I have not tried a PA but really really want to.
I have two thompson renegades in 54. One cap and one flint, so I tend to agree on the best all around hunting caliber. Timber tigers to moose! The flint is the one I shoot.
Nothing like finding yourself in a cloud of smoke from a charge of real black going off!
Yikes! So many guns. I think I’ll stay north of the border.
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I need a brown bess in my life at some point.
1200 bucks, track of the wolf. You can thank me later.
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Old school baby! A Bud of mine liked a 357 snubby as there was a place to hide it in his HD cycle. A friend likes wheel guns as that’s what he used for hog hunting. My wife has a 357 snubby she got when a restraining order wasn’t stopping her ex from going after her. First it was get a big dog. He tried to run both she and the dog over, then it was the 357. She had full power FMJs in it that I replaced with downloaded 38 special JHPs. She still keeps that in her nightstand and likes it, but she now carries a M&P Shield in 9.
9mm. Glock G26. It’s compact and can fire the plus rounds giving it the impact of a 45acp. It holds ten in the magazine. You will miss so extra mags are needed. It can be used to signal for help. Bring down small game. Or neutrilze an attack by multiple criminals. Keep it concealed and secret. Never threaten anyone.
My guess is there are far more shootings in stores than in movie theaters, schools, and workplaces combined. Heck throw in churches to that tally and stores still would take it.
Only the ones at large stores get any press, like the one that just happened at a grocery store in FL.
I think people that OC with long guns in stores isn’t smart. I’d prefer concealed (pistol) carry, but am ok with people that OC pistols. Just saw one a day ago at a big store and I thanked him for OC-ing. He was carrying an M&P Shield on his belt with a black leather jacket. It looked pretty sharp.
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Feral hogs are an invasive species which is rapidly becoming a major problem in many parts of the US. As time goes on the chances of an encounter with a feral hog when camping and paddling can only increase.
They have now become relatively prevalent in many of the areas I paddle, including the southern Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and northern Alabama as well as the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks.
Although feral hog attacks on humans have historically been rare, they have increased significantly in the last decade or so and fatal attacks have occurred.
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On one hand I wish I lived around them so I could night hunt them. On the other hand, with all their destruction, glad I don’t. A Bud lives in NE GA and he has a lot of bear and bobcat that visit their house, no hogs but they hunt hogs around there. A while ago I read that they suspect someone released some russian ones to get the wild ones bigger.
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With good shot placement, my .45-70 will put down the biggest, baddest, feral hog in the woods.
Department of Conservation no longer allows the shooting of feral hogs by individuals, Now then catch them in bated traps; can catch/eliminate more at one time. ’
Feral hogs are a big issue in Missouri.
Destroy a massive amount of crops every year.
If you want a backup to your rifle, a Ruger Blackhawk in .44 mag with long barrel is a decent choice. But it does get heavy lugging it around after awhile if you have to change position.
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Is this a paddling forum?
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I hope so, String, as soon as all the guys stop waving their…guns.
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Sissy103:
I think one of the guys waving their things on this thread is a woman. That’s a pretty condescending thing for you to say. Title of the thread said what it is, so why did you click on it, read it, then post your disapproval?
Wouldn’t it have just been easier to not click on this thread?
Yes, it’s a paddling website. The forum that we are in now is “Wilderness Tripping”.
My title stated this would be about guns as some of us paddle in wilderness/woods/swamp/etc. areas where bringing along a firearm would be viewed as being prudent to many. A few on this thread have posted they wouldn’t and that’s OK. The negative comments by some aren’t really needed as a simple “No, I don’t bring a gun with me and feel/see no need to”. If they want to find out why people think differently than they do, then they could ask if others feel the need and why.
Most in this thread do and as we have varied reasons, varied places, the conversation about firearms will become more varied and more detailed. The more someone knows about firearms the more they realize how in depth the discussion can be.
But again, if you don’t want to read about what’s in the title, then you shouldn’t click on the thread and read it. This looks like it’s getting a lot of views and posts here, so it’s something others want to talk about.
I just hope this thread doesn’t get shadowbanned because a few people disapprove of what others think and talk about with each other. That’s sort of totalitarian and paddling should be about being free.
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If I see a person open carrying here in Nevada, I leave the store. It is not right and not safe.
Everyone is pissed off now. Do not provoke anyone.
That goes for wildlife as well. If you have to shoot anything you have probably screwed up in a big way.
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I accidentally just discovered something new (to me) about this board.
From what I can tell, It’s like GAB, it puts you in charge of your own experience here rather than disappearing people/posts.
I don’t know if this only applies to the OP or not though. There’s a button bottom left that has buttons on how you want to handle this thread. One of them is “mute”. If you don’t want to view a thread, click on the thread and go to the bottom of it then choose to mute.
It disappeared this whole thread for me. You can mute thread you don’t like and it won’t affect other members. win-win.
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I’m not a fan of OC as I believe CC is better because it doesn’t let criminals know who has a firearm and who doesn’t. A lot of holsters now though have a type of retention where someone can’t grab it and just pull it out. But a person still can whack someone in the head then figure out how to take their gun. Or stab them but that’s not wise as they don’t die right away unless someone is skilled with one, so they can draw and shoot the person who stabbed them. See what I mean about how complex OC-ing can be? Just CC and let the criminals worry about who has a firearm and who doesn’t. Most firearm armed criminals (illegally) CC anyway when they go into a store to rob it.
If you are uncomfortable with something, good, you empowered yourself and left the situation. More people need to do that instead of trying to change the situation for others. That’s one of the reasons why people get angry. Just walking away should be practiced far more these days.
When IL/CH residents were finally allowed to CC, the number of shootings by a CC holder exceeded the number of PD shootings in 2019 and 2020. And the majority of those CC holders who shot someone were black females. This should surprise no one.
I don’t always OC/CC when canoeing/hiking. When I do is when I’m going to be a ways out there. The only thing I’ve ever had to shoot is a rabid coon. Wife CCs when she’s fishing in an out of sight place. She just did yesterday because we had to go change locks on a friend’s house as she kicked out her son (again) and he said if anyone’s there when he come back he’s going to shoot them. She thought he was bluffing, but I told wife that when someone says they’re going to shoot me, I believe them.
I’m glad we live in a nation where we are free to choose to participate in things or not. That’s personal empowerment.
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I have a concealed carry permit and have had it for most of my life, but for one reason, or another I have seldom ever carried concealed. I also have never carried a weapon while paddling; I guess I have never felt the need to.
On the other hand, I did have an experience while riding my bicycle that could have been very bad if I had been armed. A dude that I had never seen before as far as I know took several passes at me in his car–even crossing into the wrong lane to make a close pass. My first thought was that it was someone I knew and he was just messing with me. On his last pass I got a very good look at the person through his windshield and I finally determined that it was no one I knew. My thought then was if he came back again I sure wish I had a gun with me. Well, he did not come back again and as I considered what might have happened if he did and if I were packing. My decision was that the trouble that would surely have ensued from that point on would not have been something I would have wanted to go through.
Another time when I was driving at night on a road not very highly traveled a pickup passed and then slowed way down. Eventually, I passed the pickup because it was obviously having some sort of problem. Well here he came again and passed me again. Then slowed way down again. This went on for several more times. Finally this guy actually stopped in the middle of the road in front of us (my wife and son were with me). Luckily some other traffic showed up and the guy pulled over enough that I was able to get by. By the time the pickup caught back up, we were coming into town and there was more traffic lanes etc. Later when I told others of this experience, they all said it had to have been someone on drugs. This was another time when I was relieved that I wasn’t armed and very lucky that it worked out that I didn’t need to be.
The world is getting weirder and weirder and we often have to travel to Portland, Oregon for medical appointments. These days, that is at least as daunting as any back woods hiking I ever did in my time in Alaska.
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I see two categories of carrying paddlers
Those that are mindful
of human predators and thise mindful of non human predators.
Both are defensive uses
And are valid
And those of us that dont carry have made a third rational choice for us
There is no right wrong or superior answer
I appreciate thoughtful gun users
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Thankfully gun owners don’t need a “valid” reason to carry in most of the US. Whatever that means
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I don’t have a firearm on me when canoeing in the back country because I don’t want to have things on me that will snag on something. This is the logic behind only using locking caribeaners. And this is the reason I rarely wear a lifejacket. I keep a pistol in my pack. Around camp I’ll have it either in my pocket or in a holster attached to me, depending on which one I brought.
One of the things I’ve realized is if someone is bringing something for self defense, they might need to access it very fast. This is the reason I carry a small pepper spray container on my wrist with its elastic strap. I’ve been able to access it and use it on 7 of the 8 dogs. The one I didn’t was a rott that came running up to us and was on us so fast the only thing I had time to do was dismount and push my bike in front of its path.
The world certainly has changed, but IMO that’s mostly around urban areas.
** you just gave me an idea for another thread here **