Cycletroll
Member
Mainsail,
Thanks for sharing your photos! I spend a great deal of time hiking here in the Southern Rockies of New Mexico and seeing your home terrain is a welcome contrast
As to preparedness on the trails:
This thread has brought up some interesting (and some not so interesting or polite) observations about preparedness. I have a personal mantra about packing my own chute which boils down to being the most preparred I can at any given time. There are many factors which contribute to what I carry on a given day; some is rational (experienced) assessment, some is guessing, and some times it just boils down to following your gut.
I have spent 30+ years outdoors in the mtns of NC and NM and have seen my share of bears, mtn. lions and crazy humanoids.
The only potentially dangerous bear situation was a mama bear who decided the bunch of us mtn. bikers were a threat do her cubs and charged. Fortunately we had a long downhill meadow and were able to haul ass and keep ahead of her until she figured we were not a threat anymore. Had I been on foot without a firearm I would have been a bear taco! She was pissed!
Generally in my experience wild animal don't attack people unless they are scared, injured, pissed, or starving. In any of these cases I don't believe bear spray will do didly!
BTW, my usual rig for weight conscious hiking/Hunting backup is a S&W 386 Mtn. Lite (3" L-frame Ti/Scandium 7-shot .357). fully loaded it goes 23oz. I usally carry it with a wadcutter 1st chamber (never know when you might get a shot at a tasty grouse or bunny, followed by 2 or 3 125gr Barnes DPX (work on humans and mtn. lions and small black bears) followed by 3 or 4 180gr Hornady XTP's@1100fps (expand to .52 or so and penetrate 5 gallon jugs. Sometimes I put a 180 or 200 gr hardcast as the last shot for Hail Mary penetrate anything load.
I usually carry one speed loader of 180gr XTP's.
As pointed out by Mainsail and others, the likelihood is that you will never need a gun in the forest, so weight is a concern. I have pistols in many sizes and shapes but given that I probably won't encounter 200 Zombies in the woods and my .357 will easily kill any critter I will run to should it decide to attack me, weight, accuracy, power, and reliability all favor the 386Sc.
YMMV
Thanks for sharing your photos! I spend a great deal of time hiking here in the Southern Rockies of New Mexico and seeing your home terrain is a welcome contrast
As to preparedness on the trails:
This thread has brought up some interesting (and some not so interesting or polite) observations about preparedness. I have a personal mantra about packing my own chute which boils down to being the most preparred I can at any given time. There are many factors which contribute to what I carry on a given day; some is rational (experienced) assessment, some is guessing, and some times it just boils down to following your gut.
I have spent 30+ years outdoors in the mtns of NC and NM and have seen my share of bears, mtn. lions and crazy humanoids.
The only potentially dangerous bear situation was a mama bear who decided the bunch of us mtn. bikers were a threat do her cubs and charged. Fortunately we had a long downhill meadow and were able to haul ass and keep ahead of her until she figured we were not a threat anymore. Had I been on foot without a firearm I would have been a bear taco! She was pissed!
Generally in my experience wild animal don't attack people unless they are scared, injured, pissed, or starving. In any of these cases I don't believe bear spray will do didly!
BTW, my usual rig for weight conscious hiking/Hunting backup is a S&W 386 Mtn. Lite (3" L-frame Ti/Scandium 7-shot .357). fully loaded it goes 23oz. I usally carry it with a wadcutter 1st chamber (never know when you might get a shot at a tasty grouse or bunny, followed by 2 or 3 125gr Barnes DPX (work on humans and mtn. lions and small black bears) followed by 3 or 4 180gr Hornady XTP's@1100fps (expand to .52 or so and penetrate 5 gallon jugs. Sometimes I put a 180 or 200 gr hardcast as the last shot for Hail Mary penetrate anything load.
I usually carry one speed loader of 180gr XTP's.
As pointed out by Mainsail and others, the likelihood is that you will never need a gun in the forest, so weight is a concern. I have pistols in many sizes and shapes but given that I probably won't encounter 200 Zombies in the woods and my .357 will easily kill any critter I will run to should it decide to attack me, weight, accuracy, power, and reliability all favor the 386Sc.
YMMV