Rethinking sidearm carry while hunting

Just personal taste, but when I have a .30-06 IN MY HANDS, I don't feel the need for a sidearm on my hip.

Glock 20 Long Slide in a gunfighters inc kenai holster. Fits under my badlands bino pouch and hunting pack perfectly!

Are you suggesting that you saw a wolf? In NY?

You want a camera not a sidearm, otherwise Fish & Game will never believe you.The population of Adirondack grey wolves is so small as to be officially unrecognized. Northeastern coydogs on the other hand are plentiful and can be big enough to be mistaken for wolves.

I never bothered with a handgun when deer hunting with a rifle. Carried a Redhawk when quail hunting, in case of an attack by a rabid Bambi.

If you have a rifle in hand and want to transition to a handgun, it seems to me that the word "awkward" applies. Along with "slow".

I have always carried a side arm when afield. Where I used to hunt in Alabama we had lots of things from bobcats to moccasins to worry about. I usually carry a 30-30 or a mini 30 so shots and pointing are fast but having two was smarter than one.

I don't generally carry a sidearm when I'm hunting. I have wondered about it a time or two as the wolf population in my area has grown but I've still yet to see one in the wild. I think having a problem with wolves is still really unlikely but there is a pack aspect to them that could be problematic with only a bolt action hunting rifle in hand. Cougars and bears don't have the same multiple threat concern.

I believe that if I am attacked in the mountains, there is a 99.9 percent probability it will be a predatory human, not a predatory animal.

If I'm rifle hunting I don't carry a sidearm I do carry an extra mag full of ammo though. If I'm bow hunting or just scouting out in the woods my 1911 10mm gets the nod for a backup/defense.

I usually carry a handgun while hunting, usually just because I have it. It’s handy for a coup de grace once in awhile. I usually choose something small and easy to carry and don’t see it as a primary defense weapon so much as a backup tool that I mostly ignore. I don’t make an effort to keep it very accessible. If I forget it I don’t fret.

In any situation where I need a quick shot, or any defensive situation I’m going to just use the rifle in my hands, which will likely be a real bad deal for anything that attacks me. I also am not worried about this being an animal. We don’t have griz in AZ, which is about the only animal I’d worry about.

If I do have to shoot something dangerous, I definitely want it to be with a rifle cartridge instead of a pistol cartridge.

The one exception is when I go hunt down by the border where illegal immigrant activity is high. Then I carry a full size 45acp and I keep it accessible. And I mostly regard it as a pain in the neck.

I only carry a handgun afield when it is my primary hunting arm. Otherwise I have every confidence in the rifle I'm carrying to drop critters dead.

Just personal taste, but when I have a .30-06 IN MY HANDS, I don't feel the need for a sidearm on my hip.

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The problem is that the 30-06 isn't always in your hands, a pistol can always be on your hip.

There are 2 viable reasons to carry a handgun while hunting. While not common, bear and other predators will attack hunters while they are cleaning big game. Your rifle is not in your hands and you aren't aware of your surroundings with both hands inside a deer's chest cavity. A guide and hunter were attacked in Idaho this fall. The guide had taken his handgun off and left it with his pack while cleaning an elk. When he was attacked the hunter didn't know how to operate the handgun. The guide died and the hunter survived with injuries.

Many places where I hunt mean parking in remote spots miles from pavement. Returning to the truck at dark with an unloaded bolt action, (the law says it can't be loaded within 50 yards of a road) leaves me in a vulnerable position to be robbed by persons waiting at the truck for my return. Having my G19 with 16 rounds of ammo evens the odds and at least gives me a chance.

For those 2 reasons I usually have either a G29 loaded with 16 rounds of 200 gr hardcast ammo if in bear country, or a G19 loaded with 16 rounds of 124 gr +P ammo when not in bear country. Both are small and light enough that I never notice them.

sbwaters said:

I wasn’t sure until I started comparing characteristics. Big paw prints moving in a straight line, very large: 70+ pounds, very bushy tail, distinct face and ears, coloring, very German shepherd-like. It was within the territory map, too. There are a couple of good websites for making comparisons.

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That sure sounds like a wolf. Don't tell NY Fish & Game. For whatever reason, they seem to be avoiding reintroduction or acknowledging an existing population, in which case, they would be listed.

I always carry one for the slim chance a coyote gets froggy. More so for humans who have bad intentions. In Missouri or wherever that guy from PA killed all those hunters that had rifles. I’ve accidentally walked in on guys who called me everything but my name. I wear a full size 9mm in a serpa and one extra 17rd mag. Check state law on putting down animal with a sidearm cause Ohio it’s illegal and a lot of states illegal to even have it!

I carry my sidearm while hunting, but only because I carry all the time anyway. Not many worries about large predators here, but nice to have if I meet up with a feral dog or worse, one of feral humans this state seems infested with.
And I'm very interested in hearing about wolves here in NYS. I live near Buffalo, and all I've seen is the occasional coyote out where I hunt. Tracks and scar mostly, but I've heard singing from time to time while I've been out.

I always carry a pistol while hunting. I don't know that I would put the rifle down and pull the pistol if I needed to shoot something, but the rifle isn't always in my hands and I am more likely to run into a 2 legged problem than a 4 legged one in the areas I hunt.

This idea got reinforced pretty strongly once when I was hunting muzzle loader season on some state land. The area also had mountain bike trails, and when I left the truck I was the only one parked there, but when I came back at the end of the day there was 2 cars parked next to me. A group of guys on mountain bikes came off a trail from the other side of the road from where I had been hunting and headed for the 2 cars. They appeared to be packing up to leave and everybody seemed calm. I nodded at them and proceeded to slide my rifle into a case behind the truck seat, and when I turned around to get my pack one of them was heading right at me and stopped basically chest to chest and demanded to know what the hell I thought I was doing hunting these woods.
I calmly pulled a park map out of my coat pocket with my left hand and stuck it in his face and told him to read the legend and tell my what the blue shaded areas were listed as. He was kind of dumbfounded and stammered something about growing up there and having no idea that hunting was legal. I told him it was public land and he should realize he's not the only one using it. He said something about that being "very interesting" and backpedaled to his car and left.
I never felt any cause to draw my gun and had no desire to make a fight of it, I think he was a harmless loudmouth. It did really hit home for me though that this guy deliberately waited until my back was turned and the rifle was in the case to come over and be combative. Had it turned into real trouble I was outnumber 4 to 1. I was glad to have a gun handy they didn't know about, and made a note not to be so quick to turn my back on strangers.

Between that a couple tweakers I ran into trail riding with my horse, I don't go out without a handgun.

Usually carry a sidearm when hunting. Mostly with ratshot, for venomous snakes.

I carry two sidearms while hunting. One on the hip (or drop holster, depends on level of clothes) for the opportunity shot or coupe de gras on deer, and one CCW for two legged varmints.

That drop holster will get in the way, and make noise in the stand (and probably everywhere else). We stopped using those years ago in the special ops community, although they are great for flat range work (where combat never occurs). I carry a Glock 23 (40) in a serpa kydex when I am hog hunting- after I drop one, I leave my rifle in the blind, and the pistol is in my hand when I 'dead check" the piggy. It is also handy and accessible when I need to track one that ran on me into the swamp- especially considering that I will likely be searching for said piggy with a flashlight in my left hand. When I hunted for black bear, similar setup but it was a Glock 21 (45).

Mine is a soft one, and yes I'll agree, not my first choice.But it is handy with the parka-style deer hunting outfits needed up here some years.

I carry pistols lots of times I don’t need them, being armed with a rifle is no exception.