Preferred sidearm for hunting and or camping/hiking

[Sobrbiker]

Around town, XD9 or (gasp!) DB9 in back pocket.
In the field, 10mm 1911.

 

[Elkdreamer]

EDC is a 9mm. Last year i learned a valuable lesson while bow hunting. It is a Smith & Wesson PD329 in 44 mag this year. To much power said no one ever. Haha

 

[Coltondudley35]

Glock 19 for me

 

[ksduckhunter]

My EDC is a G43 w/ magazine extension. In my AO there are no more threats in the wild than on the streets - no reason to change when I'm hunting. I do mix it up from time to time and carry me S&W model 18.

 

[Sharticus007]

Glock 20SF with 6 rounds in the magazine so its fair for my buddies with revolvers.

 

[eartotheground]

EDC is a 9mm. Last year i learned a valuable lesson while bow hunting. It is a Smith & Wesson PD329 in 44 mag this year. To much power said no one ever. Haha

this video is a perfect example of why i carry a glock 20 instead of a similar length 44.

i personally am not a huge guy and just dont have the pure strength to control a 44 round from a short barrel. ill admit it. id much rather have 15+1 rounds of 10mm that i can control and have a chance at hitting the animal.

 

[11boo]

Why add the weight, especially in non-grizz country?

Plenty of reasons, but mainly due to the fact that 3 shots from a gun carry farther than 3 from a bow.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Non griz country I carry my PMR 30...2lbs fully loaded with 30rds...otherwise G29.

 

[RDG_RNR]

Glock 20 (10mm) w/ a streamlight, loaded w/ buffalo bore in a razco holster attached to the bottom of my bino pack if hunting archery.

Glock 19 (9mm) if hiking/camping and not way in the back country.

Usually don't carry anything else if I have my rifle on me.

Plus variety is nice...

I put a judicious holster on my packs hip belt, but I’m curious how your rigging a holster to your bino harness. I like to leave my pack to explore sometime, and this would travel better

 

[Jackal7]

Glock 20 10mm with night sights when in griz country. Otherwise, in black bear country (and with a new problem cougar that hangs around our property in the Midwest) I carry a SA XD in .45.

 

[Spoonman]

Glock 29 here!

 

[CougarBlue]

Glock 29 as well. It's been the perfect sidearm for what I do. Plus, I love the versatility to load it up with a G20 mag or keep it smaller with the factory magazine if I wanted to carry it in a smaller HPG kit bag.

 

[lmeyer]

Just got a Glock 43. What holster y'all using? How are you attaching it? Can decide if I want to run it on my agc Bino harness or on belt of my MR Beartooth.

 

[TheGDog]

When in D15, Sig p238 .380 Staggered With LeHigh Penetrator vs Defender.
When in D11, D13 in black bear areas, Ruger Security Six .357 4" w/ Barnes XPB's in it.

Why? Because one night in D15 when I had to go back in to fetch my tent and other stuff after hiking out the meat... had to walk past 7.... that's right.... 7... MtnLions that were just below the trail a bit, maybe 80yds down into this Ravine the trail semi-circles around. 3 Adults, 4 Juveniles. And me with my pack all smellin' like deer blood, lovely. Oh yeah.. and I stupidly left my headlamp in the tent, and the hand flashlight started to act like the batteries where gonna die about 1/2 mile away from that scene! You can NOT imagine the terror I felt, as a still very n00b hunter with only my 2nd kill under my belt... at having to turn off that flashlight to conserve the battery. It was half moonlit night, so I could see the trail pretty ok, but when there were turns and twists that went into dark nooks I can't see, I'd shine it on real quick to check, then turn it off again. Was SO relieved to get back to the tent and illumination! And you best believe was checking behind me like every 30secs or so for the rest of the night! Eek!

Why? Because in D11 I was woken up in the middle of the night by "the funk" wafting over my tent! This is in a place where I was looking for Black Bears, and had previously had face-to-face encounters @20yds and @40yds twice in one day there in the past. With some other guys we'd also jumped them at a watering hole walking back outta there at last light one time. Man, that is a very nervy sound, to all of a sudden hear a black bear leap the hell out of a watering hole and book-it! Especially when you're not expecting it! Made all three of us startle a bit! I was bringing up the rear.

It's been a curse too because those encounters drive me to keep hiking back down into there each year to try for Bear and it majorly sucks coming out of there because it's all uphill coming back out, and like 7 miles. And it freaking kills me. Sometimes though... going in there, if I have to bring more water because it's a dry year, I have chanced it with just the BearSpray before. But I think about if I have to discharge that from within the tent and that thought makes me cringe, because I know how bad that stuff burns like the sun!

Also ya notice real quick that with an old school revolver, with no night sights, you'd be screwed if you have to aim at something in the middle of the night. At least with that Sig P238 those nice fat chunky night sights are super easy to see, even without my glasses on.

Part of why I'm reading this thread because I kinda want to get a lighter weight, but stronger than .380 pistol for those black bear areas. So looking at what everybody is listing here. Been heavily leaning toward Glock 29.

 

[Huntindog45]

I am almost 50, I spend 50-75 nights a year in the woods, i have my ccw, carry on ocasion but largely have that just so i dont get in trouble when i have my pistola in my truckola. I cannot think of a single time i ever thought...damn if only i had my pistol now. i have even had close bear and cat encounters and no way in hell would i have had to shoot them even if i did. i get that there may be a time i regret it but i am just not that paranoid about it. I swear most hunters i know are bigger scaredy cat sissies than all of the vegan tree loving hikers i know. shit they spend hundreds of days in the woods (based totally on the fact they smell like they spend hundreds of days in the woods) and none of them even begin to consider a side arm and they all seem to survive. i guess what i am saying. relax...its really not that scary out there. so yah your sig 10 mm will be big enough to handle anything you encounter in colorado up to and including sasquatch. (you have a better chance of seeing sasquatch than you will have of needing your pistol for anything).


...and yes if i was in grizzly country i may rethink that a little...but if i am hunting with my rifle... i think that will be fine.

 

[Elkdreamer]

Just got a Glock 43. What holster y'all using? How are you attaching it? Can decide if I want to run it on my agc Bino harness or on belt of my MR Beartooth.

I run a Ivory Holsters EMG on my Exo pack belt. I own several of them and they work really well for me.

 

[Chaoscarson]

Hello all,
Still relatively new to hunting in general and I wanted to get some input about what people carry when out in the woods.
I am going out to Colorado this year for Elk bow season. I was thinking about bringing my SIG 220 10mm as my sidearm.
What do you guys carry?

 

[Chaoscarson]

I generally carry my trusty 1911 .45 sure it’s heavy but if I run out of ammo I have a hammer to fight back with!

 

[smith406]

 

[Opah]

Around camp when weight is not an issue I love to wear my western tooled leather holster and my mirror finished stainless 357 Colt Python. A hunting Bud called a Pimp gun.
And hunting my CZ 32 just as a finishing gun, small light compact