Favorite Woods Gun(s)??

For me, around the farm, it is always a .38 special. Usually out of a 2" drawn from the pocket, but occasionally a 4" barreled Smith carried in a flap holster. I have always selected against really severe muzzle blast. For years, my favorite load was a 200 grain super police duplicate load which I made. It had a fairly subtle report and worked really great, but the bullet's rainbow type trajectory resulted in several misses. Now I tend to just carry either my 158 grain swc reloads, or the factory Remington lswchp. Over the years we have had a lot of trouble with big coyote/dog hybrids attacking cattle and menacing people; these loads have proved adequate for me.
 
My Security-Six goes everywhere with me. This 357 has "done it all" in our 45 year relationship. Not only does it go to the woods with me it has brought home the meat too. I competed at AAA in Hunter's Pistol Silhouette with it and I have run a rack of steel plates occasionally. I've carried it as my primary CCW gun for all 45 of those years. There aren't many big bears where I have lived but some of the black bears go to 500 pounds. I have never felt under gunned and it has had a steady diet of 19.1 grains of H110 behind a 140 grain HP the whole time. We can still keep 5 shots inside a 1 inch circle at 25 yards.

Note: this load is near the original max pressure and should not be used in lesser guns.
 
Currently, when riding out from the house here in KY, I like this SS .44 Special. I don't bother with snake loads anymore, at least the ones I make up as they were less than effective beyond 6-8 feet.

For the Special, I load my own cast version of Keith's 429421 at 260 grains, a LSWC, with Skelton's famous load: 7.5 gr of Unique. It's a 950+ fps load and will do all that I need here locally. (Work up to this load, if interested, after consulting a good Manual.)

BTW, the mule rides sound great, do you have them trained to jump fences, like some I've seen? As I recall, you dismount, hold the reins, and you mule vaults the fence! Best Regards, Rod

 
If I'm not carrying a centerfire rifle then it will likely be a snub nose Security Six. If the weather is anything but cold, then the first cylinder of that will be loaded with a CCI snake load.

If I'm hunting deer, then I frequently carry a S&W 617 10-shot. I've actually had coons try to climb my treestand tree twice.
 
For the last year or so my woods wandering gun has been my SS 4" Security-six.

That may change as I recently picked up a lighter, more compact CA 3" Bulldog classic .44spl.

Both the .357mag and .44spl are more than adequate for anything here in Florida, or anywhere in the Southern half of the lower 48 IMO.
 
bond arms derringer, 9mm, 3" barrel with 2 speedstrips. i know, a b.a. is only 2 shots, but it doesnt print, and it is accurate, indestructible and reliable. two well placed 9mm shots should fend off a feral dog, rabid racoon or smart mouth punk that i may encounter.


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My favorite is a S&W 60-15 3" J frame .38/.357. Compact and light but good accuracy and performance. It's not bear medicine but it will handle anything I'm likely to see and does a number on snakes with shot loads.
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I recently purchased one of these for the same reasons. Haven't had a chance to carry it much yet,but from range use I like it a great deal.
 
Shooting a smart-mouth punk for being a smart-mouth is a good way to learn the joys and pleasures of the Gray Bar Hotel. At a minimum it's called "Voluntary Manslaughter" in the Texas penal code and calls for a sentence of 10 to 20 years.
 
changes

I rate my woods walkers into two categories, light and heavy.

My two light woods handguns are a Ruger 4" MkII, and a Single 6 with the .22 WMR cylinder installed. I started with the MkII, but carry the .22 Mag often for sentimental reasons.

The two heavies are a Ruger Blackhawk 4" .357, loaded midrange with 158 LSWC, and a Glock 20, also mid ranged with 180 SWC. The Glock goes often these days, as it's flatter and more compact. I also like the fact I can snap a lanyard onto it, and it'll be there despite any calamity.
 
I generally continue to carry what I always carry, a Glock 23. My rationale is that just because I'm in the woods doesn't mean I won't need muscle memory anymore. I'm far more worried about people than animals.

However, I do keep in practice enough with my Security Six to feel comfortable enough with it for those days when the revolver mood comes over me which happens from time to time.
 
My fave is the 4 5/8" BH .44 Spl.

That may change when Ruger brings out a 4" GP44.........

In all honesty though, the G23 sees just as much woods time and is probably the PPP for this area.
 
I'm finding more and more my G29 ends up being my "go-to" gun for hiking and more "urban" endeavors.

Urban around here is a relative term. Just dispatched a wrecker for a car-deer accident at Dollar General.
 
Smith and wesson model 19 357 magnum. 4 inch loaded with 158 grain sjhp. Generally in a desantis owb thumb break holster.
 
* * * If I'm hunting deer, then I frequently carry a S&W 617 10-shot. I've actually had coons try to climb my treestand tree twice.
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:eek: Good gawd, man, that's what a magnum revolver is for. ;)
 
Good gawd, man, that's what a magnum revolver is for.
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Both times, they tried to crawl up without knowing I was there. As soon as I leaned over and said something, they skedattled. Still, if I had been carrying a little revolver back then I would have popped them. They have a nasty habit of stealing all the corn out of the deer feeders and peeing all around it. Nasty buggers.
 
Usually it's my Commander in .45acp, shoots great and rides so flat, but other times it's my old Vaquero 4.75" or when fishing it"s my Rossi model 720 in 44spl. Many years ago I carried a Armi San Marcos 36 51 navy replica, carried that gun and a extra cylinder for many many miles and shot a heck of a lot of critters with it.
 
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