My theory on woods carry

[kmrcstintn]

Just stumbled across this in the archives

Just stumbled into this thread in the archives and brought to mind that I am in the process of working up a gun/load combo for hiking/scouting in the woods of southcentral Pennsylvania. We don't have any mountin loins and our black bears are not as big and more sheepish. It's interesting what recommendations come about when discussing this with more experienced sportmen. Seems they were prepared more to deal with snakes and "two legged varmints."

The most common one is a steel frame DA/SA .38 snubby loaded with: 1st & 2nd shots being snakeshot and the next 3 being 158 grain lead .38's. (I only had a S&W Ariweight DAO at the time) I now own a bobbed hammer DAO Ruger SP101. (steel frame .357 snubby) I am contemplating altering the loading by adding a 158grain soft point .357 mag in place of the 3rd leadhead .38.

Revolvers are recommended over semi's since hunting regulations dictate that manually operated handguns be used during hunting seasons and different LEO's may interpret the statures differently, so use a revolver all the time & anytime and eliminate one problem if self defense against a 4 legged critter becomes necessary.

 

[Any Cal.]

carry the long barrel .44 crossdraw. Seems to give more length of draw, so barrel length less of an issue. Quite fast w/ a bit of practice. I did not use a crossdraw holster though, so it would pivot out of the way when needed.
Nothing you couldn't do with a .22 and .44 Vaq. The only thing I would carry a semi for is a pack of wild dogs. Although, hear this.
For a while, I was shooting a Redhawk and a SBH against my buddy with a 15 rd BDM. We both shoot about as well, and we were pretty evenly matched with those guns. 12 rds light .44 vs 15 rds 9mm. Don't know much about the behavior of wild dogs, it might swing a decision one way or the other. When I am hunting spruce chicken, I carry a single shot .22 and a .44 Redhawk. Sorry for the incoherence, but I know what I'm trying to say!!!

P.S. A .22 Single six and a .44 5.5" Vaq probably weigh the same or less than your .22 rifle.

 

[f4t9r]

I think you are on the right track.
Carry what you are the best with.
And have the most confidence in.

Sam

agree , as long as you are confident in your weapon you are good to go !!

 

[Majic]

Just carry the .44 magnum with a light to medium load with some heavier loads in your pocket. It will stop a human, drop a feral dog, a head or chest shot stops a rabbit, and learn to bark the squirrels (shoot the tree just under the squirrel and the splinters explode into the squirrel).
Which .44 mag you carry is up to you. Tall people with long arms can easily draw revolvers with 7+ inches of barrel (one of the reasons James Arness could easily use the long barrel). Generally in the woods a lightning fast draw isn't needed.

 

[Camp Cook]

Well guys I spend alot of time working in extremely remote wilderness areas in British Columbia, Canada. I am licensed to carry handguns for protection of my life and the lives of others (this is a very rare permit here in anti-gun Canada).

For winter carry when the bears are sleeping I usually carry a 10mm G20 with 200gr XTP's at 1250fps.

I also carry a 5.5" Bisley Vaquero in 45 Colt and load them with 330gr Jae-Bok Young WFNGC's @ 1300fps or 300gr XTP's @ 1280fps.

Due to the number of black bears (over 200,000) and grizzlies (over 20,000) here in BC the amount of encounters that I have had made me decide to start carrying a 7.5" Ruger SRH in 454 Casull with 360gr WLNGC's @ 1520fps or 395gr WLNGC's @ 1420fps.

I found that after I had been carrying the double action SRH that I didn't really feel comfortable with carrying a single action B/Vaquero (to hard to reload quickly) anymore but the 10mm's weren't enough power and the SRH was to big for some of the areas that I go to (I didn't need that much power).

I purchased a 6" S&W 629 44mag and load it with 240gr XTP's @ 1450fps.

I also carry speed loaders for the d/action revolvers.

Another thought is that I will not carry anything these powerful than the 10mm's for bush/protection carry.

 

[Navy joe]

For me, the eastern woods are too crowded and a wheel gun doesn't cut it based on weight/capacity. I'm hearing the "I Love this Bar" song. We got hikers, we got stalkers, meth labs, pot patches(stumbled upon one), poachers, idiots, feral dogs, coyotes, now one county where I plan to spend a lot of time on foot has released sterile wolf hybrids to control the 'yotes. So, I want light, effective, and high capacity. That for me is a G17, hey, that's what I carry anyway! Two spare mags in the daypack. I am thinking about a wilderness safepacker when I get back, just to keep things unobtrusive. I know it is a wheelgun forum, so two that make it with me are the 325 and 642, lightweight for what they do and pretty effective. Something like my boat anchor .44 Vaquero is not getting carried all day.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I can ride or hike all day long in my part of the Ozarks and not see a living soul. I often carry a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt. I have two -- a 7 1/2" barrel and a 5 1/2" barrel, and prefer the latter. But I also have a Colt New Service with a 7 1/2" barrel, and this is my favorite. When I carry a .45 Colt, that's what I usually carry.

Having said that, I also often carry a Colt SAA, 5 1/2" barrel in .357 mag or a Colt Officer's Model Target in .22 LR.