James Fleming, post: 449749, member: 136 wrote: The gentleman surveyor, when faced with potential dangerous game, carries a double rifle in .470 Nitro Express. 😉
And his rodman's name is Meryl.
Richard Imrie, post: 449771, member: 11256 wrote: And his rodman's name is Meryl.
Just take along a couple of "contractors" with some real heavy firepower. Add it to the invoice.
I picked up one of these chest holsters for my 44 Anaconda and won't be going back to anything else. Comfort and quick access are second to none.
https://gunfightersinc.com/products/kenai-chest-holster/
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Williwaw, post: 449779, member: 7066 wrote:
https://gunfightersinc.com/products/kenai-chest-holster/
Thanks for the tip. My experience with a revolver in a shoulder holster is that it becomes so unwieldy that I finally just shove it in my pack, where it settles to the bottom ( =useless). This looks waaay better.
if you want a discrete option, lots of hikers recommend the Hill People pack, several versions:
http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/1/ProductID/2
http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/1/ProductID/37
LRDay, post: 449733, member: 571 wrote: I'm probably going to start taking a gun when in the mountains. We have some black bears and cougars.
A client recommended this:
http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=693&category=Revolver&toggle=tr&breadcrumbseries=JPD
Weight 22 oz.
Chambers 410 shotgun or 45's.
Client hasn't actually proved it works, but I like the weight for carry in the mountains.
Does a 410 triple ought (4 pellets) and a 45 have enough punch assuming you can hit the target? 5 shots, so maybe the 410's first and then 2 or 3 45's. Gotta be better than a prism pole.
A Taurus Judge with a .410 round has a velocity of around 1100 fps with 550 ft, pounds.
A .357 Magnum (Buffalo Bore) round has a velocity of about 1475 fps at around 775 ft, pounds.
Both much better than a prism pole....
Williwaw, post: 449779, member: 7066 wrote:
https://gunfightersinc.com/products/kenai-chest-holster/
Whatever protection I decide on this probably the way to carry it for sure. Thanks!
LRDay, post: 449733, member: 571 wrote: I'm probably going to start taking a gun when in the mountains. We have some black bears and cougars.
A client recommended this:
http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=693&category=Revolver&toggle=tr&breadcrumbseries=JPD
Weight 22 oz.
Chambers 410 shotgun or 45's.
Client hasn't actually proved it works, but I like the weight for carry in the mountains.
Does a 410 triple ought (4 pellets) and a 45 have enough punch assuming you can hit the target? 5 shots, so maybe the 410's first and then 2 or 3 45's. Gotta be better than a prism pole.
My daily carry is Smith and Wesson's version "The Governer". I carry two rounds birdshot, two rounds buckshot, and two 45 colt rounds in that sequence. I like the versatility. It's also got a laser pointer in the hand grip which I really like. It also goes on the nightstand every night.
I had a client inform me last week I need to carry some heavy 44 mag for self defence while working in the woods. Coming from a guy who admitted to never hunting and rarely even shooting a gun.
I carry a XD-S 3.3 45acp. Small and light and typically use 10 rnd. Mags for it. I never notice it on me. Pocket, vest holster don't matter. Depending on the pants I wear I can tuck it behind my wallet with a 7 rnd. Mag and hardly noticeable.
Shooting a Taurus judge I would never carry one for self defense. But like I tell everyone you need to go to a shop and handle what feels comfortable in your hands and what caliber you feel comfortable shooting. Something you are not comfortable shooting won't do you any good at all. Black bears can run up to 35 mph and if game is stalking you, you probably have only one real shot before they get to you and shot placement is key as well. A big bear can handle a high power cartridge in the wrong spot.
Personal experience working deep in the backcountry for a few years I never encountered anything trying to eat me. I always felt we made to much noise working and the critters kept away.
N.W. Staker, post: 449808, member: 11801 wrote: Shooting a Taurus judge I would never carry one for self defense. But like I tell everyone you need to go to a shop and handle what feels comfortable in your hands and what caliber you feel comfortable shooting. Something you are not comfortable shooting won't do you any good at all. Black bears can run up to 35 mph and if game is stalking you, you probably have only one real shot before they get to you and shot placement is key as well. A big bear can handle a high power cartridge in the wrong spot.
Coming from a human-predator-less-land-environment I did wonder whether bears stalk and ambush or just run at you with a lot of noise. I guess if they don't stalk and ambush, the other similar danger is surprising one that didn't know you were there.
Years ago in the fiber optic heyday I worked solo on a remote stretch of line running across the Blue Mnts and then down to Ontario, OR. At the start of the project they recommended carrying. I kind of blew it off until I ran into one of the ranchers. He was shocked that I was not carrying. I've been shooting since I was big enough to hold my 22 and I to know that a pistol is at best good at short range. Instead of packing a large caliber pistol I went for this tiny little Beretta 22 long rifle stinger purse job. Make one hell of a bang and should scare anything off that I could stop with at larger hand gun. The nice thing is that it is small and light. Actually the local gun shop owner recommended it. For those times when I've worked in SE AK or places with bigger bears I carry a short barreled 12 gauge. The first shell is shot just to make some noise followed by slugs.
LRDay, post: 449752, member: 571 wrote: From what I've read bear spray not to effective on black bears, just makes them mad, two women killed in Alaska this year using bear spray.
I'm not sure what incident(s) you are referring to but there are lots of encounters in AK where bear spray has effectively driven the bear away.
I've had the good fortune to never have a bear charge. I've been through bear defense training and have many months in the woods. Learn To Return is a firm in Anchorage AK that provides bear guard and bear aware training and certification. Their courses cover both spray and firearms - you get class time and range time. The #1 thing is to be able to access and deploy whatever defense mechanism you carry. This has to happen very quickly - the speed of the attack is a common thread in victim interviews.
Spray has the advantage of not requiring a direct hit. It also is non-lethal so you avoid a bunch of paperwork proving that you shot in defense of life - and you don't have to submit "the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to ADF&G." It has the disadvantage of not working in conditions where the wind is blowing in your face or in high winds. And you have to patient - you can only deploy from a short distance - which is probably a good thing as most charges are bluffs.
Guns have the advantage of working just fine in the wind. I'd never shoot a bear (not even a small black bear) with a .410 - you'd only wound it and it would either attack or start crying like a wounded baby - I'm not a fan of either. The thing with guns is that a charging bear has a very small kill zone - below the skull and in the center of the chest - that's a really small area on a moving target - you better practice a lot and get your weapon out quickly and you better be "in the zone". Have you ever seen how thick and pointed a bear skull is - bullets just deflect when the nose is pointed at you (perhaps a direct nose shot would stop the bear - that would be a lucky shot). The other problem is that guns are heavy and I've seen lots of people quit carrying them or put them in their pack where they won't help anybody.
At the end of the day - it's your call. I used to always carry a .44 in a shoulder holster when surveying in the bush - it made me stronger. After all the training and reading news articles over the years - I'm going with bear spray in a chest holster - light, easy to deploy, effective in most situations. I mostly agree with John
John Putnam, post: 449812, member: 1188 wrote: For those times when I've worked in SE AK or places with bigger bears I carry a short barreled 12 gauge. The first shell is shot just to make some noise followed by slugs.
Given how quickly bears attack, I now load all slugs if I'm carrying a shotgun.
JKinAK, post: 449814, member: 7219 wrote: I'm not sure what incident(s) you are referring to but there are lots of encounters in AK where bear spray has effectively driven the bear away.
I've had the good fortune to never have a bear charge. I've been through bear defense training and have many months in the woods. Learn To Return is a firm in Anchorage AK that provides bear guard and bear aware training and certification. Their courses cover both spray and firearms - you get class time and range time. The #1 thing is to be able to access and deploy whatever defense mechanism you carry. This has to happen very quickly - the speed of the attack is a common thread in victim interviews. Spray has the advantage of not requiring a direct hit. It also is non-lethal so you avoid a bunch of paperwork proving that you shot in defense of life - and you don't have to submit "the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to ADF&G." It has the disadvantage of not working in conditions where the wind is blowing in your face or in high winds. And you have to patient - you can only deploy from a short distance - which is probably a good thing as most charges are bluffs.
Guns have the advantage of working just fine in the wind. I'd never shoot a bear (not even a small black bear) with a .410 - you'd only wound it and it would either attack or start crying like a wounded baby - I'm not a fan of either. The thing with guns is that a charging bear has a very small kill zone - below the skull and in the center of the chest - that's a really small area on a moving target - you better practice a lot and get your weapon out quickly and you better be "in the zone". Have you ever seen how thick and pointed a bear skull is - bullets just deflect when the nose is pointed at you (perhaps a direct nose shot would stop the bear - that would be a lucky shot). The other problem is that guns are heavy and I've seen lots of people quit carrying them or put them in their pack where they won't help anybody.At the end of the day - it's your call. I used to always carry a .44 in a shoulder holster when surveying in the bush - it made me stronger. After all the training and reading news articles over the years - I'm going with bear spray in a chest holster - light, easy to deploy, effective in most situations. I mostly agree with John Given how quickly bears attack, I now load all slugs if I'm carrying a shotgun.
Even here where the bears are small you are correct. I was charged in 99 while bowhunting. The bear gave me no shot with the bow. I dropped the bow and pulled my knife. Put that under 'futile actions to keep yourself busy while dying'. Lucky for me the bear ran right on by. Probably wasnt the blade of the old timer that scared him off.
Whatever you carry, make it accessable and dont waste time with warning shots. Get down to business or become bear poop..
When I'm in the woods of Detroit, and everywhere else for that matter, I carry a Glock 19 or 43 appendix IWB. Revolvers are dumb.
JKinAK, post: 449814, member: 7219 wrote: I'm not sure what incident(s) you are referring to but there are lots of encounters in AK where bear spray has effectively driven the bear away.
I've had the good fortune to never have a bear charge. I've been through bear defense training and have many months in the woods. Learn To Return is a firm in Anchorage AK that provides bear guard and bear aware training and certification. Their courses cover both spray and firearms - you get class time and range time. The #1 thing is to be able to access and deploy whatever defense mechanism you carry. This has to happen very quickly - the speed of the attack is a common thread in victim interviews.
Spray has the advantage of not requiring a direct hit. It also is non-lethal so you avoid a bunch of paperwork proving that you shot in defense of life - and you don't have to submit "the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to ADF&G." It has the disadvantage of not working in conditions where the wind is blowing in your face or in high winds. And you have to patient - you can only deploy from a short distance - which is probably a good thing as most charges are bluffs.
Guns have the advantage of working just fine in the wind. I'd never shoot a bear (not even a small black bear) with a .410 - you'd only wound it and it would either attack or start crying like a wounded baby - I'm not a fan of either. The thing with guns is that a charging bear has a very small kill zone - below the skull and in the center of the chest - that's a really small area on a moving target - you better practice a lot and get your weapon out quickly and you better be "in the zone". Have you ever seen how thick and pointed a bear skull is - bullets just deflect when the nose is pointed at you (perhaps a direct nose shot would stop the bear - that would be a lucky shot). The other problem is that guns are heavy and I've seen lots of people quit carrying them or put them in their pack where they won't help anybody.
At the end of the day - it's your call. I used to always carry a .44 in a shoulder holster when surveying in the bush - it made me stronger. After all the training and reading news articles over the years - I'm going with bear spray in a chest holster - light, easy to deploy, effective in most situations. I mostly agree with John Given how quickly bears attack, I now load all slugs if I'm carrying a shotgun.
You bring up excellent points and bear spray is my first choice hands down. If somebody I'm with is getting mauled I'm going to hesitate using a firearm for fear of hitting the wrong target, and this is most likely the best chance I'll get to pepper spray my buddy and have him thank me later. I'm still keeping the backup though.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
JKinAK, post: 449814, member: 7219 wrote: I'm not sure what incident(s) you are referring to but there are lots of encounters in AK where bear spray has effectively driven the bear away.
I've had the good fortune to never have a bear charge. I've been through bear defense training and have many months in the woods. Learn To Return is a firm in Anchorage AK that provides bear guard and bear aware training and certification. Their courses cover both spray and firearms - you get class time and range time. The #1 thing is to be able to access and deploy whatever defense mechanism you carry. This has to happen very quickly - the speed of the attack is a common thread in victim interviews.
Spray has the advantage of not requiring a direct hit. It also is non-lethal so you avoid a bunch of paperwork proving that you shot in defense of life - and you don't have to submit "the hide, with claws attached, and the skull to ADF&G." It has the disadvantage of not working in conditions where the wind is blowing in your face or in high winds. And you have to patient - you can only deploy from a short distance - which is probably a good thing as most charges are bluffs.
Guns have the advantage of working just fine in the wind. I'd never shoot a bear (not even a small black bear) with a .410 - you'd only wound it and it would either attack or start crying like a wounded baby - I'm not a fan of either. The thing with guns is that a charging bear has a very small kill zone - below the skull and in the center of the chest - that's a really small area on a moving target - you better practice a lot and get your weapon out quickly and you better be "in the zone". Have you ever seen how thick and pointed a bear skull is - bullets just deflect when the nose is pointed at you (perhaps a direct nose shot would stop the bear - that would be a lucky shot). The other problem is that guns are heavy and I've seen lots of people quit carrying them or put them in their pack where they won't help anybody.
At the end of the day - it's your call. I used to always carry a .44 in a shoulder holster when surveying in the bush - it made me stronger. After all the training and reading news articles over the years - I'm going with bear spray in a chest holster - light, easy to deploy, effective in most situations. I mostly agree with John Given how quickly bears attack, I now load all slugs if I'm carrying a shotgun.
News report says bear spray wasn't effective. Don't know how accurate the news is. Our local bear guy says bear spray not real effective on Black Bears. Hope I never have to actually find out.
sirveyr, post: 449818, member: 6680 wrote: When I'm in the woods of Detroit, and everywhere else for that matter, I carry a Glock 19 or 43 appendix IWB. Revolvers are dumb.
Revolvers have a place at the table. It just depends on the need. The versatile and large loads for revolvers make them a great choice in the woods.
Big fan of 357. I'd carry a 10mm, but I like having shot shells for snakes, and they aren't reliable in my opinion in autos. In my parts the 357 is the most powerful enough handgun in the world. Probably would feel differently in big bear country.
S&W governor. First two #4 for snake taming. Second two .45LC. If I have to get to the third set it??s hornady personal protection .410. It has a hollow point slug and two 30 cal balls. Of course if that doesn??t do it for you they make specialty rounds that have ball and chain. Or disks. Or fire. Pick your poison so to speak. Fire may do a good deterrent for the first shot.
I don't know about the Judge for bears or mountain lions. I'm sure it would be great for people which is exactly what it was designed for but dangerous animals are a different story.
I would want more power. The Ruger sp101 is good. I carry a 45 but any gun is a good gun when you don't have one. I would recommend something more powerful. Taurus makes some inexpensive large caliber revolvers. I think one is called the Raging Bull.