What round do you think is more effective against wild boar? Getting my concealed weapon permit in the mail in a couple weeks, thank goodness because i've been close to being charged a couple times while fishing from shore in the lagoon by me...... oh and alligators too but I think I'd have to hit them behind the eyes no matter what round?

If it was me I'd opt for a 4-inch or longer (six would be better) 45 LC with heavy-for-caliber bullets. A 300-grain WFN would be about ideal. 357's seem to do well from longer barrels, but out of a handgun penetration can be iffy, depending on shot placement. Go with lots of momentum, to make sure the bullet can dig as deep as it needs to for good terminal effect.

Are you buying or do you already have them?

Either will do the job, which one do you shoot better?

Ammo selection is greater with .38 / .357, but I bet you already knew that. :-)

If you reload go with the .45, if not my choice would be a .357 and get allot of practise. Neither is any good when you miss.

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JIM
NRA Pistol Instr

Do you live in Florida? If so you can open carry while fishing. No need to wait on the permit.

As far as the two rounds, either should work well with proper ammo. 180-200 grain hardcast bullets for the .357 should do the trick.

I'd go with the .45 Colt, especially if you reload. If you don't reload, I'd consider a .44 magnum over the .357.

All I can say is you must really like fishing......

2 miles from my house is a restaurant that has all you can eat perch for $9. No spending all day at the lake, no cleaning, no guns required. They even cook them and do the dishes...

i vote for the .357 magnum

I carry and shoot both (carry trhe 45LC seldom) and would definitely go for the .45 LC if it were me. I've been a 357 guy for an awful lot of years but of late have become a real 45LC fan ... get the biggest hunk of lead you can find, or load.

I'd go with the .45 with 300 grain flat nose bullets flying about 1000fps. Should punch through about anything you run into, and leave a nice big hole on the other side to assist in the hog leakage. You can also carry some effective shotshells for them slithery critters down there!

I would carry a 4 inch K frame....load it with some hot 158 grn rounds and you should have a relatively light, easy to carry firearm for the off chance of a boar, gator....but more likely some two legged varmint who means you harm......

Thanks for the help everyone!

Forgot to mention I already have the guns.
I wouldn't bother going there but in the winter we catch redfish,trout and black drum literally every cast. Caught over 100 something fish with my friend there one day.
I think I'm gonna go with Buffalo Bore for the ammo.

National Wildlife Refuge - I've encountered boar out there 5-6 times. First was at night, right after the sun set. I was getting close to my car (about a mile walk) and I heard something rustle and let out a loud grunt. I walked backwards for about 20 feet and started yelling at it to try to scare it. I couldn't see anything but could hear it walking, what sounded like towards me. Kept yelling and eventually it stopped.
Had a run in with one while she was with her kids, its a small island i fish from and I couldve easily accidently cornered it. Luckily I wasn't quite to that part of the island yet.
Was walking the trail near north end and heard something in the bushes. I couldn't see it so i yelled at it and stepped back. Damn thing grunted back at me, load as heck. Needless to say I was ready to take a swim.

Second to last time i was there (end of gator mating season) I was heading back to the car. About 200ft from the bank there was a puddle, probably 15ft wide, 40ft long that i had to cross to get back (probably half a dozen or so of these on the trail, not usually there but we had a lotta rain) I step in and see hundreds of baby leopard frogs jumping outta the way. I was thinking oh damn probably some snakes around so i was looking out for them. Got about halfway through the puddle, maybe a ft deep at that time, and I see something underwater about five to seven (more like five) feet in front of me. Damn thing looked like a python, i remember thinking what the heck we don't have pythons in this part of florida (introduced in south florida). Followed the tail up and HOLY S%*&!!!! 5-6ft alligator probably about 5ft in front of me. I stepped back, it didn't move, so I just kept slowly walking away. It just kept watching me but didn't move (head underwater). Probably the most scared/startled i've ever been, luckily it wasn't much bigger