Would a side arm be necessary? Also what caliber?
- Thread starter Public_hunter
- Start date
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- Jun 5, 2020
- Messages
- 15
I carry a 9mm and had an XDS 45 I would take hunting. My brother just got stationed in Alaska so it gave me an excuse to buy a 10mm XDM. It is an incredibly fun gun to shoot. There are a lot of black bears in CO. Just trying to help give you an excuse to get a 10mm lol.Not necessary. Before I carried everyday I never bothered to carry while hunting. Unfortunately I now feel naked without a gun so it gets hauled up and down the mountain with me. Your 9mm will be sufficient for anything you encounter here in CO. 10mm would be more sufficient if you’re looking for an excuse to buy a new gun....
txhunter581
WKR
Taken by a trailcam near a friends cabin At 9200 ft in Colorado.
That said, I have never seen a mountain lion in 40 years of hunting Colorado. Have seen bears but in the fall they just run when they see or smell you
Food in or near your tent would be the biggest risk.
P.S. I can say without a doubt that more than one Lion has seen me!
It won't hurt anything to carry, but it's very unlikely that it' will be necessary. To quote someone that I have very little respect for........"So, your saying there's a chance!". I guess it depends on if you are as optimistic as Jim Carrey.
Ive hunted CO and now hunt MT for the last 8 years. I don't even own a handgun. I've nothing against them, just never considered it a necessity. I have began to rethink that in grizzly country and may end up with one strapped to my side here in MT.
I've never ran into a two legged critter while hunting that worried me enough that I thought a sidearm was even close to necessary. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe I don't worry enough.
Ive hunted CO and now hunt MT for the last 8 years. I don't even own a handgun. I've nothing against them, just never considered it a necessity. I have began to rethink that in grizzly country and may end up with one strapped to my side here in MT.
I've never ran into a two legged critter while hunting that worried me enough that I thought a sidearm was even close to necessary. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe I don't worry enough.
jmez
WKR
I wouldn't worry about it. Up to you whether or not you do.
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Elk97
WKR
I don't. If hiking in the dark I've got my headlamp on. If I was sleeping in a tent I'd just have my headlamp next to the gun.
coyotecreek
WKR
Doesn’t Colorado have a 15 round mag limit?
Whiskey_Fish
WKR
tracker12
WKR
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2016
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- 998
I have hunted NW CO since 1980 and have never carried a sidearm while elk hunting. If you are afraid of bears, wolves and Mt Lions in that area you need to take up bowling.
i've already posted here but i'll add one more story to why i carry. in addition to the cats, bears and 2 leggers... moose are my least favorite animal in the woods to piss off. out of the hundreds i've encountered working near them during spring, summer and fall, i've never had a really bad experience with them at work. in the woods i can only think of two instances but one stands out.
i was hunting archery elk late one september during our extended archery season on the wasatch front. this was in a heavily used area and i often don't think of it as the true great outdoors due to all the hikers, bikers and dogs that can be encountered on any day. this particular day i was hunting in an area that had been productive several times in the past. by early afternoon i was a bit tired of the snow wet boots and ready head home for some chore work. i had hiked down the steep mtn side for a half hour and held up just before the upper trail. i heard bike derailers and voices. the voices were expressing concern about a moose they had seen. i chuckled to myself as they seemed quite worried. after a few minutes had passed, i put my bow on the pack and crossed the main trail to use a more vertical game trail to avoid all the exercise enthusiasts. this trail would cut off 10 minutes of hiking and keep me out of view longer which i rather enjoy. the only issue there is the occasional downed tree and creek near the bottom. well, i made my way thru there and back to the main trail only to be met by a rather large black bodied bull moose. he was staring me down with the crazy eyes, you know, the ones where you can see the sclera (whites) jumping out at you. funny how i noticed that first but the laid back ears, popping and lip smacking should have been the dead give away that he was really pissed. i was on his trail and he was having a bad day. typically i'd wait my turn to use the trail but in an attempt to diffuse the situation i took to a slow back peddle. the bull threw a hoof to the ground, dropped the head and started to trot my way. with some concern i picked up the pace and he broke out into a canter. that was enough for me to bail from the trail and start hopping large downed trees like flo-jo doing some olympic hurdles. the moose began to slow and continued to follow as i crossed the creek. by that time there was a decision to be made. my EDC made it's way out of my pocket and a round was chambered. i know, it should be there all the time but i have kids and would rather not have one in the pipe just in case i slip up and they get curious. back to the moose...he must have had some sense of self preservation because it was at that time that he slowed and veered off at a distance of 15'. now i'm not sure if that was his idea of a false charge but it was more convincing than it needed to be. i often wonder what would have happened if i would have froze. i believe my tail would have been stomped. there's not much my fists would have done against his hooves and antlers if his determination would have held.
no one needs a gun until they do
i was hunting archery elk late one september during our extended archery season on the wasatch front. this was in a heavily used area and i often don't think of it as the true great outdoors due to all the hikers, bikers and dogs that can be encountered on any day. this particular day i was hunting in an area that had been productive several times in the past. by early afternoon i was a bit tired of the snow wet boots and ready head home for some chore work. i had hiked down the steep mtn side for a half hour and held up just before the upper trail. i heard bike derailers and voices. the voices were expressing concern about a moose they had seen. i chuckled to myself as they seemed quite worried. after a few minutes had passed, i put my bow on the pack and crossed the main trail to use a more vertical game trail to avoid all the exercise enthusiasts. this trail would cut off 10 minutes of hiking and keep me out of view longer which i rather enjoy. the only issue there is the occasional downed tree and creek near the bottom. well, i made my way thru there and back to the main trail only to be met by a rather large black bodied bull moose. he was staring me down with the crazy eyes, you know, the ones where you can see the sclera (whites) jumping out at you. funny how i noticed that first but the laid back ears, popping and lip smacking should have been the dead give away that he was really pissed. i was on his trail and he was having a bad day. typically i'd wait my turn to use the trail but in an attempt to diffuse the situation i took to a slow back peddle. the bull threw a hoof to the ground, dropped the head and started to trot my way. with some concern i picked up the pace and he broke out into a canter. that was enough for me to bail from the trail and start hopping large downed trees like flo-jo doing some olympic hurdles. the moose began to slow and continued to follow as i crossed the creek. by that time there was a decision to be made. my EDC made it's way out of my pocket and a round was chambered. i know, it should be there all the time but i have kids and would rather not have one in the pipe just in case i slip up and they get curious. back to the moose...he must have had some sense of self preservation because it was at that time that he slowed and veered off at a distance of 15'. now i'm not sure if that was his idea of a false charge but it was more convincing than it needed to be. i often wonder what would have happened if i would have froze. i believe my tail would have been stomped. there's not much my fists would have done against his hooves and antlers if his determination would have held.
no one needs a gun until they do
G21 460 Rowland w/ light sure makes it more comfortable skinning in the dark. Not in CO but I rarely see anyone in ID during bow season not carrying. Guess I should take up bowling...
Would like a something lighter when not in brown suit territory.
Would like a something lighter when not in brown suit territory.
- Banned
- #95
DmrbigEshotT
WKR
We’ve hunted southern CO for the last couple September’s and from prior experience with guys in our group, they’ve seen plenty of bears and had a close encounter coming back to camp in the dark.
I carried my first year there and we didn’t see much bear sign.
The second year, I carried for the first couple days then stopped. Walking into an area at first light, there was fresh bear sign and poop all over the place. I started carrying again after that lol
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I carried my first year there and we didn’t see much bear sign.
The second year, I carried for the first couple days then stopped. Walking into an area at first light, there was fresh bear sign and poop all over the place. I started carrying again after that lol
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