Why do you carry a pistol when you are out in the woods?

Why do you carry a pistol when you are out in the woods?

  • Predator – Bear

    Votes: 75 24.4%

  • Predator – Human

    Votes: 206 66.9%

  • Predator - Other

    Votes: 129 41.9%

  • I use it to Hunt

    Votes: 51 16.6%

  • I use it as a “finishing” tool when I hunt

    Votes: 36 11.7%

  • Plinking

    Votes: 69 22.4%
  • Total voters
    308
  • Poll closed .
Because I can, Moose are the main reason, I've had a couple run ins with mamma moose and I lost on both occasions. Both are still alive but one is missing part of an ear.
 
My concern is mountain lions. I see black bears on occasion but they don't concern me that much. Cougars are in a totally different category.
 
To get the plesiosaurs at the watering hole.:D

Also because the bow doesn't scare most humans (even though it will cut a 2" wide channel through a person from collarbone to crotch and is able to hit a 6" circle reliably from 60 yards -- which is both MUCH more devastating and accurate than any common handgun can do! in my hands anyway...)
 
I chose "other" but that wasn't totally correct. The woods I travel have hogs, coyotes, bear, rattlesnakes, varmints and poachers. Typically an SP101 3" 357 with snakeshot and 158g JHP but during deer season, a S&W Model 19 6" 357 with 158g JHP.
 
I chose human preditor because where I live, . . . that is the most likely animal to cause me grief out in the woods, once you discount ticks and skeeters :D

Seriously though, . . . Ohio has too many pot heads who plant, . . . go away, . . . and come back later to harvest, . . . and if you stumbled on them doing their potty little thing, . . . it probably would not be pretty.

Plus we have about 200,000 too many 'yotes out there, . . . and some of them are problems in themselves.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I backpack in a national forest on a regular basis, probably ten months out of the year, and I've done it both with and without a gun. We (the group of guys that goes) are all pretty familiar with the area and what's there, and we've never had any problems with predators, either two legged or four.

If I'm going in woods that I'm not familiar with, I will without a doubt have my handgun with me.
Click to expand...

This is a philosophy that I don't understand. Probably most violent crime victims in National Forest land "never had any problems...." before they did.

Predators (two legged and four) do attack people in places they're familiar with. From their homes to the wide open spaces. Two legged predators choose isolated places for a reason. With four legged varieties, maybe you're more at risk back in more isolated areas (or maybe not).

When I return alone to my car from fishing, especially (but not limited to) after dark, I'm no less alert and concerned in the places I visit regularly than new places. When I'm alone, as is usually the case, I'm also ON my own.

And, because of events that have happened in my own community, I no longer believe that you're safe just because there are other people near by.


Being armed has been incorporated into my lifestyle for 15 years---since Shall Issue came to Nevada.--whether on familiar unfamiliar ground.

AND, yes, as I get older, I'm either more paranoid or smarter and maybe I'll try to analyze which, some day..:cool:
 
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Carry in the woods for Bear, Lion, Elk, Coyote, Stray wolf-dogs. Not a lot of two legged predators out here. The biggest threat are aggressive bull elk and stray dogs. Everything else for the most part mind their own business
 
I have had three instances when I was out in the wilderness( many years ago,when I could walk normally) that my brandishing of a firearm deterred two legged predators and once when my 136lb Rotty deterred same in the city of Santa Fe, NM.
I once also felt the need to dispatch three coyotes(the four legged kind) at Lake Apache, Az., after coyotes had attackes another campers two Irish Setters the night before.
I now carry everywhere I go, in town or on my farm in Pa. I have very little use of my legs anymore so running is not an option, and I am not going peacefully into that good night!!:D

340pd. in town w/ 125gr. hp @1170fps
Ruger Blackhawk w/ 270gr. HC Kieths @950 on the farm
Just my .02$

P.S. Mike81, actually Route 70 Starts in Baltimore Md. at route 695 and ends at Route 15 in Utah, not being picky, but my son lives about a mile from where 70 starts in B-more. Also I have driven that route enough that they should name a section of it after me!!
You are correct in saying that it can be used for nefarious purposes. It's western end dumps into route 15, which goes from San Diego to Canada, so it covers a great portion of North America.:eek:

Willy Henderson
 
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Do I need a specific reason?

I might want to do some target work.

I might want to use it as a signal.

I might want to shoot a rabbit and eat it.

I might need to scare a critter off.

I might need to defend myself.

I might want to try out a new holster.

I might want to try out a new holster belt.

If a bear drags me out of my tent a 2 in the a.m. I might want to do something more than scream.

How many reasons ya want?

tipoc
 
Four-legged predators aren't much of a concern in Indiana (although there have been some reports of cougars in a neigboring county). However, certain areas do have a pretty nasty problem with meth labs and pot farmers so I carry a gun primarily for two-legged threats.
 
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