Countering dangerous game while hunting

[Bearhunter]

I have had white knuckle encounters with both bear and cougar and two legged humans at point blank shoot from the hip proximities...  Nothing to be afraid of but things can go south in a hurry.  As long as you have some sort of weapon and are proficient with it you are fine.  I even missed a cat at 10 yards with my bow hitting a lodge pole pine solidly and loudly and the cat didnt move allowing me another this time lethal shot, you never know what attitude the animal you are going to run into is going to have.... I do not go in the woods anymore without a weapon of some sort to many encounters over the years....

[6haase6]

Taurus raging judge magnum loaded with six 454 casull rounds always has a home on my chest when I go in the woods and with 45 long colts when I'm hunting the sage at home. Mostly pack the 454 in the woods for the quick shots with an elk. A few years back I had a cow and a calf get spooked to me when we were pushing the woods and they were there and gone and so close I didn't have a chance in hell to make a shot if one was a spike.

[Rooster1981]

I've completely switched over from modern to muzzy, and I also wanted a back up for my hawkens. I don't own any side arms and even though they are now legal to carry while hunting big game with a muzzleloader, I wanted to stay away from them. So I ended up buying a 50 cal trapper as a back up. It is legal to hunt with and is a fun little piece to shoot. They are good out to about thirty yards. I only think I would need it to put down a animal for a fallow up shot.

  I have never been worried about bear or cougar attacks while hunting, and I have had several encounters with bear at 5 yards of less. My first bear encounter was when I was 14 before the ban on hound hunting. Me and my buddy were grouse hunting behind my dads house. We saw a bird fly up in to a tree and were looking for it. I walked up to an old growth stump and on the other side was in my opinion a 250-300 lb boar eating huckleberries. I didn't know he was there until I walked around the stump and litterly walked face to face with the bear. We had a staring contest while my buddy was standing behind me with our shotgun. I yelled at the bear and got no response so my buddy decided to shoot the gun in the air. All I remember was running like hell in the other direction after I heard the shot. We walked back to my dads place and grabbed my hounds & my 30-06, went back to the bear siting and walked the track for a mile until it crossed the black top. Never saw that bear again. We were legal with tags and hound stamps.

[dawei]

As a Disabled Veteran hunter I have physical limitations. I can't flee if I have to. Whenever I am hunting Deer, Elk, or spring Gobblers  I carry a handgun (in addition to my rifle or shotgun). I don't worry so much about Bear as I can usually see, hear, and often small a bear. I am much more concerned with encountering a cougar. Most of the time you don't know if there is a cougar around until it has ambushed you. When that happens, & you are knocked down; your long gun has been knocked away. Consequently I ALWAYS have my 41 Magnum on me whenever I'm in the woods.

[brokehunter]

 

The truth is one should always carry. Why? Because the fact is, you just don't know. You do not know what you are going to face out there. Period. What is the old scout motto? Be prepared? One should be while spending time in the woods. Whether it's bears, cougars, tweakers, or just idiots. You NEVER know what could happen. And what if you trip or accidentally drop your rifle or muzzle loader or shot gun, or stumble and fill the barrel with mud? Now all you have is a heavy stick. As mentioned earlier I would rather carry and not need it, then not carry and need it. I'll even carry my little snub .38 with me even for short trips. A person's life and well being are worth far more than negligence.

True, chances are you will never need a weapon, but what if you do? Think you can play forest ninja and "Jackie Chan" a cougar or strung out tweakers into a submission hold? Would make a great movie, but is very doubtful. Guess it depends on what your comfortable with. If your kungfu is strong, and you graduated top honors at the school of Rambo, then no worries I guess As for me I'll always carry a sidearm. Because really, ya never know!