Side Arms While In The Field

[HOGHUNTER714]

The Savage Rabbit,

I agree with SDHNTR. I think to many guys carry way to many guns in the field. The only gun you will need is the rifle in your hand. I use to tote the 44 mag in the holster along with my rifle and just decided it was a waste. The only reason you really need a pistol for hunting hogs if your gonna use it as a primary hunting weapon, finishing shot (which you can use your rifle just as well) or your planning on crawling in a pig tunnel after a hog. I perfer not to carry something long and heavy on my hip or in a shoulder rig. If I am helping someone go recover a hog that is wounded than I will pack my Glock 27 (compact) in 40 cal. Its VERY small and light and if bullet placement is right will drop a hog in its tracks. 10mm, 40 cal & 45 acp work real well on hogs. Its all about bullet placement. The Glock 27 packs real nice and you dont even know you have it on. Thats what I carry off duty and I love it. Just my

 

[Two Rugers]

SAA 45 Colt or a Ruger SecSix .357.

I've ben seeing wayyyy too many kitty tracks around my usual spots lately. They tend to sneak up on you.

 

[Arrowslinger]

This discussion puzzles me, why pack/carry an extra gun? I saw a picture the other day of a guy approaching a downed deer w/ his pistol drawn and rifle around his shoulder......there's no need to have two weapons to do the same action.....shoot & kill!
For many i think, it's a safety item for the 'what if's'...what if a lion charges or a pig comes busting out of the brush......but who's going to drop the weapon in their hand and pull a pistol? I sure wouldn't.

It's one more item to carry, clean, and worry about....sure many people carry two knives or two flashlights, but those are light weight items that take up little room and are life saving.....and yes, a small glock is light weight and easy to carry, but throw in a dozen rounds and you're carrying more than i would care to.

I prefer to carry a couple extra bullets in my front pockets for the finishing shot/shots and a large folding knife in my front right pocket......if the 7mm or knife can't kill what ever is in front of me, then that will be my time to go..........

 

[easymoney]

Personally I don't carry a second firearm when rifle hunting and I have been chastised for admiting carrying one during archery(in states other than Kalifornia)but as I am not afraid of many wild animals(other than lions) out in nature, but since I am worried most most dangerous "the two legged" kind I always carry a pistol when I leave the truck. Backpacking, fishing, hiking, it does not matter where the tweekers are, I just want to be prepared...

 

[Speckmisser]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

This discussion puzzles me, why pack/carry an extra gun?[/b]

I don't carry one out of any sense of necessity or need. I hunted without a handgun for most of my life, and did just fine without it.

I carry one because I like it. I don't mind the extra weight or bulk. I have had more than one occasion where I chose to sling the rifle (or leave it on the hillside) and carry the pistol into some thick place. I didn't have to do that, probably, although the pistol is a lot handier when crawling in a tunnel than the scoped rifle.

I like using the pistol for the coup d'grace, even though the rifle worked just fine for that purpose for years before that. For reasons I've explained before, I don't use the knife for that any more.

In the one instance that an animal has jumped up on my approach, the capability for quick target acquisition with the pistol allowed me to drop the deer in one or two steps, even though further investigation showed that he wouldn't have run far even if I didn't shoot him again. Odds are, if I'd had the rifle in my hands instead of the pistol, I probably still could have knocked him back down. But I like using the pistol whenever I can.

I have, on at least one occasion, had the rifle jam and was able to switch weapons and, although I still missed, continue the attempt. If I were more skilled with the pistol, or if I'd taken my time, I would have killed the animal.

I carry the handgun because, as has happened, I've found the opportunity to take that 20 yard shot and would rather do that with the pistol than the rifle. I could've done just as well with the rifle. No good reason not to. I just like using the pistol whenever I can.

I'll admit it as well... I have missed shots because I was choosing which gun to use. Oh well. It doesn't mean starvation. It only means the hunt lasts a little longer.

My reason for carrying the handgun has nothing to do with any fear of being charged by wild beasts (four-legged, two-legged, or winged). I don't hunt in Grizzly country, and don't consider myself likely prey for lions. I also think that, in most cases, if a bear or lion decides to take me, I'm not gonna know it until it's too late to shoot anyway.

I believe my odds of a violent encounter with two-legged predators are a lot higher in the streets of Oakland where I work, or even in the neighborhoods near my home. It is not legal for me to carry there, and I do not find it to be worth the measured risk to break that law. If it were legal, I would probably carry every day, and make sure that my loved ones do the same. But that's a different question for a different forum.

Bottom line... there's nothing wrong with carrying a sidearm in addition to the long gun. If you don't see the benefit or rationale, don't do it. And any reason is good enough... whether someone really is afraid they'll get attacked, or if they just like looking like Rambo. As long as you doing it safely, legally, and ethically, why not?

 

[Arrowslinger]

"there's nothing wrong with carrying a sidearm in addition to the long gun. If you don't see the benefit or rationale, don't do it. And any reason is good enough... whether someone really is afraid they'll get attacked, or if they just like looking like Rambo. As long as you doing it safely, legally, and ethically, why not?"

Good points, well, except the part about looking like Rambo...that my friend, is just plain wrong!

 

[The Savage Rabbit]

I think eveyrone has made a lot of good points. I guess this thread turned toward "to carry or not to carry" as opposed to "what to carry." On the subject of "to carry or not to carry" the fact is that I don't have a rifle with me while field dressing and that is the time when I am distracted and covered in blood next to a large gut pile and around excited and angry hogs in bear and couger country.

I do, on occassion, crawl around the hog tunnels looking for pigs and I have seen a few wounded pigs come running over a hill within yards of me. The comments about shot placement are well taken but that logic applies to rifles too and its been a long time since anyone has advocated the use of a .243 Win. when hunting pigs on the theory that perfect shot placement will make up for the deficiency in penetration. Even a well placed shot to the shoulder with a .45 ACP at close range is less than likely to carry the day as Nrifenbark's son and my cousin proved when he shot a downed pig in the shoulder (No, I don't know why he shot it in the shoulder) and it did not penetrate the skin, fat, and cartalidge.

I choose to carry a large caliber pistol for these reasons (1) I don't always have my rifle within reach and have never felt sorry for the guys on the Discovery Channel who were mauled/killed in bear or couger country because they did not have a weapon handy, (2) I can't comfortably take my rifle (even the M1A Scout) into the thickest of cover, (3) Perfect shot placement is the goal but not the gaurantee (especially under conditions in which I am actually reaching for a pistol), and (4) I'm tired of picking pieces of skull and grey matter out of my hair and clothes and wiping that pink mist off of my face from a finishing shot from a .308. If all of those reasons fail, months after the hunt I can still open my safe, look at that 629, and remember with satisfaction that it was with me when I shot that pig, saw that deer, heard that joke, or tripped in the mud.

 

[boarbuster]

i have a ruger blackhawk in 44 mag with the 5.5 barrel. i carry it when running dogs. hunting unfamiliar territory. or when i know i am gonna be crawling through head high manzanita on my hads and knees. its not to eays to swing a rifle in those tunnels.

 

[beastslayer]

My reason for carrying a side-arm?

I look good with them.

Good enough?

 

[ozstriker22]

Let's not forget... I've heard of two stories where people were "easing nature" and a hog, or deer, has poked it's head up from a thick bedding area only 20 or 30 feet away... in both instances the rifle was either a few feet away up against tree or in the truck. If the hunter had been carrying a sidearm, he'd have had a chance.

Jesse

 

[beastslayer]

Read the article in Reader's Digest about the girl whose face was rearranged by a hungry mountain lion. Or the LA Times report about a boy who got lost in Fine Plats campground in Big Bear Mountains (speculated by authorities to have been dragged by big cat). My family camped in that same campground the summer before.

These cats sneak up on you and in the case of the girl in Reader's Digest, did not let go even when the boyfriend hit the head of the mountain lion with a rock.

The two-legged kind? The stories are too numerous to be accommodated here.

 

[Common Sense]

When I go hunting, I often have a pistol under the seat or on my person while in transit. I seldom have a side arm while in the field, just don't see the need for it and nothing here has convienced me I should carry one if I already have a perfectly good rifle or shotgun with me. However, if Speck wants to carry a side arm, that's fine with me. I thought his post explained why he carries one in a rational, sensible way.

I once thought about getting a pistol to carry while quail hunting, but Speck made me re-think that a pocketful of slugs might be better for me in case of an "accidental" deer. Someone who likes and enjoys handguns shouldn't use slugs.

It is all personal preference, and either way is fine.

 

[BDB]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Speckmisser @ May 30 2006, 03:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE

This discussion puzzles me, why pack/carry an extra gun?[/b]

I have, on at least one occasion, had the rifle jam and was able to switch weapons and, although I still missed, continue the attempt. If I were more skilled with the pistol, or if I'd taken my time, I would have killed the animal. [/b][/quote]

And I still wish I could have witnessed that 2 weeks ago

 

[beastslayer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Arrowslinger @ May 30 2006, 05:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

"there's nothing wrong with carrying a sidearm in addition to the long gun. If you don't see the benefit or rationale, don't do it. And any reason is good enough... whether someone really is afraid they'll get attacked, or if they just like looking like Rambo. As long as you doing it safely, legally, and ethically, why not?"

Good points, well, except the part about looking like Rambo...that my friend, is just plain wrong![/b]

Fortunately, Arrowslinger, that's one of our cherished freedom. And, that's good in the box office too if you recall the movie.

 

[mefishme]

When huting with a rifle i leave the redhawk home, BUT when i bow hunt or hike in the back country i carry the 44 mag. heavier then the ruger 45 acp but hit harder. mfm

 

[jackrabbit]

I try to always carry a sidearm with me when hunting mammals or birds (even fishing), even if I am hunting with rifle or shotgun. But when I know the going is going to be very tough, and weight is extremely critical, I will leave it in the truck. I had an experience years ago in the SoCal high desert when a pack of wild dogs and coyotes came at my friend to try and get my beagle. My friend only had the legal three rounds of birdshot in the shotgun and the pack kept snarling and approaching steadily after he had already fired two rounds of #eight pellets at them. Luckily his third, and last, chambered round caught enough of the lead animals and they finally backed off -- this was at a final distance of about 15 yards. My S&W 1006 in 10mm stays on my hip now, with multiple 9 round clips on my tactical web belt, strapped on my left hip in the cross-draw position. That "what if" already happened, I don't want that "what if" to happen again. Since that long ago incident, I have had several occasions to pull out the sidearm when confronted by hungry black bears trailing me in the high country for my fish stringer, but never had to use it, and never had to pull it out when rifle or shotgun hunting either. But it is reassuring to have it handy. Besides, like said above -- I really look good with it!

 

[Rancho Loco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jackrabbit @ May 31 2006, 06:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Besides, like said above -- I really look good with it![/b]

Ahhh - that's because you have a 1006...

Quasimodo could look good wearing that fine hunk of firearm.

 

[beastslayer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rancho Loco @ May 31 2006, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jackrabbit @ May 31 2006, 06:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Besides, like said above -- I really look good with it![/b]

Ahhh - that's because you have a 1006...

Quasimodo could look good wearing that fine hunk of firearm.

[/b][/quote]

Even that grandma among the Minuteman in Arizona looks hot with that pistol in her hips.

 

[chap_dog48]

Been gone a while so I guess I will throw in a point or two. While rifle hunting I don't carry a handgun but my father-in-law does and it makes him feel more comfortable knowning he has it for the "Just in Case Senario." So I say go ahead like Spec said safely...... The only thing that I have changed to my hunting gear of a pack w/supplies/water and rifle is I attached a 3" push knife to the front of my pack. I think, I can get off close quater shots. I was in a situation in Texas were a pig was 10 yards away in the grass and moving and I dropped him fast with my scoped rifle. I put the push knife on my pack right in the front in the event that I meet a Mr. Mtlion. If he jumps your a** how will you get to your side arm when your arms are pinned down and if you do get a hold of it try shooting that sucker when it is on your back. That knife for me is more practical but still may not help, but if I get a hold of it, and it fits right in your hand perfectly as you clinch your fist, so with each punch on that kitty as we roll around on the ground is going to do some damage. Just just what I do and I have that when bow hunting as well. Best thing I can think of. wich I sould carry one of these

and do this to a kitty.

 

[spectr17]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Or the LA Times report about a boy who got lost in Pine Fllats campground in Big Bear Mountains (speculated by authorities to have been dragged by big cat).[/b]

They thought it was a cat until they found his bones. Trackers and DFG peeps said it didn't appear to be a cat attack. One of the trackers I know that was there the first day said they didn't pick up any cougar trails. It is cougar country there with the big boulders but last word was the DFG and coroner said it appeared to not have been a cougar attack. Some were speculating he fell off a boulder that him and his dad had visited the day before. Cougar kills are pretty easy to identify.