Situation: you are hunting elk, deer, antelope or whatever with rifle. Do you feel the need to carry a sidearm when you have your rifle? Have you needed a sidearm in addition to your rifle when hunting? If you carry a sidearm when hunting, what is your choice of handgun?

Ruger BH .45 Colt most of the time .. Out of habit mostly ..
Jack

Answer is yes.
Mine,is a Freedom Arms Model 83 454 Casull.
The 45 Colt loads are definately ++++P's.
So are my factory equivalent 454 loads.Over 1800 FPS. Either one, are hard hitting.
Also have factory loads. These are rarely shot.

Throughout the years I lived, worked, and hunted in the northern rockies, I did carry my 44 mag. for a few years while hunting. As I got a little older, it became evident that traveling light was more of a premium then packing along anything that, in my opinion, was non-essential weight. The 44 was non-essential weight and I quit carrying it while hunting with a rifle.
Happy New Years to you All!--tr

I carry a mod 19 2 1/2" combat magnum at all times in the foothills/mountains or afield whether camping, hunting, hiking, fishing, on horseback or any other activity that will put me in proximity of humans in the wild with or without a rifle. I have, so far, had no problems with animals, except horses, in the wilderness. But humans......That's another story...

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Do you feel the need to carry a sidearm when you have your rifle?

No, but always do and as soon as my pants are on in the morning, so is my sidearm.

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Have you needed a sidearm in addition to your rifle when hunting?

No, but i usually hunt with a pistol or revolver now anyway.

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If you carry a sidearm when hunting, what is your choice of handgun?

Glock 20, Glock 20/21 custom 10MM/45L, Ruger RH, or a Taurus Raging Bull.

edited to add: With Flint54's comment it reminded me that i usually always have either a Glock 23 or 27 on my side no matter what. There is usually no worries for very dangerous critters in Michigan, however, in Michigans U.P., instinct took over and i drew from my hip first when i came across a copperhead instead of even thinking of using my rifle.

No, I have brought a side arm along, hanging out at camp and slept with a 44mag under my pillow in tent while moose hunting in Alaska. But, to answer your question of carrying a side arm while hunting with a rifle, No If someone is so worried about being attacked, then the rifle should be kept very close or you sould find a new spot quickly. Now, I have seen people in the woods near camping spots, that have made me feel un-easy....If I was a women, then maybe a ultra light 38 or such would make me feel less uneasy. I did run into a pretty ladie, up in mountains near Vail Co, elk hunting she had a side arm in across the shoulder/chest that looked right to home. It was carried for Mountain lions I was told, yes she was elk hunting with a rifle to boot. and was at the top of mountain.....what ever makes you feel, at easy.

The most dangerous critter in the woods in Georgia are snakes. I carry a 38 with Speer Snake Shot and wear snake boots. Can't carry it legaly during the archery season though. Don't ask won't tell.

popgun wrote:

The most dangerous critter in the woods in Georgia are snakes. I carry a 38 with Speer Snake Shot and wear snake boots. Can't carry it legaly during the archery season though. Don't ask won't tell.

My father in NC carry's his 357 with shot shells almost every where he go's cause of snakes. I use to carry my 357 while rifle hunting always said i'd let one get real close and shoot it with the pistol but never quite had the patience though (LOL)
Joe

Yes:

I carry a sidearm when hunting even with a rifle. I do for many reasons.
1) In NE North Carolina we have a lot of snakes, Timber Rattlers, Eastern Dimondbacks, Copperheads & Water Mocks. Most of the time they do not pose any immediate problem but there have been times that they posed a danger that needed to be removed.

2) I have used my sidearm even when hunting with a rifle. Twice I have dispatched a deer that had been shot by another. Due to the minimal range of the shot the use of a rifle would have been very messy and the use of a handgun filled the bill very effectively. A few other times the use of my handgun was decided by the closeness of the deer and the ease of using a handgun vs the use of the rifle. Deer under stand = great situation for the use of a handgun! those plus most of the time I hunt with a handgun, various Contender calibers, Ruger .45LC, S&W 586 .357, Ruger BH & RH in .41mag.

3) Most of the time as a sidearm/backup I will always have my Glock 22. I have a 6" bbl for this one or the standard, it makes no diffrence to me which bbl I carry as I carry it in a Fobus Roto in the small of my back or crossdraw. It is just part of my hunting package, just like my underware. I also carry my .40 when using a handgun for hunting, mainly when using the Contender, in the event I do need to dispatch something up close.

I use to carry one on occasion until this year. The buck I shot decided to take off about 40 yards into some very thick brush,briers and goodness knows what else. I spent as much time untangling my rifle and sling as I did looking for the deer. Now I can leave the rifle in the stand and have both hands free to get thru all the crap. We also have a lot of wild pig where we hunt and I want more than my single shot rifle when I am in the brush so I now carry my Super Blackhawk (44 mag. ).

Handloader wrote:

Situation: you are hunting elk, deer, antelope or whatever with rifle. Do you feel the need to carry a sidearm when you have your rifle?

Do I feel a “need”? No. When I first started big game hunting in Colorado in 1981 I carried a .357 Mag. That lasted one season. The problem was the weight was too much and the need too little. It wouldn’t have been legal to dispatch a wounded animal with it due to energy restrictions by the DOW and, frankly, there just wasn’t much danger from bears or lions.

That didn’t stop me from carrying a .22LR a couple of times. Grouse season is concurrent with some of the big game seasons and I brought a few back.

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Have you needed a sidearm in addition to your rifle when hunting?

The one time I could really have used a handgun I didn’t have it. Wouldn’t have prevented me from getting bit by a rattler, but I could have dispatched it cleanly and had my snakeskin hatband. Instead a hunting partner virtually cut it in half with his 12 gauge.

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If you carry a sidearm when hunting, what is your choice of handgun?

The .357 was an S&W which is long gone. These days it would be my Ruger .357 Mag Blackhawk or my Super Redhawk .44 Mag in an under the arm holster from Pistol Packaging Inc. Or my Browning .22LR again.

I aint had the patience to dispatch a snake with a pistol/revolver either .. The only one I had to dispatch was 35 years ago , he took five loads of 3" magnum 00 Buck at about five feet .. Kilt him dead too ..
Jack

It would be nice to be able to carry a Sidearm while hunting. But here in Liberal Communist Canada it is against the law not only to carry one but to hunt with one as well.

1895ss,

I know how you feel. After comming online and reading about pistol hunting it really interested me.

If I did carry for hunting I'd carry a Ruger BlackHawk in 41 Rem Mag it seems like the way to go. Its Single action so the trigger cant engage the hammer right ?? If so I rather get that then the DA Redhawk. Single Actions are safer no ??

Dimitri