Dang it, I just hate being called a city kid. For the last 47 years, I packed a Colt Woodsman or Smith model 36 across the west from Alaska to Mexico border. Every morning I exit my house in the pre dawn hours and walk to the garage with a model 36 in an ankle holster. At least twice a year there is a bear nearby as I hear his woofing as he finds more real estate that does not have human scent. Used both guns to finish off over 100 deer, elk, and antelope in my guiding years and hunting days. Killed 2 elk outright with the little Woodsman. When predator calling it was usually the little Colt that went along. The bigger magnums were just too heavy to strap on. They were usually tucked into a holster and ride under the seat. For me they are just to big and get left home. The 22 and 38 Special can be very fatal but they sure lack stopping power. But if I did not have either I would probably wander around without a gun a lot of the time. I have lived in the mountains most of my life, miles from a town. I have been up close to many animals, bears included. The cow moose has given me more chase than any other animal. Though bears give me pause when in the forest, the one predator that kills without remorse and has unparalleled intelligence has not been mentioned. This animal has killed more people every year than there are bears. He kills for the fun of it and can inhabit every country and climate. He walks on 2 legs and mows his lawn every Sunday. It is this animal that I prepare for and fear more than any other. So for me I get some comfort knowing that if I am getting chewed on, the critter doing the chewing is going to have a belly ache from all my inadequate rounds I am pumping into him. I should relate in another thread a humorous antidote about the killing power of a 22 LR against the killing power of a 454 Casull that I was a percipient in. When push comes to show I would rather have my 44 but about every time I needed to withdraw a handgun for comfort it was usually one of the 2 previously mentioned.
