Bring Enough Gun

[Scrateshooter]

Every so often I walk part of the fence line of our small ranch to check fences and shoot stuff that needs shooting.

I debated on which gun to take (I'm not the only one):

45 Colt or 44 Mag/Spc?-No, too big and bulky ammo

.357 N-frame? No, too heavy

.38 Special K frame? This sounds good...

So I strapped on a 4" S&W Model 15 in a Master's holster. All was going well until I checked another safe and saw a 4" S&W 617 10 shot that was still dirty, and since the Model 15 was clean I just swapped them out (same holster).

I grab a pocketfull of cheap Federal .22 lr and a KaBar USN Mk1 then took off for the ranch.

I walked about 1/2 mile and shot at a few snapping turtles and whatnot. I was creeping around a small pond to catch some snappers slipping on logs in a slough.

Instead of turtles I came across about 10 hogs rooting the soft earth between the pond and slough.

Seeing I only had a .22 revolver and small knife I did what any middle age man would do, I backed on out of there and noped away. The hogs finally caught whiff of me and took off running.

I then came home and cleaned up my S&W 329PD and will be getting some sedate .44 Magnum loads whipped up.

Have you guys ever been caught undergunned?

Short video of pig closest to me.

YouTube

 

[BigBill]

I carry my 357 in bear/ mountain lion country while hiking with the family.

Since Elmer Keith killed everything in North America with the 357, 41, 44 I don't feel under gunned. Sometimes I go out hunting with just the 44 mag during bear season.

My wife and daughter were hiking near her condo and seen a mountain lion occupied behind a log. Unarmed they backed off. Luckily my dog didn't pick up the scent. She can be a handful sometimes.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

I haven't felt "undergunned" since I swapped out my KelTec P32 for a S&W Model 37. My "woods walking" gun is a 4 inch S&W Model 65-1. For "going out amongst 'em," I carry a S&W Model 469 with 12, 15, and 20 round magazines. My "run to the store/errands" gun is a Ruger EC9s with a spare magazine. We only have black bears and the occasional mountain lion around here, but hogs are a problem. A 12 gauge 870 or my Mini-14 ride in my Jeep with a .22 S/L/LR Mossberg 15Y "Papoose" and a survival kit.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

 

[STCM(SW)]

When Huckleberry picking my M21-4 is always on my side.....
Hot loaded .44 SPL for bear or any other critter I may come across better
take care....

 

[hkcavalier]

The danger in my area is cougar or bear, so I feel undergunned all the time. Often I walk my property with my usual EDC, a 9mm.

I probably should keep at least a .357 loaded with 180gr Buffalo Bore pills and in a holster, ready to go. Project for another day.

 

[Fishinfool]

I do a lot of wildlife photography, here in PA, and in Maine. Black bear and moose are high on the list, to the point I have located and photographed several active bear dens here in PA. Been bluff charged a couple times by male bears, and "warned" by sows with cubs a couple times. Treed a few times by moose too. Gets your heart beating, but nothing that really scared me. Always felt I could read the situation pretty good, and not push things too far, or at least give myself an out if I did. Used to carry a .22 with me a lot, as I like to take a break, and do a little plinking after lunch sometimes.

Then in the not to distant past, I had a run in with a predatory black bear up in Maine while kayaking / camping. Just so happened to be carrying a 1911 with hardball that day, and a head shot at about 15 foot ended it. Don't know how it would have turned out with my usual .22.

Now, I carry a .44 mag with moderate loads, or a 1911 with stiff hard cast SWC loads. A .22 Bearcat, or P-22 usually goes in the backpack along with a box of shells. I still like my plinking time....

Larry

 

[BigBill]

We took our street legal dirtbikes up into the national forest in vt running the access roads. We came across a wild blueberry patch just off the side of the road. We stopped to eat blueberrys and heard growling. Figuring it's a blackbear we headed out off the mountain. We were unarmed but heard the warning signs first. Just listening can save your life.

I hunted bears for many decades with a 30-06, in 94 I bumped up to a 338wm as I got older I'm not built for running nor climbing trees. After a few close encounters in the thick pines were I shouldn't have been and ten feet away from a bear in the tall grass I figured bigger Is better.

Man was never on the top of the food chain.

 

[brucev]

Have been walking the woods and fields for over 40 years. Have mostly carried .22 LR, .38/.357 Mag., .44 Special/.44 Mag. and .45 ACP. Like to plink unless specifically out hunting. For a while, deer/hog hunting, I'd carry a 30-06 and a .44 Mag. Never needed a finisher w/ anything shot using the .30-06, so I gravitated to revolvers in .38/.357 Mag. and .22 LR. Like I said, I like to plink. This coming hunting season I will be using a Springfield 03-A4 replica in, of course, .30-06. I will have a nice little four inch 66-3 on my hip. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[jughed440]

No bears in the woods of this area. Bobcats and coyotes are about it. A 4" 627 is the perfect carry gun. Because there's much more danger running loose in nearby urban areas, 16 rounds of 10mm is a must for me if i must be there. That recent gang attack on a tourist in D.C. has RE-confirmed that.

 

[JJEH]

Have you guys ever been caught undergunned?

Granted, I've never encountered a bear in the wilderness being (dangerously) close to me, but I've never felt undergunned with Buffalo Bore ammo.

I know, I might sound like a broken record and Tim is not paying me to say this (I wish... )

My choice is 9mm and I only load items 24I (left) and 24L (right) for duty/SD. I feel like these two loads can master most situations I might find myself in.

Nice Mark 1 btw. I bought my wife the serrated version before her deployment to the Middle East in 2012.

It's a nice knife for sure...

 

[Scrateshooter]

We also have a cougar that roams the ranch, so I've upgraded. It's an arms race now, as long as the eagles don't flex I'll be better.

I dug out the S&W 629-6 and a Buck 119, both ride in oxblood leather scabbards.

 

[Doug M.]

If I really expected to meet hogs, I'd likely get a 6.8 upper for my BCM AR, or at least carry my Mossberg 590 with slugs.

 

[HamHands]

I do a lot of wildlife photography, here in PA, and in Maine. Black bear and moose are high on the list, to the point I have located and photographed several active bear dens here in PA. Been bluff charged a couple times by male bears, and "warned" by sows with cubs a couple times. Treed a few times by moose too. Gets your heart beating, but nothing that really scared me. Always felt I could read the situation pretty good, and not push things too far, or at least give myself an out if I did. Used to carry a .22 with me a lot, as I like to take a break, and do a little plinking after lunch sometimes.

Then in the not to distant past, I had a run in with a predatory black bear up in Maine while kayaking / camping. Just so happened to be carrying a 1911 with hardball that day, and a head shot at about 15 foot ended it. Don't know how it would have turned out with my usual .22.

Now, I carry a .44 mag with moderate loads, or a 1911 with stiff hard cast SWC loads. A .22 Bearcat, or P-22 usually goes in the backpack along with a box of shells. I still like my plinking time....

Larry

Scary stuff! Thankfully you had the presence of mind to be carrying that day and your zero hesitation to use it.

For what it's worth, Underwood has a 255grain .45ACP+P Hard Cast "Keith" style load that is excellent out of my 1911 and CZ 97B forty fives. These semi-autos with that load would have nary a problem dispatching a nasty Black Bear! And they run well in my 1911 4" Commander. You should check them out if you'd rather carry your 1911. These loads run @ about 945fps on average out of my .45's. And with that flat hard cast meplate... @ this velocity does a hell of a lot of damage on pelt & bone...

 

[Snapping Twig]

Any time I am in the woods here in California I carry a 3" 44 mag.

Better too much gun than too little.

I wear it in a cross draw and it's full of 265g SWC's.

Cougar and black bear are common here.

 

[jimmyj]

I don't walk/hike much anymore, but when I do my weapon of choice in on a caisson. ( and my companion is a fellow with only one leg)

 

[bigggbbruce]

I'd still bring the 22.. but would throw my AR pistol over the shoulder..Rock-n-roll

 

[andy52]

Not much in the way of dangerous four legged critters in my neck of the woods. Not much that couldn't be dealt with .22lr. Pretty rural area that I live in even two legged critters aren't a big problem. Even when out on the river in my boat a .22 would get most of the jobs done that I might encounter.

 

[RobertJ.]

Am I ever under-gunned?

No. Over-gunned, if anything.

 

[kraynky]

I don't walk/hike much anymore, but when I do my weapon of choice in on a caisson. ( and my companion is a fellow with only one leg)

You a veteran of the "War Between the States" Jimmy? Packing a 12 pounder with you, and a loader, seems sensible, but that reload ammo has to be a ...... booger!

Y'know, when I think it over, one round ought to be enough.

 

[flagman1776]

I don't walk/hike much anymore, but when I do my weapon of choice in on a caisson. ( and my companion is a fellow with only one leg)

Sadly, because my disability has progressed, I recently rehomed my favorite ordinance... 1.75" bore


My favorite trail gun was my 3" M66-2... but for a trail gun / plinker I have a Marlin M15 youth single shot with a 16" barrel,