavier caliber [ .44 mag,.45 colt,.357 magnum ].

I have always packed in the woods and since being old enough every where else.
What I teach my boys is simple. You carry a gun in the woods for self preservation and fun.
Out side the woods is self preservation. Not counting trips to the middle east sand boxes. I havnt been in a situation that require my to even draw.
Situational awareness helps.
In the forest a fire arm is a great tool and should never be left behind if it can be helped.
Just my two cents, your milage may vary

I have always carried in the woods, especially remote Colorado.

Vern Humphrey said:

It could also be the attraction of legal marijuana that draws vagabonds to Colorado.

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I would have thought that legalization would have cut out illegal grows in the woods. It's easier to grow it in a greenhouse. This country has forgotten the lesson of Prohibition. All that accomplished was to make Al Capone rich. The War on Drugs has done the same for the cartels.

Kendahl said:

I would have thought that legalization would have cut out illegal grows in the woods. It's easier to grow it in a greenhouse. This country has forgotten the lesson of Prohibition. All that accomplished was to make Al Capone rich. The War on Drugs has done the same for the cartels.

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And yet, as the article points out, the woods are full of druggies.

I would have thought that legalization would have cut out illegal grows in the woods

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Not so. I am in Washington state, which has followed the Colorado path in this regard. What we see here is that illegal growing continues apace, or maybe even increases after legalization, because the penalties for illegal growing are now much less. Illegal growers are shipping out of state or selling locally through underground channels that avoid the new taxes and regulations.

Marijuana grows aren't specific to the states with liberal marijuana laws, they occur quite commonly in any state where there is remote and covert land available. It is most common on Forest Service land or BLM, as well as on large privately owed properties. A rancher I now here in Utah (certainly no legal grass here!) finds illegal grows on his land about every 2 or 3 years. HIs neighbors experience the same problem. Sometimes they find them before harvest, sometimes after.

Tweekers, crack-heads and other undesirables are in our woods, too. LOts of homeless camps in the mountains around SLC.
It's just one symptom of a sick society, IMO.

I don't know the area in the article very well, but I was up that way last weekend. I didn't see anything like the article describes, so I guess they don't like camping in the cold and the snow. Which just goes to show there are other places for them to go.

Thanks for posting the article @IlikeSA . I had no idea that area had such problems, and whilst it's likely too busy for my wife and I during the warmer month anyway, we'll be sure to avoid it during that time of year now.

While the woods aren't something to be feared, you shouldn't be naive about the potential dangers. In addition to the human element described in the article, wildlife is nothing to be taken lightly. Two summers ago I took my boys to Glacier National Park. The day after we left someone was attacked and killed by a grizzly not far from where we stayed. Last summer one of my nephew's friends was bitten by a snake while hiking in Colorado and died. I know a number of people who camp regularly and are oblivious to their surroundings.

Kendahl said:

I would have thought that legalization would have cut out illegal grows in the woods. It's easier to grow it in a greenhouse. This country has forgotten the lesson of Prohibition. All that accomplished was to make Al Capone rich. The War on Drugs has done the same for the cartels.

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First let me say I'm not an expert on Colorado's current Marijuana laws. The following is what I've picked up watching the news.

The new trick is renting or buying a house and gutting the inside and turning it into a grow house. Illegal grows are still illegal. You have to have special licensing. You have to pay taxes on the weed and you're limited to a certain number of plants. A lot of the illegal weed grown here is exported out of state or gets sold on the black market untaxed and much cheaper than state sanctioned weed while still generating profit for the cartels. Once the weed is in your weed jar at home no one can prove its origins. The only people who buy weed in the legal weed stores are tourists and idiots.

To bring this back on topic there is a LOT of money to be made on the black market and people disappear in the mountains all the time. I never hike unarmed

cjwils said:

Not so. I am in Washington state, which has followed the Colorado path in this regard. What we see here is that illegal growing continues apace, or maybe even increases after legalization, because the penalties for illegal growing are now much less. Illegal growers are shipping out of state or selling locally through underground channels that avoid the new taxes and regulations.

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Interesting. It implies that there is still an economic advantage to illegal grows. That would be the case if taxes and regulations are onerous and the penalties and probability of getting caught are low. New York City police went after Eric Garner for selling untaxed cigarettes. Had the taxes been lower, he could not have earned enough to justify his effort and repeated encounters with police.

Any time I step out of my house I am carrying two firearms. I guess in a way I am lucky in that my EDC is also perfect for "woods carry" as I carry my S&W 686 Classic Hunter 6" (I also carry a North American Arms .22 Magnum in my pocket as my "Get off of me" gun).

Course to be honest....and maybe it's the coon ass in me, but I don't consider a pistol a firearm for carrying in the woods. If I was grabbing a firearm specifically for the woods I'd grab either my .30-.30 Marlin or my .45-.70 Govt Marlin. I'd lean more towards a rifle especially with your posted concerns in mind as a rifle does two things: One, it is more visible so the message of "I fight for real, so I'm not the one" is more easily relayed and two, if the need for a firearm did come up? I'll take that whoopin' stick that can also throw lead as with either melee or shooting it gives me a lot more range than a pistol.

Be careful while walking around on public land. If not hunting then i'm packing a handgun.

Was recently scouting out a ranch i have permission to hunt. On the way home i tanked up the pickup. That decision may have saved a young lady from a beating. The lady was pumping gas when a guy drove up and a serious argument ensued: It was obvious they were well acquainted. The guy threatened the lady and i stared at him. He immediately jumped in his car and quickly exited the area. Then i remembered the S&W N frame on my hip.

Much of the time i hunt restricted federal property where packing a handgun is verboten. But always have a long gun, usually a large caliber muzzleloader.

Personally, I don't go out in the woods, deserts or any other wildlands without a long gun. Depending on where, when and why it may be a shotgun or a rifle, but mostly it is a levergun. But since a long gun can't always be in your hand I also carry a handgun. Again caliber and action type vary, but one is always there.

I suppose my favorite combination are my Marlin GS in 45-70 backed up by a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 colt. If these two won't deal with any issue on two or four legs it's time for air or artillery support.

I don't live in bear/cat/crackhead country so I don't necessarily carry a side arm every time I go for a walk in the woods with my .22 rifle.

For my area the .22 is not only adequate for the intended squirrels but any other need.

Obviously that could differ dependent on local.

Joe Hall is a good man and family friend. I am a member of Peak-to-Peak Forest Watch, and such groups are vital to keeping this scourge from getting further out of hand.

This is why Georgia finally revamped carry laws. Meredith Emerson was abducted off the Appalachian Trail in North Ga 9 years ago. I have no idea whether or not she would have carried even if legal, but because of GA law at the time it was not permitted in the location where she was hiking because that section of the trail cut across the back corner of a State Park.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/23769881/...ays-female-hiker-fought-him-end/#.Wl4rtnlG3IU

The guy who eventually killed her plead to a deal to take the death penalty off the table in return for showing LE where her body was located. But LE already had already collected evidence in his van of several more similar murders in Florida and North Carolina. After the trial in GA where he got life, he was sent to Florida and NC for other trials. He will die, just don't know who gets to pull the switch.