Woods carry; more critical than CCW?

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Yesterday, I went out into the Idaho mountains to do some huckleberry picking with my great dane/lab mix.

The area is fairly remote with the nearest town of 1200 about 15 miles away. Cell service is spotty. Emergency response would be around an hour.

Lots of black bears and wolves in the area. Grizzly country is another 50 miles or so to the East. This time of year, these large huckleberry patches are magnets for bears.

Years ago when I was a young kid, I was picking huckleberries while my dad was cutting firewood nearby. A bear came into the patch, got between me and where my dad was sawing, and started following me with my pail of berries. I tried to stay calm and kept moving away from the bear, but he kept coming. I eventually ended up running full speed down the mountain to a creek, falling over, losing all the berries, and had to back track a mile or so back up to where my dad was. The bear lost interest once I dropped the bucket of berries, duh...

But, it was a pretty terrifying experience for a kid, and I've been armed in the woods ever since.

When I was getting ready to leave for yesterday's excursion, I grabbed my go-to woods gun; a Glock G29 Gen 4 in 10mm. It has a KKM 4.5" barrel, Dawson fiber optic sights, and an X-Grip adapter so I can run a G20 15-round magazine with my custom reloads which feature my own 200gr hard cast bullets.

Besides the abundance of predators in the woods, there is also the increasingly common incidents involving two-legged threats that are often either drunk or high.

I've had more sketchy encounters with people in the woods than I have in the small towns around here.

Yesterday, as I was working a berry patch, I thought I heard a bear moving through the brush within 100yds away. I double-checked my Glock and verified that a round was chambered and my shirt wasn't obstructing my draw.

It occurred to me that I was more likely to have to use my weapon out here than I was in town.

Yet I haven't actually practiced drawing and firing my G29 like I have my CCW pistol, which is a S&W M&P40c.

Point of the thread really isn't to debate what you carry in the woods, or caliber, or whatever, but to see if others regularly train with their woods carry guns like they do/should with their CCW weapons.

And the obligatory pics of the beautiful Idaho backcountry and my ugly Glock...

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With a dog yes. It runs faster than you and when faced with danger it will likely run toward you bringing angry beast in tow.
 
In my mountains we have lots of deer and bears but my concern when out working my dogs is rapid coons, coyotes, and free range dogs. Actual feral dogs are not a problem at this time but there are some untrained house dogs that want to attack my bird dogs. Pepper spray is not effective but a shot of 22 bird shot from my NAA Black Widow solves the situation. Doing hunting season I usually harvest a couple of deer with the 44 spl I also carry. It is sad that i often see more deer than grouse when bird hunting.
 
It's out in the woods and wilderness where open carry trumps conceal carry and is the only logical time to do it simply because the gun carried is likely to be larger than the typical CCW 9mm today so concealing it would be challenging and/or uncomfortable, draw speed is increased, and your less likely to have any issues with snagging.

While bear sightings are rare, they're becoming more common, but they're not big bears. Nothing a .357 can't handle. Really, it's the small animals I'm more concerned with like coons, skunks, possums. Given the size they're not the easiest to hit and if they're rabid it would suck to get bit by one. For those, the .410 revolvers with #4 bird are a good solution. Would be nice if the ATF boys realized the sporting defense value of a smoothbore .410 pistol and rule that they're not classified as short barrel shotguns or AOW's.
 
It's out in the woods and wilderness where open carry trumps conceal carry and is the only logical time to do it simply because the gun carried is likely to be larger than the typical CCW 9mm today so concealing it would be challenging and/or uncomfortable, draw speed is increased, and your less likely to have any issues with snagging.

While bear sightings are rare, they're becoming more common, but they're not big bears. Nothing a .357 can't handle. Really, it's the small animals I'm more concerned with like coons, skunks, possums. Given the size they're not the easiest to hit and if they're rabid it would suck to get bit by one. For those, the .410 revolvers with #4 bird are a good solution. Would be nice if the ATF boys realized the sporting defense value of a smoothbore .410 pistol and rule that they're not classified as short barrel shotguns or AOW's.
Don't forget about hornets! One of the spots where we hunt is a hemlock swamp with a creek going through it. Lots of over turned trees with root balls on them. Hornets /wasps(whatever they are) love making nests in them. Last year while clearing shooting lanes I did not see the one nest and I got stung right in the earhole,OMG that sucked LOL,glad I'm not allergic, but for those who are it could have been a whole different situation.

Anyways I think the OP made a good point about how often times the gun you woods bum with isn't always your edc carry. My woods bumming guns are a smith 3" model 60 and a 4 5/8" 45 colt Blackhawk. Depending on the activities. I shoot my Blackhawk and single six more than any other gun, so I'm more comfortable with them. My model 60 was my CCW, and still is on occasion so I'm pretty well versed with that. After reading the OP, it got me thinking that it may be a good idea to practice more yet because I feel you are much more likely to use a firearm while in the woods than you are while out an about in town.

@TTv2 , while I agree with open carry being easier to deploy ,some states are CCW only states. However as long as some sort of garmet covers it up you're good. Not that anyone is going to hastle you in the woods. A high riding holster with a t-shirt is sufficient . I usually bring my owb and iwb holster with the model 60. Owb when we hit the hunting property , than put on the iwb when we head back to town/home incase we stop off at a few places on the way.
 
Humans looking to commit crimes are more likely to go to where they’ll also find people. So they can case a bunch, to find an easy mark.

Still... in the woods, mr. 4” GP-100 gives me peace of mind.
 
Unless we're talking grizzly bears, something like a .40 or .45 is perfect for both woods and "social" carry, easy to practice with and enough power to work on black bears and such. Both can be loaded much warmer than standard factory loads if need be, but that said, factory ammo is generally enough in those. In other words, most don't really need a dedicated woods gun, that is unless you're in grizzly country, at which point I'd suggest a big bore revolver.
 
Unless we're talking grizzly bears, something like a .40 or .45 is perfect for both woods and "social" carry, easy to practice with and enough power to work on black bears and such. Both can be loaded much warmer than standard factory loads if need be, but that said, factory ammo is generally enough in those. In other words, most don't really need a dedicated woods gun, that is unless you're in grizzly country, at which point I'd suggest a big bore revolver.

I look at it like this, a “dedicated woods gun” is a gun for which I am actively using to hunt something. In that case, hand me a large bore revolver. We can skip that caliber/SA/DA debate today. If I’m just bumming around, then I’m comfortable with a 45 in either 1911 or Glock. When bumming and I get into an encounter then I’m just trying to get the hell outta there so I’m going to shoot and retreat.
 
Humans looking to commit crimes are more likely to go to where they’ll also find people. So they can case a bunch, to find an easy mark.

Still... in the woods, mr. 4” GP-100 gives me peace of mind.

I think you'd be surprised. There are a lot of very evil people in the world who know that the odds of you being caught go way down once you're away from the towns and cities. I think that some percentage of the people who "vanish without a trace" in the woods either found an illicit still or someone cooking Meth. I'm also certain that there are people living among us who get off on murdering people who go to the woods to hunt.
 
I hike alot in North Central Wisconsin. My go to carry is a S&W 28 4" loaded with 168 gr SWC over a stout load of 2400. We have Black bears, wolves, coyotes, and couger plus 2 legged varmints. In really warm weather I pack my Shield 9mm with Gold dots.
 
I am in Texas and we have bears, mountain lions and a few other dangerous animals.

When i go to the range i practice with all the weapons i own. From my little 380, to my 9mm, my 45acps, 45 colt/410 and even my 454 casull.

As far as what i woods carry. It depends on what i might encounter. If i am in your neck of the woods, colorado, utah etc.... ill carry my 454.

In Texas in usually just carry my bond arms 45 colt/410 with 410 defense rounds well as my 9mm with a couple of 15 round mags. This combo will kills just about anything i come across in Texas. 4 legged or the 2 legged illegal drug/human trafficker kind.

And yes i have come across a few swimmin the river here in texas
 
Don't really have "woods" in my neck of Texas more brush country. Unless I'm out hunting for hogs or deer the .44 or .45 stays at home. While hiking the .38 is plenty. Keep a couple of shotshells for any snakes and the only animal concerns would be feral dogs,.snake, MAYBE and it's a big freaking maybe, a coyote or mountain cat but again .38 is more than enough for those thin skinned things. Although with the influx of illegals who may not necessarily be your friend especially when they see someone of their own color tone and a Confederate flag shirt on maybe the hi cap 9mm should also be worn even on light hikes.
 
I'm no hiker but I do have a few handguns I could use in the woods. S&W 69 .44 Mag.4", G 21SF .45 Auto. G 40 10mm. to name a few.
 
A couple times a year I head out to clear trails on a couple of tracts, the only critters are the slitherin kind. My Ruger Standard .22 is always among my trail clearing tools. On occasion I run across a copperhead or moccasin.
 
I usually tote my Ruger SP101 with FMJ, but have gone to actually toting a rifle way back in the woods here. No such thing as cell coverage in most of the area we like to camp and fish, and if one of my dogs got in a tangle with something I feel more comfortable hitting something with a rifle rather than a pistol. My favorite is my Marlin 336, vintage ca1955, or my similarly aged Savage 99 in 308. I don't usually hike fast and light anyway anymore, so the rifle doesn't hinder me much.
 
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