My favored woods-walkin’ sixgun is not much different from my favored streets-walkin’ sixgun: Ruger GP100, .357 Magnum. Stainless steel is desirable, this close to the coast.buffalo Bayou is tidal, as far inland as Houston’s Downtown. We live in a small city, which is surrounded by the sprawl of SW Houston. 125-grain JHP has long been known as good street ammo. A heavier, well-bonded JHP, or hard-cast bullet, may be indicated, as one gets farther out of town, especially at night, when hogs are out and about.
To be clear, here, in town, I do not always tote a GP100. I do tend to tote revolvers, more than anything else, but I may tote somewhat smaller ones, when I do not feel a need to carry the most-powerful Magnum loads. My street guns may be SP101 or Speed Six Rugers, or S&W K-Frames.
My avatar photo, to the left, shows me holding my first GP100. I still have it, and have added several more. I snapped that image, to show how I hold, high on the grip, for a discussion of how to shoot heavy-recoiling revolvers, on another forum. The location was heavily-vegetated, so I would not alarm anyone; therefore, the “busy” background. (I do not use any web-hosting service, so cannot post images on THR, in the discussion section.)
I used to tote N-Frames, especially .41 Magnum, but I finally admitted to myself that my hands are not built for shooting N-Frames in DA mode. My long palms may love the feel of an N-Frame grip, but, my index finger cannot really quite reach the trigger face, well enough to me optimal, I shoot a Ruger GP100 or Speed SIx, or S&W K- or L-Frame, so much better, because they fit better. I can, of course, cock an N-Frame, which bring the trigger well within reach, but if I plan to intentionally cock a revolver, as a matter of course, it would make more sense to tote a single-action revolver.
I actually really do like SA sixguns, but none of mine are stainless steel, which is a best material, for sixguns carried in our local climate, where rain happens so often, and condensation forming inside and outside the weapon is a potentially daily occurrence, especially when moves from air-conditioned building or vehicles, to the outdoors, or when one is perspiring, while wearing a rain jacket, creating a steamy environment. (Many folks forget about the condensation that forms inside the weapon.)
I’ll give honorable mention to my Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan, which has been equipped with a GP100 grip, as the grip stud is the same, for both weapons. It can chamber .45 Colt, and .454 Casull, though my days of voluntarily firing big-bore Magnums ended some time ago. This may be a “snubby,” and its grip may conceal well, but the upper part of the frame is large, so one has to really want to carry the size and mass. A longer-barreled weapon actually “rides” more comfortably, on one’s belt, at the hip. I’ll save the SRH Alaskan for the occasional trip to places where the really big bears walk, and probably mostly use a chest rig, or a front cross-draw rig.
Geographically, this is Coastal Prairie, but in the very-well-watered part, in SE Texas, not far from such places as the Piney Woods, and the Big Thicket. The riverine parts will have very thick vegetation. The bears, which are gradually returning, from SE Louisiana, after decades of absence, are small, and very, very shy, so do not affect the choice of one’s woods-walkin’ guns. My wife’s family’s rural land is bottomland along the Caney Creek, in Montgomery County, a county which has been reached by the sprawl of Houston, Texas, so, the threats are not really different than the mean streets of Houston; feral dogs, the occasional feral hogs, and of course, feral humans.
Notably, Houston, being mostly in Harris County, is just one county west of a notorious incident in which feral hogs killed and partially consumed a woman, Christine Rollins, not long ago. (She was a home health care nurse, killed in the driveway of her elderly clients’ home.) Some folks believe that a loose, large dog may have actually killed her, but the autopsy indicated hog feeding activity. Large dog, or large hog, they kill with their mouths, so, similar threat.
https://abc13.com/christine-rollins...d-dead-animal-attack-death-wild-hogs/5716849/
At my mother’s place, in eastern Harris County, close to Houston, a feral hog, being pursued by dogs, smashed through a wall of her detached garage. So, hard-cast 180-grain ammo is indicated, when one is in the more-rural parts of Harris County, and surrounding counties.