Bow Hunters and Side Arms

[ScottinPA]

Here in PA, no sidearm.

Hunting out west - depends on where I'm hunting. In grizz country I'll carry my Ruger Alaskan 454. If no grizz, I'd probably not carry at all.

 

[Cockeye]

Here is my setup

 

[87TT]

I am 66 years old and have run amok in the woods all my life. I have never been harmed by an animal and for the most part don't worry about it much. I am also a Sheepdog. I carry all day everyday. I have also never needed to fire a weapon in anger or fear. I carry a handgun for the same reason I carry an Inreach. I don't want to be a victim or a statistic. Just because it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it won't.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Nuther 24/7 carrier. This is one reason why I don't bow hunt Commiefornia anymore, seen 5 or 6 lions and sidearms are not allowed. I am always strapped when hunting, fishing or camping. Mostly for 2 legged threats but ya never know.

 

[Downeaster]

Started typing all sorts of experiences and reasons why i believe one should carry....Deleted it all. If youve been lucky so far, no words are gonna change your mind. If shit goes south and you find yourself in that loneliest place...unarmed, i guess you had it coming. Maybe some people live in a place where meth heads dont exist and a 30lb coyote is the biggest predator youll find. In that case rock on.
For the rest of us i say be prepared. Is 26 or so oz. on your chest too much to maybe save your life or spare your loved ones from hearing about your scattered remains?
Ymmv, but be safe as you can be.

 

[Copen1822]

24/7 including while hunting.

I look at it like wearing a seat belt. I dont wear a seat belt because I expect to get in a car wreck nor do I drive more recklessly because I have a seat belt. I wear a seat belt because accidents happen and other people are crazy.

Same concept for carrying a gun.


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[Beendare]

Have heard many of you guys mention carrying a sidearm because of the 2 legged predators...have any of you really had any issues in the back country?

Once held at gunpoint by some pot growers on a private ranch we had permission to hunt out of Gualala [nor cal coast] We used to run dogs for hogs and though the LO gave us permission she had no idea her foreman was growing pot on the back of her ranch. This one could have been really bad as you could see it in their eyes they were trying to figure out if they could get away with it.

Another time on the big Island public ground- again pot growers- but I was with a buddy out of Hilo so that de-escalated quickly.

Both of those were decades ago...now folks just grow in their backyard.

 

[smacha538]

24/7 including while hunting.

I look at it like wearing a seat belt. I dont wear a seat belt because I expect to get in a car wreck nor do I drive more recklessly because I have a seat belt. I wear a seat belt because accidents happen and other people are crazy.

Same concept for carrying a gun.


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Couldn’t have said it any better.


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[fwafwow]

During archery season last year, I had a run in with a mountain lion while bow hunting in Colorado. I was sitting down at the base of a tree looking over my map when the next thing I know, there's a mountain lion about 75 yards or so away just looking at me. It wasn't very big and it wasn't hissing or showing any signs of aggression. It was just watching me. I'll be perfectly honest, I felt I was going to need to change my shorts. I didn't want to move for fear of upsetting it so I just watched it with my bow in hand, pepper spray in the other and my sheath already unbuttoned from my knife. What kept running through my mind was that I wish I had a side arm with me. After about three minutes, which felt like forever, it just turned and walked off.

Do you carry a side arm with you when bow hunting?

Where in CO (generally - not looking for honey hole)?

 

[BradNSW]

Can't while bow hunting in CA. I was screamed at by two cats, one on each side, one night on the way back to my tent. Wasn't a good feeling the way the hair on the back of my neck wouldn't go down! Actually saw the eyes and head of the closest, across a small drywash, in my headlamp. 100yds from my tent. Cooked in my tent that night...I think it was this pair, which I caught on one of my game cameras a few days later.

I carried the first year elk hunting with a bow in Idaho. Next years I ditched the pistol and kept the bear spray. Keep it in my right cargo pocket.

 

[87TT]

My .357 S&W 340PD weighs less than bear spray and handier too.

 

[Violent Hippie]

I've mostly always carried when in the deep woods even as a youngster. Just the culture I grew up in.Raised bye a Vietnam vet outdoorsman who carried daily and was an FFL. I'm a Vet and also a CCW holder that trains regularly as any firearms user should so when I started bow hunting in CA around 15 years ago it was hard for me to get over emotional hurdle of the CA Law making carry while archery hunting illegal. It was just a foreign concept to me . I eventually thought it through and followed the law as it states carrying no firearm while bow hunting and have never had an issue even with multiple close up bear encounters. In the areas of CA and CO I hunt i'm 100 % content with only bear spray on my chest rig. I've used the spray literally over a dozen times with the local trash bears and back country bears with good results . I've had the wind shift on me and return the favor making my eyes swell as well and know the limitations. I'm a fan . Lighter too.

 

[kda082]

After the last Meateater podcast on cartel weed grows I wouldn’t want to hunt CA without a sidearm or more.

 

[MattB]

24/7 including while hunting.

I look at it like wearing a seat belt. I dont wear a seat belt because I expect to get in a car wreck nor do I drive more recklessly because I have a seat belt. I wear a seat belt because accidents happen and other people are crazy.

Same concept for carrying a gun.


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When heading into the backcountry we don't have the benefit of bringing everything we would like to address the variety of situations we could face simply due to weight/space constraints. I've always been of the mind that, if my bow was adequate for killing my intended quarry, it could be pressed into a self defense role in the highly unlikely case it was needed. That makes a side arms duplicative in most cases.

 

[Johnson27]

Mine is a Springfield XDM 45. On me at almost all times.

 

[rtaylor]

I also carry all the time. I've turned into a sissy over the last few years and my carry guns keep getting smaller and lighter. Carrying Ruger LCP 2. I've been held at gunpoint on 3 different occasions and being helpless is a feeling that is hard to describe. Not too worried about 4 legged creatures but maybe that's because I carry.

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

I have a buddy here in Montana that's been jumped on twice by a mountain lion and still doesn't carry a sidearm

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That's crazy!

 

[Kilboars]

I carry a glock 29 10mm for blood trailing big boar hogs down here in FL.


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[Elk97]

I hunt in grizzly areas. Carry a 357 mag and spray. Partner carries 44 mag and spray. I would carry even in non griz area, why not?

 

[Beni]

I would if it was an option here.

With a decent Grizzly population and a very high Black Bear population here in BC it would sure be nice. Spray or a shotgun are our only real options. Its a little ridiculous