Shoobee said:
If you are out hiking and camping, then there are probably other people out hiking and camping too. Therefore "plinking" would then be inappropriate, as well as unsafe, so save your plinking for the plinking section of the local gun range.
And if you are out hiking and camping, a .22 is going to do you very little good, so there is no reason even to bring one along.
A .44 or a .45 are the only two calibers that would effectively give you any security while hiking or camping, if security is what you are really worried about. I vote for the .44 in that case, which is exactly what I have too, for camping, or hiking where it is permitted to carry that amount of heat.
Shoobee, you have my sympathies. I used to live in California and love the state, but the government engenders a completely different sentiment.
I used to live in Arizona and now live in Alaska. A 22 is quite useful. One can (if you are into foraging) put some meat in your pot with one. Alaska is one of the few places where you can actually legally hunt the State Bird.
The mere presence of a firearm on the hip of the good guy is quite often enough of a deterrent to your average (opportunistic) miscreant. Now, someone guarding a pot farm is another situation, but I used to have a S&W K-22 that was indistinguishable from a Model 19, 15 or 10 while still in the holster.
Now, in my State, casual plinking spots, indeed, are getting harder to find and to get to. Fact of life and of growing populations. So, the thought of plinking while on a hike is out of the question for me, but that is just a personal preference. I would no more carry a brick of 22 rimfire on a hike than I would carry an ordinary brick. The OP may have a different situation.
Don't get me wrong, Shoobee. I (and I am sure, the entire forum) appreciate your perspective. I just want to say that it is not the only one. There are almost no absolutes. (Note that even my absolute statements allow for variance.)
To the O.P.: Do your state laws allow or discourage plinking in the wild? Will you police your brass and pack it back out? Also part of my perspective.
Lost Sheep