Hiking with a handgun

Hadn't even thought about bear spray, and I heard it can really be effective.
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OK here's the thing about bear spray. It is basically pepper spray and when it is shot right in the bears face at close it will discourage them. However, if your can of bear spray has a slight leak or you haven't cleaned it up after using it and the bears catch the scent of it; well it seems to work like catnip and you become a pre-seasoned treat.
Jingle bells is the way to go.
 
If you stow your food, and anything else scented (toothpaste, etc) together in two doubled-up coated nylon stuff-sacks, hang them together with your clean cookware at night in the approved manner, take care while mixing Gatorade, HiC or other drink powders that it doesn't blow onto your clothing, don't have ANY food in your tent/bag/hammock, etc you're unlikely to have any bear trouble in the SE. They may come around--like other critters thereabouts like mice and skunks--looking for campsite food, but they ain't grizzlies. If you're squared away, go back to sleep if you hear them (that's kinda tongue-in-check, but it's what I've done countless times in the Southern Appalachians) This time of year you won't have to deal with cubs.

Anyhow, take something that can get wet like a Glock!

have fun
 
Personally I think the Super Blackhawk is a bit heavy for hiking in the outback. I bought a S&W 329PD, light weight .44 magnum, for carrying in the outback. I load different loadings, shot shell to 300 grain XTP, in each of the 6 cylinders. Easy carry is important to this old man when in the foothills, or Sierra Nevadas.
 
Mod 29 4"

One of the best backwoods handguns is the S&W Mod 29 in 44 mag or its 41mag cousin. Weight VS power is very favorable to the other big bore double actions. 240gr Remington Soft nose (Not hollow points) will handle any black bear you run across as well as two legged bandits.

A ruger Black Hawk in 4-5/8" bbl is a great choice as well. Very good weight to power ratio.

The Ruger double actions RedHawk and Super Redhawk are great revolvers but heavier than the S&W or Blackhawk.

Have fun in the woods
 
Since you are going to be in the SE area of the country, you are not going to run into anything that will stand up to a .45acp or larger. In fact, most black bears could be taken down with a smaller caliber. You will probably never, ever even have to worry about black bears anyway. They almost never present a danger. Being raised in the middle of a game reserve in WV, I have crossed paths with hundreds of them. I have never had to harm a single one. You are more likely to get attacked by a possum.

My personal choice while hiking is a Glock 29 in a Blackhawk fanny pack.

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I like the 10mm a bit better up here since we have slightly larger and more aggressive critters up in the NW. I have been informed, in another thread, that I might still be out of luck since a 10mm loses a lot of power when passing through a standard refrigerator and that I might run into one of these. :D

ArmedBear.jpg
 
My Thoughts

My Buddy just called and said he's got bear treats in his back lawn... They are common where i grew up. When he goes walking he slings his Maddi over his back and NEVER brings an Ipod.... He puts Kitty bells on his shoes (Which i make fun of, because even though it's a great idea it's too good to pass up) and he hikes with a positive attitude, Alert... But not SOOO alert that he's drawing at every twig snap he hears... 15 years later, never had an issue. If you can't take your AK (figuratively speaking) get a .44 mag... Why risk it? Yeah 9mm might work in heavy doses... but .44 DOES work. x39 works better, and Knowing your area works best.... And i'm in the pacific northwest and Moose are a bigger deal then bear here... I used to deliver Medication for Hospice patients late at night to families that live way out in the boonies and one night on a back road I ran across a big male moose standing in the middle of the street, i waited a minute or two and let out a long HONK! ... Bad move, he turned, faced me and went to work on my Grille with his Giant Rack... When he was done and my radiator what spewing steam he quietly mosied off into the treeline like it was no big deal. The insurance company totaled out my delivery van.
 
I've hiked the entire AT in 6 1/2 months....without a gun, and I have my GFL and have always had guns. I've also hiked many, many miles all over the US. I've spent my whole life in the outdoors, backpacking and camping, and I've never felt safer than I do when I'm in the woods. The bears won't bother you. Like someone said, your only real threat would be from another person, but the only attacks that seem to happen have been few and far between, on females and at trail heads.

If you're really going to carry, I'd say your .45. I just don't see the need. A good knife, hiking stick and maybe a can of bear spray. This stuff isn't like your regular pepper spray, and it usually sprays like 30 ft with high velocity..

Also, you're not going to run across grizzlies in the SE. In all the years and miles I've hiked in the SE, even seeing a bear has been a rare occurrence.
 
Yeah...that's implied. I've seen mamma bear and her cubs, but at a distance. When you're hiking, you have to be aware. There arent many places in the SE that you're going to get surprised unless you aren't paying attention. That said, of the few bear encounters that I've had, they've always hightailed it the other way...if they even saw me. You just don't see many bears in the SE, and they certainly aren't the likes of a grizzly.

I've just never been worried about them. I guess I've just spent enough time in the woods of the SE that I'm comfortable enough to never have the urge to carry. If I ever do, it won't be for bears. ;) Covering 10-20 miles a day with 50-70 lbs is enough for me without a gun poweful enough for a bear.

My suggestion is for the OP to do research on the # of bear attacks that happen in the SE. I would be willing to bet a large sum that the vast majority of attacks were because someone wasn't paying attention, they didn't secure their food in a tree at night or they didn't have it in a bear proof vault.
 
HA HA that's true... I am always lax when i hike but when i come across the black bear my heart drops everytime because they stare at you for SOOOO LOOOOONG!!!!!! I hoot and holler then they leave but i always wonder what if i caught one with cubs... That'd suck.
 
but i always wonder what if i caught one with cubs...
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Years ago while hiking...
out of the rustling brush exploded a grouse. Took me by total surprise! She then advanced toward me in a very menacing manner. She kept on coming, and only when I journeyed around her position to my right would she stop the aggressions, after chasing me off for a short distance.

I learned a few lessons that day.
Don't get between a mama and her babies! Less than a couple of pounds of feathers was ready to tear my limbs off and kick my head like a football.

Realize that just on the other side of the bush can be a mama! I never heard or saw her until a second before she was exploding from the brush.

And what truly sobered me was seeing that maternal instinct in that little ball of feathers, and then picturing it surrounded by hundreds of pounds of bear or moose.

I totally agree that the odds of running into and having a bad time with a bear is remote. I have run into a few over the years, closest non-hunting encounter in the woods was at about four feet, never with an unhappy ending for me. I just believe that it is prudent to be aware, and prepared to a reasonable degree; whatever you think is reasonable.
 
The last black bear/human handgun confrontation we had in the PNW (in Oregon last year) the guy used a .45 ACP to take it down.

I've personally come across over 25 blackbears while hunting/fishing hiking in 50 years and never had one make any aggressive moves towards me. Yes it can happen, but with 300 million+ population, it really doesn't happen all that much does it?

You are much more likely to encounter some crazy who will do you harm, that's why I said either the .45 or the 9mm would be good. But if you think you need something bigger, by all means go for it.

There are 10s of thousands of .41s, .44s, .454s and larger out there in the lower 48 right now that have never been fired at a bear in self defense. How many times do you read about it happening? Everyone thinks they need one though. Black bears are not grizzlies or browns, and in the south I don't think you need a super bore to be safe. You need a manstopper. Just my opinion.
 
A Glock 19 will be fine for the two legged creatures, but you might want to consider a 12 gauge shot gun with OOO buckshot for the bears.I don't want a handgun for a bear.
 
We have had some trouble with bears in the foothills. The rangers in my neck of the woods suggest jingle-bells and pepper spray for bears. When walking in the woods keep your eyes out for bears by looking for scat. You can tell bear scat by the jingle-bells and the smell of pepper spray.
 
There are frequent references to wild dogs, feral dogs, mean dogs, and just general dogs on the loose. Yet in all my visits to national parks, national forests and wildlife management areas (hunting preserves), I have seen more bears than dogs and that is in Virginia and West Virginia. Some trips I don't see as much as a squirrel, on others vast numbers of deer. I also read references to hikers making noise when walking along trails but off the trail I'm sure that deer make as much or more noise than people unless the people are talking. But I'm also sure my senses are usually on high alert in the woods, too.
 
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