Bowhunters: Do you carry backup?

bobbyrlf3

A bow hunter here in my state got charged by a black bear; the bear chased him up a tree and bit his leg pretty good.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/09/06/wash-hunter-chased-up-tree-bitten-by-black-bear/?intcmp=latestnews

This story got me wondering about bow hunters; do you carry a backup firearm for situations like this? Seems to me like a smart idea if it's legal where you are.

Anybody else have stories of unexpected encounters?

Razorbacker

I carry and it is legal but it hasn't always been. But I don't worry about bears. Snakes in early season warm weather. And meth labs all season long hunting the National forest. Trespassers around the place here.

snake284

I don't know, but after my first trip to Alaska in 1998 I am not going to go fishing or do anything out of doors there without a Big handgun handy. I do want a S&W 500 for that purpose.

Around here it's more snake defense, but with the hog populations what they are here, I think it prudent to carry at the very least a .357, and loaded with .357 Magnum 158 grain Jacketed hollow points minimum with a spare speed loader with me. And I also need to get me some 38 snake shot rounds to load alternately in the gun's cylinder. I feel naked without some kind of back up even when rifle hunting. I don't bow hunt but when I Muzzle Load hunt I have that .357 strapped to my side always. If the game warden doesn't like it he's just going to have to ticket me and I'll get a good lawyer.

jbohio

Yes. When I've bowhunted in Colorado. It's legal, there, and encouraged. I carried a 5.5' 45Colt Redhawk. I've since acquired a 4" 44 Redhawk, so it'll probably go next time. Both stoked with 300gr LFN hardcast handloads.

My wife came up for a night, and she went out with me that evening. There was a black bear, moving parallel to us down a trail about 20 yards away. We were still hunting, being very quiet. I don't know if the bear even knew we were there, but it was enough to get my heart pumping, that's for sure.

woodsrunner

A few comments from the 'peanut gallery"!

jbohio...it's a sure bet the bear knew the two of you were there. No animal in the USA has a better sense of smell or of hearing than a black bear. I think it's unusual that the bear stayed around, especially that close, because they will run like hell 99% of the time (in my experience). But don't underestimate a black bear, especially young "teen-age" males. People down here get all riled up over the dangers of Florida Panthers, but that danger is about non-existent. Last figures I saw showed 21 black bear attacks in the Lower 48 in the last 20 or so years. These attacks resulted in 19 deaths, one permanent wheelchair bound and one severe mauling. Remember the teen-age girl killed by a young male bear in Tennessee 3-4 years ago.....that was close to Jerry and Mike's home, and very close to "whar I growed up".

Now on snakes.... I can tell you after a career of working in the woods with rattlers and cottonmouths, "Leave 'em alone, and they'll leave YOU alone"! Yellowjacket nests in late summer are a hellova lot more of a danger to you than poisonous snakes ever have been! But I'm wasting my breath with this one....!

EDIT: Forgot to add my opinion on going armed.....cpj is correct!

tennmike

What Woodsrunner said is true. Black bears have a very acute sense of smell; one of the best. Young males getting pushed out by larger, older males, and sows with cubs in spring and early summer are to be avoided. They are under stress, hungry, and just might see you as a convenient meal. And black bears in the SE are seeing a population explosion due to fewer hunters going after them, and more available food. There are a few in my area that live high off the hog next to the lake on household garbage and 'dumpster diving'.

There was one death in Cades Cove in the Smokies along the Abrams River several years back. Older woman and her husband hiking/fishing the river. Sow with cubs killed and ate part of her, and the cubs ate some, too. All three bears were hunted down and killed. Another attack in Polk County in the Cherokee National Forest several years ago resulted in a mauling only because several other people beat the bear silly with rocks and limbs and drove it off.

I'm a lot more wary of the meth cookers and pot growers than the wild critters. And I carry; better to have and not need than need and not have.

CaliFFL

Always. Too many big predators in the woods around here.

A coworker's uncle bow shot an elk some years ago and was gutting it when two 20-ish guys walked up and offered to help. He agreed and turned his back on them. He woke up in the hospital with a fractured skull and a broken jaw. And they stole his elk and all his gear. They left him in the woods to die, but he was found by other hunters.

Since I heard that story, I'm wary of "hunters" in the woods without camo and other gear. Profiling at it's finest.

Six-Gun

I'm still a few weeks away from bow season and just started thinking about this topic. Way too many states making it illegal to carry a sidearm when bowhunting. If someone is going to poach with a fire, I figure they'll leave their bow at home to do it. Between the drug runners and the timber rattlers in the south part of Ohio and you'd better have a piece in, and on the way to, the woods.

U T

I don't but I guess I should, but at least I have my bow. Seems like I've always got so much to carry that I don't want to add even a handgun. Even when hunting bears in Canada over bait, nobody carried any rifle or shotgun. Baited black bear hunting is like chumming for sharks, except chumming for bear. I remember here in eastern Ohio several years ago there was a nut sneaking around with a rifle shooting hunters, campers, hikers. He killed a few before getting caught!

JerryBobCo

woodsrunner wrote: »

A few comments from the 'peanut gallery"!

jbohio...it's a sure bet the bear knew the two of you were there. No animal in the USA has a better sense of smell or of hearing than a black bear. I think it's unusual that the bear stayed around, especially that close, because they will run like hell 99% of the time (in my experience). But don't underestimate a black bear, especially young "teen-age" males. People down here get all riled up over the dangers of Florida Panthers, but that danger is about non-existent. Last figures I saw showed 21 black bear attacks in the Lower 48 in the last 20 or so years. These attacks resulted in 19 deaths, one permanent wheelchair bound and one severe mauling. Remember the teen-age girl killed by a young male bear in Tennessee 3-4 years ago.....that was close to Jerry and Mike's home, and very close to "whar I growed up".

Now on snakes.... I can tell you after a career of working in the woods with rattlers and cottonmouths, "Leave 'em alone, and they'll leave YOU alone"! Yellowjacket nests in late summer are a hellova lot more of a danger to you than poisonous snakes ever have been! But I'm wasting my breath with this one....!

EDIT: Forgot to add my opinion on going armed.....cpj is correct!

I had a sow and two cubs walk up on me one time. They never knew I was there until I yelled at them. When I did, they vacated the scene.

I had the wind in my face, and was still hunting in aspens with lots of dried leaves on the ground. I heard them before I saw them and just stopped until I saw them.

orchidman

woodsrunner wrote: »

A few comments from the 'peanut gallery"!

jbohio...it's a sure bet the bear knew the two of you were there. No animal in the USA has a better sense of smell or of hearing than a black bear. I think it's unusual that the bear stayed around, especially that close, because they will run like hell 99% of the time (in my experience). But don't underestimate a black bear, especially young "teen-age" males. People down here get all riled up over the dangers of Florida Panthers, but that danger is about non-existent. Last figures I saw showed 21 black bear attacks in the Lower 48 in the last 20 or so years. These attacks resulted in 19 deaths, one permanent wheelchair bound and one severe mauling. Remember the teen-age girl killed by a young male bear in Tennessee 3-4 years ago.....that was close to Jerry and Mike's home, and very close to "whar I growed up".

Over here I don't have to worry about bears cos there aint none..............However, Cougars are a problem. The last couple I dated were viscous, mean and tried to get their claws into me............Am thankful that I carried protection both times........

Gene L

When I was 18 or so, I wanted to run up on a Cougar, although they weren't called that at the time. I'd have LOVED to run up on a vicious Cougar! I'd chance the claws. Unfortunately, no luck. Where were the Cougars in 1965?

orchidman

Gene L wrote: »

When I was 18 or so, I wanted to run up on a Cougar, although they weren't called that at the time. I'd have LOVED to run up on a vicious Cougar! I'd chance the claws. Unfortunately, no luck. Where were the Cougars in 1965?

Smoking pot and singing 'Kumbaya'?????

NN

Bow hunters can carry a modern handgun when hunting to dispatch a deer legally shot with a bow except if bow hunting during
black powder season; however, during that season a black powder handgun could be carried.

twa

I have not for the past 30 years of bowhunting, about the only critters to worry about around here are the two legged kind, with that being said I am seriously considering it this year.

Gene L

orchidman wrote: »

Smoking pot and singing 'Kumbaya'?????

That was before 'Kumbaya', which, incidently, is Gullah for "Come by here," and probably other accents as well.

I thought I'd posted this before, but in my area, meth is cooked in houses, and mostly marijuana is also done in houses so they can keep the male plants away from the females to keep from fertilizing them for higher grade dope. Sensamillia, "without seeds." Marijuana today is about like hashish from twenty years ago, or stronger.

Not much done in the wild. It's easy to spot from the air. It's a California thing.

41magnut

I haven't bow hunted in years but it was illegal for a bow hunter to carry a firearm. This was changed some time back. Now a bow hunter may carry a firearm if they have a valid CHL. Perhaps Someone with more current knowledge of the republic's hunting regs will provide clarification. Myself, yes I would/will should I take up bow hunting again.

mohican

In Ohio, it's legal to bowhunt and carry a pistol. If you have a CCW permit, and if it remains concealed, and you must your concealed piece for taking game. I often carry concealed when I bow hunt. I also carry concealed during muzzleloader/primative Weapons season.

snake284

tennmike wrote: »

I'm a lot more wary of the meth cookers and pot growers than the wild critters. And I carry; better to have and not need than need and not have.

Boy you knocked it out a the park with that, a perfect sig line for somebody!

bisley

woodsrunner wrote: »

Now on snakes.... I can tell you after a career of working in the woods with rattlers and cottonmouths, "Leave 'em alone, and they'll leave YOU alone"! Yellowjacket nests in late summer are a hellova lot more of a danger to you than poisonous snakes ever have been! But I'm wasting my breath with this one....!

EDIT: Forgot to add my opinion on going armed.....cpj is correct!

^THIS^

I've spent about 75% of my adult life in the East Texas woods (land surveying, etc.), armed with nothing but a pocket knife and a 22" machete. I've killed dozens of copperheads and cottonmouths, and a few rattlers, with the machete, and walked around even more than that. But that was never much of a problem, once I learned to identify them and know where to expect them. The bugs are the problem - ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, fire ants, asps, wasps, bees, hornets, and several variations of horseflies are always present during warm weather, and learning to function with them is much harder than dealing with a few snakes.

But, nowadays, I carry a G20 when in the woods, because I don't like unintentionally sneaking up on our particular breed of feral hogs, and I have seen a couple of cougars. Realisticly, I know that the threat level from each of them is probably very low, but I would be carrying something anyway because of the possibility of accidentally walking into some kind of dope operation, so the 10mm covers all the bases.

WORLD T

Yep. Glock 29 Gen 4 with night sights.

snake284

woodsrunner wrote: »

A few comments from the 'peanut gallery"!

jbohio...it's a sure bet the bear knew the two of you were there. No animal in the USA has a better sense of smell or of hearing than a black bear. I think it's unusual that the bear stayed around, especially that close, because they will run like hell 99% of the time (in my experience). But don't underestimate a black bear, especially young "teen-age" males. People down here get all riled up over the dangers of Florida Panthers, but that danger is about non-existent. Last figures I saw showed 21 black bear attacks in the Lower 48 in the last 20 or so years. These attacks resulted in 19 deaths, one permanent wheelchair bound and one severe mauling. Remember the teen-age girl killed by a young male bear in Tennessee 3-4 years ago.....that was close to Jerry and Mike's home, and very close to "whar I growed up".

Now on snakes.... I can tell you after a career of working in the woods with rattlers and cottonmouths, "Leave 'em alone, and they'll leave YOU alone"! Yellowjacket nests in late summer are a hellova lot more of a danger to you than poisonous snakes ever have been! But I'm wasting my breath with this one....!

EDIT: Forgot to add my opinion on going armed.....cpj is correct!

I'll concede that to you woodsrunner, you're not wasting your breath. But I will say thinking about it here and practicing it on the spur of the moment of, if you will, the heat of battle, we don't always react in a rational way when surprised by a snake. But what I will add is that if you're hunting in a place like I do that has more than a few rattlers AND cotton mouths, it would be prudent to invest in some good snake leggings.