Things That Go BUMP In the Woods!

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Confederate

Confederate

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Most people have said what they carry for bears in the woods, but how many of you would flout the law to carry a handgun for protection? What do you carry for all around protection and against what?

You all sound like a reasonable lot. Disreputable, but reasonable. I'd be interested in finding out how many of you carry a weapon, but for things other than bears? For example, for those of you who spend a fair amount of time in the woods, how many of you believe that BIGFOOT exists?

Also, have you guys ever heard of a fellow by the name of DAVID PAULIDES? He's a retired cop who looks into disappearances in the national parks. (And BTW, he's a big believer in Bigfoot!) He's been interviewed a lot on radio and his interviews, many of them, can be found on YouTube. If you've never heard him, you may want to give him a listen.) Have you ever been seriously spooked in the woods, or felt you were being watched?

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Do you tend to go with high capacity automatic weapons or powerful 6-8-shot revolvers? And do you carry satellite locators with you? Do you tend to go alone when you hike or camp or do you generally go with others?

IMG_20170723_201017_416.jpg ​

One of the weirdest things I ever saw was on the Skyline Drive trail in Virginia. I was resting when some guy come sauntering by me walking his cat, a silver tabby, much like my own. He nodded and the two of them were on their way! (And yes, the cat was on a leash, but he looked like it wasn't his first trip out.)

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Confederate said:
Most people have said what they carry for bears in the woods, but how many of you would flout the law to carry a handgun for protection? What do you carry for all around protection and against what?

You all sound like a reasonable lot. Disreputable, but reasonable. I'd be interested in finding out how many of you carry a weapon, but for things other than bears? For example, for those of you who spend a fair amount of time in the woods, how many of you believe that BIGFOOT exists?

Also, have you guys ever heard of a fellow by the name of DAVID PAULIDES? He's a retired cop who looks into disappearances in the national parks. (And BTW, he's a big believer in Bigfoot!) He's been interviewed a lot on radio and his interviews, many of them, can be found on YouTube. If you've never heard him, you may want to give him a listen.) Have you ever been seriously spooked in the woods, or felt you were being watched?

​


Do you tend to go with high capacity automatic weapons or powerful 6-8-shot revolvers? And do you carry satellite locators with you? Do you tend to go alone when you hike or camp or do you generally go with others?


One of the weirdest things I ever saw was on the Skyline Drive trail in Virginia. I was resting when some guy come sauntering by me walking his cat, a silver tabby, much like my own. He nodded and the two of them were on their way! (And yes, the cat was on a leash, but he looked like it wasn't his first trip out.)

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About 5 years ago walking out in the dark to rifle hunt. I walked up on a steaming pile of bear poo. Steped over it and about 20 feet there was the bear looking right at me. good thing he was more scared then me buy time i got my gun off my sholder he was gone. Id have a min 44 mag revolver or at least a hi cap 9mm or bigger autoloader pistol. Allwas have your gun loaded.
 
Where I live, hike, walk, camp, etc., I always carry a handgun. If into town a 9mm H&K, if in the woods, mountains deserts (surrounding states) I carry a PX4 .40, usually loaded with 200 gr Buffalo Bore. That includes all places I visit and that includes National Parks, Forests, BLM lands etc. Some forests such as Shoshone/Custer I will also carry a .44 mag with Corbon Hunter ammo. But those two forests are noted for the high number of grizzlies; not just blacks.

Generally, I don't go to National Parks anymore due to the number of morons taking selfies, but I do travel through Yellowstone quite a few times each year.
As for Bigfoot....all I can say is if one existed, where is the evidence and I don't mean blurry videos. I mean an actual body.
 
I live in Florida, home of the Skunk Ape. As elusive as he is, I'm not worried.

I carry either my EDC 9mm or a .38 snub, depending on what I had on me when I decided to hit the trail. There's usually a NAA .22LR mini in a pocket, too. Other things along are a knife, cell phone, and a snack bar of some sort. Depending on the expected length of the walk, there may be water as well. That's pretty much it.
 
I’ve never had a scare in the woods. I spent a ton of time hunting, hiking and camping locally and in national parks, especially in my teen years when I was in the Boy Scouts. My dad pretty much grew up doing the same, the only scare I remember him telling me was when he heard a woman screaming nearby that turned out to be a screech owl.

I typically just carry my j-frame or an LCP when in the woods as I’m more worried about people or possibly dogs. Even when I’ve been backwoods fishing in the Smokies the only blackbear interactions I’ve had was while in the car.

One of my buddies used to go sit in the woods alone at night with a 12 ga when we’d go camping in super rural Ohio, he was convinced one day he’d bag the Grassman. Me, I was content drinking beer around the fire.
 
I was a packer in the Sierra. I carried a M-29 figuring that on horseback leading a train of mules we presented, collectively, a pretty big presence so any critter wanting to takes us on would also have to be pretty big, hence the .44
 
How about David Paulides? Anyone ever listen to him? If you've ever seen one of the PREDATOR MOVIES, there's an entity that can only be seen by its imperfect cloaking field. Paulides and some of the people who listen to him believe there's something happening to people in the national parks. It's not a common occurrence, but it happens enough that it's gotten his attention. As a former cop, he's intrigued by what he's learned by a number of cases and what they have in common. He says people have gone missing who have had guns. Hunters, hikers. But none with global tracking systems. Some of those who have gone missing are there one minute and gone the next. His advice is that if you're part of a group, never be the first one or the last one in line. Listen to some of his interviews on YouTube. (In several cases the person is gone and their rifles found literally broken in two. What kind of power would that take?) There are numerous reports of Predator-like effects of things moving about. Several hunters have reported seeing these effects. And people who feel like something's watching them. As a former Boy Scout, I know how people can let their imaginations get ahold of them.

The lack of Bigfoot bodies is a major factor, of course. But the legends that go back for generations, not only of Amer-Indians, but later settlers, explorers and now guys taking selfies.
 
I'm never in the woods without my six shot 44, which is only loaded with 5 rounds. I figure that and the extra five in my pocket should be enough to stop a two or four legged threat.
As far as being spooked in the woods. Opening morning of deer season in the mountains of Vermont found me sitting high on a ridge watching a natural cut through the mountains. All of a sudden the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt as though I was being watched. As I slowly turned to look behind me there was a coyote about 15 yards away staring at me. Down wind might I add. She was about 30 yards away when the 130 grain Nosler ballistic tip caught up to her. She was 85lbs not dressed.
 
I've read missing 411, creepy stuff.

As for bigfoot, my .44 mag with Garrett Hammerheads made me feel reasonably prepared for 900+ lb Alaskan coastal browns, I doubt bigfoot would be a bigger problem.

Personally I'm more concerned about the rougarou.
 
Confederate said:
Most people have said what they carry for bears in the woods, but how many of you would flout the law to carry a handgun for protection?
Click to expand...
I don't quite understand the question, Confederate. What do you mean by "flout the law" when it comes to carrying a handgun for protection in the woods?
I don't believe in Bigfoot, but I always carry a handgun for protection when I'm in the woods (unless I'm actually hunting while carrying a rifle) and I'm not flouting the law in any way. It's been years since I've hiked in a national park, but it seems like I remember hearing that even in national parks carrying a handgun for protection is legal nowadays.
At any rate, unless I'm actually hunting, I carry a heavily loaded .41 Magnum for protection from anything up to, and including bears. But the fact is, when we go to the woods, especially when we were into backpacking, I always felt more at risk at the trailheads than when we were 8 or 10 miles into the backcountry. There's a lot of 2-legged, riff-raff that hangs out at trailheads. We even bought an old, beat-up Toyota pickup truck just for backpacking, because we felt that leaving a nice looking vehicle at a trailhead for a week while we were in the backcountry was just inviting trouble. I guess I'm getting a little off-topic though.
 
.308 Norma said:
I don't quite understand the question, Confederate. What do you mean by "flout the law" when it comes to carrying a handgun for protection in the woods?
I don't believe in Bigfoot, but I always carry a handgun for protection when I'm in the woods (unless I'm actually hunting while carrying a rifle) and I'm not flouting the law in any way. It's been years since I've hiked in a national park, but it seems like I remember hearing that even in national parks carrying a handgun for protection is legal nowadays.
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Same here. Though it depends on what state the park is in. When we visited Yellowstone (with its grizzlies) we always had both our sleigh bells, and my GP100, loaded to "Ruger-only" loads.
 
Confederate said:
How about David Paulides? Anyone ever listen to him? If you've ever seen one of the PREDATOR MOVIES, there's an entity that can only be seen by its imperfect cloaking field. Paulides and some of the people who listen to him believe there's something happening to people in the national parks. It's not a common occurrence, but it happens enough that it's gotten his attention. As a former cop, he's intrigued by what he's learned by a number of cases and what they have in common. He says people have gone missing who have had guns. Hunters, hikers. But none with global tracking systems. Some of those who have gone missing are there one minute and gone the next. His advice is that if you're part of a group, never be the first one or the last one in line. Listen to some of his interviews on YouTube. (In several cases the person is gone and their rifles found literally broken in two. What kind of power would that take?) There are numerous reports of Predator-like effects of things moving about. Several hunters have reported seeing these effects. And people who feel like something's watching them. As a former Boy Scout, I know how people can let their imaginations get ahold of them.

The lack of Bigfoot bodies is a major factor, of course. But the legends that go back for generations, not only of Amer-Indians, but later settlers, explorers and now guys taking selfies.
Click to expand...

I’ve never heard of him, but my personal opinion is most of those types of people are just trying to make a buck, and a few are full on looneys that actually believe that stuff.

National parks have long been the perfect place for bad people to do bad things. People are often out there alone and in places remote enough that nobody will ever hear you scream. There’s literally millions of acres to hide a body. And due to the nature of backpacking, it isn’t often known a victim is missing until days or even weeks after a crime.
 
Concealed carry in National parks is an intricate proposition depending on the park and your location within the park.
I have three National Parks and one National Monument all between 50-80 miles from my front door. In season the more popular parks swell in population to the size of a medium size city with the commiserate criminal activity however violent crime is extraordinarily rare.
I simply don't worry about it when camping in the National Parks, nor am I concerned with bears as here they are black bears and not prone to charging unless one is stupid enough to get between a sow and her cubs.

Back when I was packing it was open carry unless I was in a campground, then the .44 went in the saddlebags, unloaded.
The law was changed and now there is no open carry unless here unless it is hunting season.
 
FWIW I've worked on a few criminal investigations in a National Park (Yosemite) and homicides are extraordinarily few and far between, and FWIW when one does occure, the FBI shows up with a very impressive mobile crime lab. I wouldn't know what the frequency of homicides are in National Parks in other parts of the US
 
Yellowstone has a 50 square mile area known as the "Zone of Death." Just google it and read. Very interesting. You read, you decide. I have no views on the subject. But it is very interesting.

Also, remember if traveling to Yellowstone it crosses into three states and you must have a permit for that part of the park that is in Montana/Wyoming or the small area of Idaho. Idaho accepts all permits, MT and WY do NOT.

Have a friend who is a NPS LE Ranger and he just left Yellowstone to head to Arches. On average, he would come across someone in the wrong part of the park with a permit not recognized. If they were polite he would just warn them and tell them to lock it up till they get back to the friendly state. Usually, they were pulled over for traffic infractions. So, be careful. GSMNP is another one that is in two states. Maybe others too.
 
Kimber Pro Carry, 255 RCBS KT over an almost max load of Unique and I do it because I can. I don't delude myself that it is bear material but we ain't got no bears, just poachers and a few meth heads. I did shoot a yote a couple years back. He rolled, popped up and fell back down. Took him a second or two to figure out be was dead. Lucky shot.
 
I carry when walking the dog, hiking, or just in general. Mainly for the two legged predators, but around here the only animals I worry about are packs of coyotes or javelinas when dog walking, and mountain lions. The latter are big enough to take down deer and humans, but a 9mm or larger should take care of them.
 
I always carry and most of the time it is a 44 special. Mostly for rapid coons. My bird dogs have found 3 this year and when the coon stands still during daylight with a dog barking at them they receive a 44. Doing hunting season I usually take a couple of deer when out for my daily walk. A friend trapped a 65# coyote in my area and that is a big coyote. But what I really do not like is the suspected meth house a mile down the road.
 
I carry an M1911 for self-defense. But not in the woods -- because the M1911 throws your brass away.

In the woods, I usually carry a Colt Woodsman. During big game season (deer and bear) I carry a Colt New Service in .45 Colt.
 
Once had a Mexican standoff with a poacher right after twilight when I was a young teen. I always pack a sidearm in the woods wether hunting or not. Totally legal in KY. Be careful if you are in the middle of nowhere and start seeing surgical masks and empty bottles (meth cookers), been there also. Oh yeah, Bigfoot is real, just rare LOL.
 
Confederate said:
The hole is big enough with a .44 Spc. I just worry that the bullet might be too slow.
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Specials should be good enough for all but the big bears. If I'm hunting with my long barreled revolver I'm using full throttle magnums loaded with hardcast swc. If I'm carrying my short barreled trail gun it's loaded with what would be considered a hot special with hardcast swc. I've taken several deer and hogs with that trail load. All one shot kills.
 
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