Hunting/Hiking sidearm questions

johnpaulgolf

johnpaulgolf

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What’s the most dangerous adversaries that you would come across in the western North Carolina mountains? (I’m not talking about Jethro‘s cousin, Darren) lol
What would be your go to side arm or weapon against such threats?
Black bears, coyotes, copperheads these come to mind, but what else would y’all consider a dangerous threat while out hiking?

And since this is a firearm forum, let’s hear the best caliber, brand, and how you would carry it.
 
for hunting I'm rocking a SW M&P 10mm or .357 wheelgun in a chest rig so its easy to get to and stays out of the way.
if I'm hiking and trying to be somewhat discreet I'd do a normal 9mm in a sling bag or IWB like normal.
9 times out of 10 I'm more worried about people than wildlife.
 
johnpaulgolf said:
What’s the most dangerous adversaries that you would come across in the western North Carolina mountains? (I’m not talking about Jethro‘s cousin, Darren) lol
What would be your go to side arm or weapon against such threats?
Black bears, coyotes, copperheads these come to mind, but what else would y’all consider a dangerous threat while out hiking?

And since this is a firearm forum, let’s hear the best caliber, brand, and how you would carry it.
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Jetthro's cousin Darren probably is though...... meth heads gonna meth head.

Let's break down your list of critters....

Snakes.... I avoid them. I don't necessarily consider them a threat that requires a firearm response.
Coyotes.... You'll be unlikely to see one during the daytime. And if you do it'll likely be a fleeting glance at it while it's running away from you.
Bears..... They're around, they're able to hurt you if you come across a mama and cubs. Black bears also have a higher likelihood of actually hunting you for food than their brown cousins as well. Though that's all exceedingly rare. More likely they'll avoid you if they can.

Honestly with any of the above a good 9mm shooting a good 147 grain bullet will get the job done if needed. If you're looking for an excuse to buy something new, 10mm gets you an increase in velocity and projectile mass while keeping the weight and ease of carry of the gun reasonable.

I own property in Wilkes Co and I hunt and camp there. I carry a sidearm in 10mm. It's usually a G29, but when I'm actually hunting is a G40 with RMR in a chest rig. My 18 y.o. son carries a G20 when he's with me.
 
I do a fair amount of hiking in Western NC - on the order of 20+ miles per week. The scariest thing I run into is soccer moms with low blood sugar and no sense of direction.

I do carry, but that's because I carry everywhere not for any particular woods related threat. Just my normal hi-cap compact 9mm.
 
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Tim said:
I do a fair amount of hiking in Western NC - on the order of 20+ miles per week. The scariest thing I run into is soccer moms with low blood sugar and no sense of direction.

I do carry, but that's because I carry everywhere not for any particular woods related threat. Just my normal hi-cap compact 9mm.
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I need to get with your program!

I’ve been up here 12 years and have yet to take advantage of out beautiful area.
 
I’ll echo most of above, anything is better than nothing, but if you’re looking for an excuse to get a new gun, it’d make a good reason to pick up a 10mm.

My personal choice is an Sig 320 Xten loaded with 220gr hardcast In a GFI Kenai chest rig

IMG_6782.jpeg
 
The most dangerous AND most likely are for sure, Jethro's cousin the meth head....

I've encountered more random two legged critters than anything. Even in the middle of a friend's 200 acres..

They worry me the most because they are unpredictable.

Bears? Meh, you know they want easy food and to protect their cubs. But a doped up human? Or just a trespasser? That is always iffy.

Around here, carry for them. I either have a smith 686 or my old standby m&p9c.


Only other thing that concerns me are dogs. I LOVE dogs. But people around here still believe that a dog on a chain with a doghouse that you remember to feed on occasion is normal...
 
Your biggest risks for animals in WNC are as follows and in my person order of most likely to hurt me.

Bees
Snakes
hogs
bears

nothing else unless it's rabid.

I carry a .357 snub nose when hiking or fishing. I carry a .22 revolver on the river or lake in my kayak.
 
Trevillian said:
The most dangerous AND most likely are for sure, Jethro's cousin the meth head....


Only other thing that concerns me are dogs. I LOVE dogs. But people around here still believe that a dog on a chain with a doghouse that you remember to feed on occasion is normal...
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This, and this.

The only animal I've ever had to shoot in self defense was a feral dog while hunting.

The only animal I've almost had to shoot in self defense was a meth head.
 
I’m in Eastern NC as well and worry mostly about Timber Rattlers and Hogs, though a good size bear was caught on camera not too far from my land. Usually carry 9mm with 147gr +P Hardcast from Underwood if I’m walking to the back. Will sometimes have a Rough Rider with 22WMR snake shot if it’s snakey season or I’m going into the trees.

But keep the suggestions flowing. I’ve had an itch for a bit. A Judge wouldn’t be terrible.
 
johnpaulgolf said:
Wild hogs hmmmm in the mountains?
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Absolutely. The Smoky Mountains used to be full of them. Some folks imported some Russians a good while back to stock their hunting preserve up on one of the balds that is now inside the park. They escaped and became very common in the area. The park folks eventually went on a rampage against them trapping and shooting them. To get back to the original topic, a class mate of mine in a Botany class at UTK was studying how to eradicate them and was hired by the park service so that he could legally hike through the woods and shoot them. They even gave him a uniform that they warned him never to wear in the woods. He was hiking along the AT one day with his Ruger 44 Carbine sticking out of his pack and stopped by a spring to fill his canteen and to take a breather. It was not long before this scruffy looking fellow appeared out of the woods and came over to talk with him. The man had no gear at all with him and was very curious about how the hunting was. My class mate gave a brief hunting report without disclosing that he worked for the park service. After a while, several other men appeared out of the woods with their gear and firearms to join in the conversation. They all chatted a while before going their separate ways. The men had remained hidden in the woods to check out my class mate to make sure he was a fellow poacher. It scared the willies out of my class mate because he was convinced that his life would have ended right there if they found out he was working for the park service. The woods are full of meth labs (there was one on Oak Island several years ago near the Food Lion), moonshine stills, pot fields, ginseng hunters, poachers, and several other groups of people who would as soon shoot you as look at you.
 
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Charlie said:
Absolutely. The Smoky Mountains used to be full of them. Some folks imported some Russians a good while back to stock their hunting preserve up on one of the balds that is now inside the park. They escaped and became very common in the area. The park folks eventually went on a rampage against them trapping and shooting them. To get back to the original topic, a class mate of mine in a Botany class at UTK was studying how to eradicate them and was hired by the park service so that he could legally hike through the woods and shoot them. They even gave him a uniform that they warned him never to wear in the woods. He was hiking along the AT one day with his Ruger 44 Carbine sticking out of his pack and stopped by a spring to fill his canteen and to take a breather. It was not long before this scruffy looking fellow appeared out of the woods and came over to talk with him. The man had no gear at all with him and was very curious about how the hunting was. My class mate gave a brief hunting report without disclosing that he worked for the park service. After a while, several other men appeared out of the woods with their gear and firearms to join in the conversation. They all chatted a while before going their separate ways. The men had remained hidden in the woods to check out my class mate to make sure he was a fellow poacher. It scared the willies out of my class mate because he was convinced that his life would have ended right there if they found out he was working for the park service. The woods are full of meth labs (there was one on Oak Island several years ago near the Food Lion), moonshine stills, pot fields, ginseng hunters, poachers, and several other groups of people who would as soon shoot you as look at you.
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George Washington Vanderbilt II had 10,000 acres fenced at Biltmore Estate and imported Russian boar and turned them loose.
 
Charlie said:
Absolutely. The Smoky Mountains used to be full of them. Some folks imported some Russians a good while back to stock their hunting preserve up on one of the balds that is now inside the park. They escaped and became very common in the area. The park folks eventually went on a rampage against them trapping and shooting them. To get back to the original topic, a class mate of mine in a Botany class at UTK was studying how to eradicate them and was hired by the park service so that he could legally hike through the woods and shoot them. They even gave him a uniform that they warned him never to wear in the woods. He was hiking along the AT one day with his Ruger 44 Carbine sticking out of his pack and stopped by a spring to fill his canteen and to take a breather. It was not long before this scruffy looking fellow appeared out of the woods and came over to talk with him. The man had no gear at all with him and was very curious about how the hunting was. My class mate gave a brief hunting report without disclosing that he worked for the park service. After a while, several other men appeared out of the woods with their gear and firearms to join in the conversation. They all chatted a while before going their separate ways. The men had remained hidden in the woods to check out my class mate to make sure he was a fellow poacher. It scared the willies out of my class mate because he was convinced that his life would have ended right there if they found out he was working for the park service. The woods are full of meth labs (there was one on Oak Island several years ago near the Food Lion), moonshine stills, pot fields, ginseng hunters, poachers, and several other groups of people who would as soon shoot you as look at you.
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I was in the Plant/Soil Science program at UTK in the late 1990's and did an internship with TVA. Had a similar experience while hiking the Smokies to check some of the test sites for various resrarch programs. By necessity, the sites were pretty remote in some pretty rugged areas.
Pretty unnerving, at the very least.


Oh, yeah, hogs. Saw quite a few whilst travelling those hills. Never really had a problem with them, they'd run off pretty quick if we made a racket. The two legged critters worried me a lot more



Edited to add: not really related to the current topic, but my favorite TVA program to work in was designed to track survivability of zebra mollusk populations in the Norris river as related to the flow rate and bottom contour of the river.
Spent two years with TVA paying me to swim in the river and take a few measurements.
Even though it didnt pay much, it was a freakin sweet gig
🙂
 
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johnpaulgolf said:
What’s the most dangerous adversaries that you would come across in the western North Carolina mountains? (I’m not talking about Jethro‘s cousin, Darren) lol
What would be your go to side arm or weapon against such threats?
Black bears, coyotes, copperheads these come to mind, but what else would y’all consider a dangerous threat while out hiking?

And since this is a firearm forum, let’s hear the best caliber, brand, and how you would carry it.
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It is most definitely Darren, or any other two legged vermin. After that, rabid animals.

With that said, I have three main carry guns while backpacking in western NC. My Glock 43X, which is my normal carry gun, a Glock 20 with hardcast 220 grain bullets, and a S&W TRR8 scandium 8-shot .357. Most common carry method is a Hill People Gear kit bag. I don’t feel undergunned with any of the three, but the 43X is the least preferable in black bear country. It gets the nod for small size and light weight when that is the primary consideration.
 
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So what’s the best revolver caliber? It seems 10mm would have to be the best semi auto caliber but that’s less interesting to me.
 
My biggest issue is probably my neighbors highly untrained, aggressive Great Dane. I suspect a 9mm would do fine. We’ve also had a few wild dogs going after livestock nearby. And I’ve met a guy that had half his head eaten off by a pack of dogs, so I’d say a fairly high capacity round you can put on target is good. Dogs, meth heads, snakes or whatever is mostly covered, Bears and maybe big pigs not so much so just evaluate your area the best you can.
 
We have some fairly large bears that hang around the farm occasionally as well as a few feral dog packs now and then. I usually carry a 44 Magnum of some sort when I am up there. If I ever got back into good enough shape to start hiking in the mountains again, I would carry my 329 44 Magnum in either a cross draw or chest holster. That sucker is light but kicks like crazy.
 
Charlie said:
We have some fairly large bears that hang around the farm occasionally as well as a few feral dog packs now and then. I usually carry a 44 Magnum of some sort when I am up there. If I ever got back into good enough shape to start hiking in the mountains again, I would carry my 329 44 Magnum in either a cross draw or chest holster. That sucker is light but kicks like crazy.
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Shooting a 329 with full snort loads is not my idea of fun, but they sure pack well.
 
Charlie said:
We have some fairly large bears that hang around the farm occasionally as well as a few feral dog packs now and then. I usually carry a 44 Magnum of some sort when I am up there. If I ever got back into good enough shape to start hiking in the mountains again, I would carry my 329 44 Magnum in either a cross draw or chest holster. That sucker is light but kicks like crazy.
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Do you think 44sp +p rounds would be sufficient? That I think would be a great option for that light revolver.

I have a 44sp humpback air weight snub nose and it isn’t bad shooting hot rounds.
 
johnpaulgolf said:
Wild hogs hmmmm in the mountains?
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Saw 11 last year. Saw at least 4 this year. All in the Smokies well into the backcountry. At this point I might have seen more hogs than bears in the backcountry. They are finally trying to manage them so they seem much more scared of people which is a good thing. Iirc the park rangers have shoot on sight orders with hogs.
 
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