Woods Carry 357 Search

[413Maxwedge]

Im in SE PA, an hour north of Philadelphia and we have coyotes. I see a lot more of them than racoons. I'm constantly surprised when people tell me about "a weird skinny dog that looked like a small wolf" watching them from the tree line. I tell them it's a coyot and they say "Coyote??? they live in Texas". Yeah right. Keep a close eye on your babies ladies.
When the Wife and I first got married we rented a farm house surrounded by fields (Feed corn/Soybean) and I'd see them ion the edges of our property when I left for work. We lost 2 cats and several chickens.

I'm not in favor of hunting predators (bear, wolf, big cats) but to the point of this thread, if I'm out in the woods and something with a snarl and fangs approaches, or is suprised by me, I'd rather be armed. As a former garbage truck driver (5 years) I've been bitten and menaced by many "small" dogs that I wish I could have fired a round at the dirt to scare away.

A Staffordshire Terrier weighs 35# and is considered a small dog.

 

[Murdock]

I will concur that coyotes are not usually considered dangerous to people. Neither are black bears or moose. Usually.

 

[Beju]

Coyotes are more adaptable than wolves, so behavior may vary widely by location and size.

I'm in Chicago, and we've definitely got coyotes now, unlike when I was growing up. In the city, coyotes attacking dogs or people is extremely rare (I couldn't find a single case in the city or adjacent suburb), but that's not the case in exurbs and rural areas. I think the city just has a lot more rats, rabbits, squirrels, and garbage for them to get their fill of.

Coyote defense is a factor in me carrying, but that's mostly because I have small dogs and children. Even then, I'd rather start with pepper spray to reduce risk to others. Our coyotes aren't especially big (I'd guess 30-45 lbs), but I'm sure that they bite a lot harder than most dogs of that size that aren't pit bulls.

 

[Dave Lively]

I'm liking this thread. I'm going on a family vacation to North Georgia next month and everyone wants to go hiking and mountain bike riding in the woods, along creeks and RR tracks. I've never been to GA before but understand they have hogs, Black bear and large cats.

I always pocket carry my M&P 340 J-frame for SD but now I'm considering bringing one of my 3" or 2.5" L-frames for animal defense. I could easily carry my 386PD in a large fanny pack while biking or climbing. * I have OWB pancake holsters but don't want to draw a lot of attention in a small tourist town*.

TLDR: Carry what you feel comfortable with but don't worry too much about the animals here. North Georgia is not Montana or Alaska.

In 30 years of hiking in north Georgia I have seen some black bears, wild boar/feral pigs but have never seen or heard of anyone else seeing a big cat. The occasional bobcat is as big as they get and I have only seen pictures of them on trail cameras. I have heard a couple reports of but never seen packs of stray or loose dogs

All the black bears I have seen run off immediately, even the ones with cubs. Most of the pigs do too but I once stumbled on to a sow nursing her piglets as a I came around a sharp bend on the trail so she was only 15 feet away. They scrambled to their feet, ran off to the left, changed their minds and mama pig stood on the trail between me and her offspring and made grunting noises until the piglets finished crossing to the right. Probably more of a bluff than a threat but I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

The only time I see wildlife is when I am quietly hiking by myself. If you are with other people and talking or riding a mountain bike the odds of even seeing a bear or pig let alone being threatened by one is very, very low. On the more remote trails I carry a P365 but on the more crowded ones I often don't even bother with that. I do see the occasional OWB holster on the trail. It might draw some attention in town by your fellow tourists if they notice but most wont and the local residents wont care. To me nothing says "that guy is carrying" like a man with a fanny pack.

I don't hike as much as I used to but have worn out 4 pairs of hiking boots since I moved here. If the woods here were full of dangerous animals I would have seen more of them.

 

[Shoebox1.1]

Here’s your woods gun. New 27-9. I’m so happy with this thing! Shoots POa/POI today with my AA7 handloads 158 swc. It’s proved itself so good it’s going to Frank Glenn this week for action job! I can’t wait!

 

[gdpolk]

My favorite woods gun is my 4" Model 69. I love it so much that I decided I needed a 4" L frame Mountain Gun in 357mag as well.

Light weight sounds great on paper but with a proper holster and belt the M69 goes almost completely unnoticed on the body and having a LITTLE extra weight helps with a steady offhand presentation and faster follow up shots. I've used the scandium 44 and 357 options and have always felt they were a bit light in the hand for full power loads, especially in the 44.

I'm curious after my 686 Mountain Gun comes in if it'll take the place of my M69 or not.

 

[Autonomous]

Most woods carry focus is on the gun and why not? It's fun to hear people's ideas and preferences.

My first woods gun was a 4" N frame I carried on my mountain bike in an Uncle Mike's fanny pack holster. That holster has been beat on and it shows. Not at all fast draw but it protected the gun through wrecks, brambles and adventures. A very good choice for that application.

I like the Kenai chest rig from GunfightersINC. Not cheap but well made without any shortcuts.
UDAP has a molded bear spray holster that, IMO, has a faster draw than a textile holster.
Don't discount the potential of a noise maker. The Storm brand whistle is 'you have to hear it to believe it' loud.

 

[Bobbysixkiller]

I like to carry my 681 4 inch in a ww2 style tanker. With 158 gr lrn over 6 grains of unique.

 

[41special]

Going to look at a 327 TRR8 on Thursday & then figure out a plan of action. Still haven't seen a new Mountain Gun in the flesh, hopefully they'll have one of those too


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[fatcat3]

Anyone in this same pickle?

Nope. Been carrying the same single six for 50 or so years. After all we been through it would be a sin to take another girl to the dance.

I will concur that coyotes are not usually considered dangerous to people. Neither are black bears or moose. Usually.

I vote moose as the most dangerous of the three. Though I remember a WABI & BDN story of a man attacked by a healthy, no cubs, Blackbear just north of Bangor some 30 years ago. Had to end up defending himself with a O/U and birdshot. Bet that was exciting for a moment or two.

 

[eb07]

I, too, have spent a lot of time around coyotes. I spent 200 days/year for 6 years sleeping outdoors in the Mojave Desert. In thousands of encounters I never saw one behave even remotely aggressive.

Which is why I feel perfectly comfortable carrying a J-frame.

In the one case I mentioned where I encountered a pup I was accompanied by my daughter’s dog. I could imagine a mama coyote objecting to her presence so close to her offspring.

I agree with you.

Javelina will do more damage. I've had my fair share of run ins with them. And black bears.

Coyotes are not coming near you unless rabid. I have had desert issues with wild dogs as well. I e dispatched a few that came top close to the stock with my 4" 357 with 158gr hard cast .

There are also the ones that got away with their prizes caught on trailcam

I've also had run ins with meth heads and other assorted morons in the middle of nowhere. Ive lived rural for over 25 years. Just recently moved back to an urban environment in the last five due to family concerns. Been shot at once by a crazy drunk prospector with a shotgun outside Prescott maybe 17 years ago. Explored everywhere in the southwest. Love to be away from people.

2.5 or 4" K frame 357 or 4" n frame 44 magnum with hard cast for me on the back 40.... The former will handle anything the desert can throw at me. The latter just makes me feel a little more prepared. Even with one of those on my hip I still carry my j frame appendix with 135gr Speer gold dots.

That's my setup. On that note when I carriedy 1911 I had to dispatch an angry tusked wild hog while fishing on a river bank with no way out and the 230gr federal classic worked well. I have moved to all revolver now.

 

[scattershot]

For me, woods = N frame. I have a handload that replicates the old 38/44 load but with a better bullet, it pushes a 170-grain LSWC at 1070 fps from my 4" M28-2. It'll handle anything I'll run into in my neck of the woods.

Is that load in .357 or .38 brass?

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I didn’t think so Mike. My Son had one and I was surprised at how controllable it was. He carried it for his BUG when he was a police officer.

For me personally this question is answered with a 4” Security Six.

Dan

BIL had one...........Awful to shoot............IN fact he traded it for a 60-4 like mine........It can done but in reality 357's need bigger guns.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

Is that load in .357 or .38 brass?

It's in .38 brass. That bullet is a clone of Lyman's 358429 design and won't fit in a 28's cylinder when seated to the crimp groove in .357 brass. I found that out the hard way. Luckily, I had a M19 to dispose of those errors. I could've crimped them over the first driving band, but where's the fun in that?

 

[Rock185]

I'm not in the same pickle, but just my 2¢ worth. There are certainly many good choices. I used to have one of the earlier 686 Mtn. Guns, and recently acquired one of the new ones. The 686 Mtn. Gun weighs almost two ounces less than my 4" model 66, both with factory wood grips. And for a load that might be adequate for woods carry, the Underwood 180 grain actually does just over the advertised1400 FPS in my example. I admit that in my dotage, I no longer shoot .41, .44 Mag or .454 handguns. So the Underwood and Buffalo Bore .357 and 10mm loads are as much, or perhaps more, than I want now days...YMMV

 

[Shibadog]

What about going the other way?

The 60-10 3 inch gun is .357 Mag rated and carries batter than any K, L, or N frame…

This-model 60 is a sweet woods gun. Carry mine here on the farm with first round shot followed by 4 .357’s. Carries light accurate and hits hard.

 

[Mannlicher]

my Model 60-15 has seen a lot of trail use

 

[45Smashemflat]

My woods companion is usually a 4” K22 and this “broke back carbine what shoots one time.” The ubiquitous single shot is just too versatile.

 

[jaguargolf]

Years ago the new type coyotes of the Northeast US were at times referred to as Eastern Timber Coyote. I'm almost 90 miles NW of NYC, and coyotes have been found in Central Park in Manhattan which is surrounded by a lot of city.
When we first moved here I noticed feral dogs in the area several times. The largest was a very proud and athletic K-9 about the size of an Irish Wolfhound just inside the brush line around a pond, sizing up my neighbors Llamas. When the 400 acres across the road was bought by a big hunting club the population of feral dogs dropped quite dramatically.
The coyotes around her are big. When my wife was driving to work one morning, one leapt out of a wetland, bounded once across the road landing uphill atop a six foot stone wall and stopped, turned his head, looked at my wife, "...As is I was insignificant. It was a wolf. It was the largest, most athletic and handsomest K-9 I have ever seen..."

The coyotes became quite audacious when my children were small. One day while waiting for them at the school bus stop, I saw 3 coyotes wait for the bus to pass them, cross the road, and start following the school bus down the street.

My little female Black Lab would let me know when there were coyotes around ... by pretending she didn't know me... .At our halfway spot of our almost daily 3 mile hike I would pour her a small bowl of water while I did my pushups, squat thrusts, stretching etc.
She let me know one time so I started looking around, and I noticed a dogs head down hill about 75 yards away moving right to left behind a stone wall. I saw it come over the wall and start uphill towards me, using brush to screen its movement. This thing was hunting my pup or me ! It came within 25 yards and presented its head in the nook of two trees to view us. I pulled my Glock 20 and shot it once in the head. when I examined the animal it was an almost all black K-9, very long legs, I couldn't make a good determination of it skull. Twenty seconds after I killed this animal, the woods, for 360 degrees around me, erupted with wolf howls, as if in astonishment and sorrow. I didn't see one animal, I could hear them moving through the brush and forest floor. I leashed up my pup and headed home with my Glock in my hand accompanied by these animals to the road within 300 yards of my home.

I had a Glock 10mm because I used a belly band holster to keep it from flopping around, and it got very wet from my sweat. Glocks are very easy to clean and it gave me decent firepower.

Nowadays I mostly just hike and I carry a 686+, either a 3" or 5" (I've never seen a 4" for sale around here, I think they don't last long in the gun case). If I'm working in the woods around my home I pocket carry a S&W Model 19 with a 2 3/4 in. barrel. My surgeon told me after my first joint replacement not to allow myself to get bit by an animal, it can lead to amputation of the limb because of the implant.

Good Luck. There are plenty of good .357's out there.

 

[Cartwright Jones]

Was all set to get a new 7 shot 686 Mountain Gun, then read up on the lighter weight Model 19 Carry Comp which holds 6. Now I'm looking at a Scandium framed Performance Center 327 TRR8, it only weighs 2 oz more than the 19 & packs 2 extra rounds.

I need to go to a fully stocked gun store and look at these 3 in person.

Anyone in this same pickle?

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The 8-shooter gets the nod every time, every day! There's a lot to be said for an EIGHT-shot .357 magnum stoked with Underwood or BB loads, plus the extra cost of those guns means you get a LIGHTER base handgun, so when loaded up it doesn't drag you under.