Handgun while archery hunting?

[mighteywhitehunter]

I carry a S&W 686 Plus. It is a 7 shot .357 mag when it is legal to do so, and always when I am hunting Grizz country along with Bear Spray. I have yet to have any close encounters, luckily.

 

[Vaquero 45]

Me carry Kemosabe a mdl 69 smithy combat mag , 5 shot 44 MAG , 2 3/4 " barrel. Or a 45 ACP Springfield XDM .......

 

[markanderson12]

I live in Wisconsin. I dont hunt in the northern part of the state very often anymore but when I do I carry my 40. When I was around 20 a buddy and I were bow hunting and he had a bear come and i wouldnt leave. We didnt have any cell service so his dad ended up having to finally go in looking for him and ran the bear off with the 4 wheeler. So from them on we would both carry just incase something odd like that happened again. While rifle hunting up in northern wisconsin in the dark i stumped right in the middle of a fresh wolf kill. They spooked and ran off but all day long I kept seeing them come in and out trying to go back to the fresh doe they killed but them knowing I was there they woulndt come in. Just odd things over the last 15 years so I carry just to make myself feel better. Im sure ill never have to pull out the glock but it makes me feel a little better having it with me.

 

[High Climber]

9mm shield in IWB holster right front pocket

 

[Dioni A]

I carry a SIG p365 x macro all the time in a deadfall design chest plate that attaches to my binocular harness.

 

[ProRoad]

Glock 20 in 10mm with Buffalo Bore Hard Cast Heavy Outdoorsman. https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=219 . Switching in 2026 to the Sig P320 XTEN Endure. Also going under the bino harness as I am tired of dragging my barrell in the dirt when I sit down. 10mm is the most satisfying round on the planet, though I have still not shot a 45-70.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

I work in law enforcement, so my perspective may be a little skewed, so take it for what it’s worth. I always carry everywhere I go, woods included. I have had an extremely uncomfortable close encounter with a grizz, and also tons of stories of two-legged animals behaving badly in the wilderness as well.

I carry my old duty pistol when I hunt; a Glock 21 that I carried for years on my hip that I know like the back of my hand.

 

[aks]

10mm with a chest holster. But, I hunt in grizz country

 

[mjh]

In MN handgun carry while archery hunting bear—-legal.

Archery hunting other species and having a CC permit—legal carry.

Archery hunting other species NO CC permit—handgun carry NOT legal.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Yep,to many idiots in the woods.

 

[jtevanMT]

Glock 29 on hip belt of Exo K4. Going to try a Venadi holster in 2026 to always have the gun with me. I hunt in Griz areas. Had a sow/cub at 25 yards and a boar at 5 yards this season. Gun came out both times, but fortunately no shots fired.

 

[a_noob_hunter]

Springfield XDM 10mm on my hip. Primary hunt in griz country but like everyone else I pretty much always carry when in the mountains. Always rather have it than wish for it

 

[Yaremkiv]

XDM Elite 10mm in a Gunfighters Inc. Kodiak chest holster under the bino harness.

 

[bucksanducks12]

In Michigan, I don’t have to worry about anything too scary besides other two leggeds. We can carry handguns during archery season with a concealed permit.

I just started hunting with a recurve this year, and find myself packing around my ruger super black hawk 44mag in a gunfighters inc Kenai chest holster. I figure it fills the gap for me if a deer decides to try and squirt around me in the 20-50yd range! (Currently archery buck/late antlerless firearms season so I can shoot a doe with the 44).

 

[archp625]

I'm sure this was asked more for the western bow hunter but I am going to start carrying a pistol in MO. I have stumbled on some weird things this year in the parking lots at the public land that hunt. I thought to myself its me vs them in the middle of nowhere and I possibly brought a knife to a gun fight.