The Woodsman:
I too spend a lot of time in the back-country in MI. being a flyfishing nut. After running into a pack of wild dogs several years ago that were feeding on a doe, I decided at that point that I would never venture off the beaten path with out a firearm. I got a CCW before the law was changed (had to go before the review board) and started out carrying a glock 23. For the record a 40. will put down a pit bull no problem (I was attacked in the wild a couple of years later). I have since used a .40 and .45 (my new carry caliber of choice) to put a coup de grace on one large doe on a hunting trip and to kill another one at about twenty yards that had been wounded in a swamp.
The North-woods have several different kinds of predators, Coyote and bobcat (I would only worry about the rabid variety), Cougar, Black Bear, packs of Dogs and the two legged variety. all of them present different levels of threat. I'm not really worried about Black Bear but I see at least two a year while fishing and stumbling upon one at midnight while fishing the Hex in a cedar swamp is never a pleasant experience. So no, I'm not paranoid, but I do carry. As far as the original question, the Glock would be a great choice ( I carry a 1911 now), they're reliable, durable, and they hit what their pointed at. A .45, 10mm or 40. would be fine for anything that you would encounter. A 200 lb. black bear is a real big black bear.
I too spend a lot of time in the back-country in MI. being a flyfishing nut. After running into a pack of wild dogs several years ago that were feeding on a doe, I decided at that point that I would never venture off the beaten path with out a firearm. I got a CCW before the law was changed (had to go before the review board) and started out carrying a glock 23. For the record a 40. will put down a pit bull no problem (I was attacked in the wild a couple of years later). I have since used a .40 and .45 (my new carry caliber of choice) to put a coup de grace on one large doe on a hunting trip and to kill another one at about twenty yards that had been wounded in a swamp.
The North-woods have several different kinds of predators, Coyote and bobcat (I would only worry about the rabid variety), Cougar, Black Bear, packs of Dogs and the two legged variety. all of them present different levels of threat. I'm not really worried about Black Bear but I see at least two a year while fishing and stumbling upon one at midnight while fishing the Hex in a cedar swamp is never a pleasant experience. So no, I'm not paranoid, but I do carry. As far as the original question, the Glock would be a great choice ( I carry a 1911 now), they're reliable, durable, and they hit what their pointed at. A .45, 10mm or 40. would be fine for anything that you would encounter. A 200 lb. black bear is a real big black bear.