A firearm for my B
I'm considering some trips out west and in some wilderness areas here in the east/north. I've never seen the need to have a gun to protect myself from humans and I've been to some pretty rough places ...
Forum Discussion
I think you’re overly concerned about the wildlife; the two legged varmints are the ones to watch out for. I’ve hunted and hiked remote country all my life and have had my encounters with wildlife, too. I once had a lion track alongside of me, periodically screaming, while I was deer hunting. To say my senses were on high alert would be an understatement. But he finally went on his way. And I was once tracked by a bear when I left camp before daylight to walk out to my hunting area. I had a feeling I was being followed and cut my trail. It was light enough to see, then, and I saw bear tracks and thought I wish it had been light enough to see them on the way out. Then I realized his tracks were on top of mine, so he had been following me. Just curious, I guess. My son had a hairier experience sitting on a boulder and watching a draw while deer hunting. He heard a fawn bleat and then a lion landed right in front of him, close enough to poke with his rifle barrel. While he was trying to slowly inch his rifle muzzle around the fawn bleated again and the lion was gone. All he remembers is big and muscles.
Any wild animal can be dangerous if you just stumble over him at close range and startle him. So if you’re hiking you need to be alert to everything around you. I once took a trail in Yellowstone and saw a grizzly ahead of me on the trail with an elk down. I saw him first and discretion being the better part of valor, I went the other way. Speaking of grizzlies, have you heard the old joke about how can you tell grizzly scat from black bear? Grizzly scat has little bells in it and smalls like pepper spray.:D I talked to a ranger in the Tetons a couple of years ago.He carried bear spray, which worked most of the time. When it didn’t he also had a 44 Mag as his last resort.
If you were a shooter I might suggest a lever action .348 or similar. Fast action and a big, heavy bullet. Or a 12ga. With rifled slugs. But realistically both would be a PITA to carry on a hike. And that’s aggravated by the fact you don’t like guns and are a little afraid of them and unlikely to do any serious shooting. So I agree with Mandalay Par, I really don’t think you’re a candidate to carry a gun and should look at your other options.
Any wild animal can be dangerous if you just stumble over him at close range and startle him. So if you’re hiking you need to be alert to everything around you. I once took a trail in Yellowstone and saw a grizzly ahead of me on the trail with an elk down. I saw him first and discretion being the better part of valor, I went the other way. Speaking of grizzlies, have you heard the old joke about how can you tell grizzly scat from black bear? Grizzly scat has little bells in it and smalls like pepper spray.:D I talked to a ranger in the Tetons a couple of years ago.He carried bear spray, which worked most of the time. When it didn’t he also had a 44 Mag as his last resort.
If you were a shooter I might suggest a lever action .348 or similar. Fast action and a big, heavy bullet. Or a 12ga. With rifled slugs. But realistically both would be a PITA to carry on a hike. And that’s aggravated by the fact you don’t like guns and are a little afraid of them and unlikely to do any serious shooting. So I agree with Mandalay Par, I really don’t think you’re a candidate to carry a gun and should look at your other options.
