Do you carry a handgun as a backup when hunting?

[A207X2]

The 1st question that popped in my mind was....WHY?

I'm not going to schuck my rifle in any defensive situation, whatever that may be.

I'm not going to pop off a .22 at a small critter when I have a $200-$1000 tag in my pocket and announce my presence to that $200-$1000 tag.

In my thinking, it's just extra weight for little to no reason.

Here's the single biggest reason... to get back to your rifle if you lose it. Example: you're walking along a ridge, slip and fall. You and your rifle get separated as a result of the fall, and because of an injury from the fall (or the rifle fell down the ravine) you can't readily get to it. Along comes Yogi (or Bullwinkle, or Mr. Mountain Lion) and you're defenseless.

There are many more examples.

 

[Gunner46]

My friend.....(my $0.02 worth, with true heart) me thinks you armchair fret too much about the "What the if's".

Me? Two Wars, deployed 5 times, 50 years of hunting over 1/3 of this planet and I never once thought..."Oh Shit" I wish I had a pistol with me.

 

[MTLabrador]

What about predator calling spring black bears in griz country

Round in the chamber, rifle in the lap. I’m glad that griz didn’t show up when we were calling.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Round in the chamber, rifle in the lap. I’m glad that griz didn’t show up when we were calling.

"I WILL SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE GRIZ!"

That will forever play in my mind as one of the greatest in the moment comments ever.

 

[Ben Lamb]

If I had a roscoe I coulda filled my doe tag in the back yard when we took the dogs around the property.

So now I'm double strapped at all times.

 

[Moeness]

How does that one saying go…

It’s like a condom…
Better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it.

 

[std7mag]

While scouting, setting up trail cameras, picking blueberrys and bow hunting i usually carry.

After a run in with a BIG black bear that thought it was a grizly, i bring a rifle now, except for bow hunting.

But the 1911, or Walther PPS is still usually on my hip.

 

[mtmuley]

It's easy to carry. Hunting or not. mtmuley

 

[howl]

Not as backup, but I do carry a revolver for self defense everywhere I go. I like the .32 caliber magnums. I have killed deer with them, but it was coincidental.

 

[Don Fischer]

I carry everywhere I go but not as back up. If the rifle I'm carrying isn't gonna do it, no handgun is! I think carrying is simply out of force of habit.

 

[flatcoat]

Ditching the G20 I carry archery hunting for the new M&P 2.0 10mm. When hunting with a partner I never carried a round in the chamber, I hang it from my bino harness and sans safety I wasn't comfortable with it hot. Thumb safety makes me a bit more comfortable.

 

[Gila]

Compact .45 +P.

 

[OntarioHunter]

No. It's just useless extra weight. My PH in Africa carried a 9mm tucked discreetly behind his back. Landowner and farm manager were also armed with handguns. I asked Glenn about that and his answer was one word: "safety." Oookay. Nuff said. I'm sure it wasn't leopards he was concerned about. But South Africa is not North America.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Here's the single biggest reason... to get back to your rifle if you lose it. Example: you're walking along a ridge, slip and fall. You and your rifle get separated as a result of the fall, and because of an injury from the fall (or the rifle fell down the ravine) you can't readily get to it. Along comes Yogi (or Bullwinkle, or Mr. Mountain Lion) and you're defenseless.

There are many more examples.

And one could just as easily get hit by a meteorite. Why not wear a suit of armor?

 

[BZNHNTR]

Not rifle hunting, extra weight does not seem justified. Archery hunting in grizzly country I carry a Ruger Alaskan in 454 casull.

 

[mevertsen]

I pretty much always have a handgun on me.

Last year I finished off my antelope with my .380 Ruger LCP because that is what i had in my pocket and i thought the antelope was dead prior to walking up to it.

I have carried..
1911 45 ACP
Ruger GP100 357
38 Specials of various flavors
My 380

It just depends on what I grab that day, what the planned excursion is, who has the tag and what I feel like carrying.

 

[TheTone]

Never have, might the next time I hunt around griz but I would also have spray. There is nothing a handgun will do that a rifle won’t do better

 

[HighDesertSage]

Bow hunting, yes. Gun hunting, no. If I lose my rifle I deserve to get eaten.

 

[pilsner]

I have a firearm on my hip every single day. Why would it be any different when I'm hunting?
Kimber 357 DA/SA this season.
Carried a Taurus Tracker in 44 mag in the past.
Kahr 9mm subcompact on the rare event I go to town.

 

[LuketheDog]

Example: you're walking along a ridge, slip and fall. You and your rifle get separated as a result of the fall, and because of an injury from the fall (or the rifle fell down the ravine) you can't readily get to it. Along comes Yogi (or Bullwinkle, or Mr. Mountain Lion) and you're defenseless.

There are many more examples.

This reeks of the Hollywood version of a survival situation, I'd bet it's literally in a movie (or 5)
somewhere