Woods gun recommendation

In a purely defensive gun, I'd go for the G29. You only lose about 50 FPS to the G20 and its smaller and lighter. I have a beautiful custom 4" Ruger Redhawk. It's a great woods gun, but is just too much to pack around while hiking. The G29 offers less power, but is much easier to carry. If I were on Kodiak Island, I'd pack the weight, but for hogs, black bear, and people, the G29 should work plenty well.
 
For basic protection in the woods in the Eastern US, it's hard to beat a 4" 357 revolver. If I were hunting deer or black bear with a handgun, I would carry something like 41 or 44 mag or larger. My deer hunting revolver caliber is 480 Ruger.

10mm autos work.
 
22-rimfire said:
For basic protection in the woods in the Eastern US, it's hard to beat a 4" 357 revolver. If I were hunting deer or black bear with a handgun, I would carry something like 41 or 44 mag or larger. My deer hunting revolver caliber is 480 Ruger.

10mm autos work.
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I carry a 4" S&W M13 revolver daily, excepting afield in the woods.
 
I have a Ruger Alaskan in 454 and highly recommend it. The 454 can be loaded (found) in many different power levels, as can the 45 long colt it also fires. The cylinder can be machined to accept 45 acp as well.

480 Ruger, 45 LC, 44 mag, 41 mag are also acceptable calibers. If going with a semi auto 10mm is about the only caliber that gets reasonably close to acceptable.

If allowed to carry a long gun 12 gauge hard cast slugs, or 45-70 lever hands down.
 
To be brutally frank, a pistol is a poor choice for a woods gun. All it takes is one lucky stick/branch/rock to hit the mag release and you might never know until you reach to use it that you now have a single shot (or none if there is a mag safety).

Pick a revolver in as large a caliber as you find controllable and as long a barrel as you find comfortable to wear. DA or SA is up to you. I prefer DA but that is probably just due to my long exposure to them (and none with SA).
 
Just remember, there is a difference between the caliber you might choose for hunting versus for animal defense.

Loosing a mag would be a concern of mine as well in the woods which is one of the reasons I prefer a revolver.
 
I found a pretty good deal on a Taurus Tracker 44 Mag so I'm probably going to go that route but I'm still not 100% sure. Thanks for all of the recommendations and advice. Feel free to post more.
 
I admit that one of my favorite woods guns is a 4" M57 Smith (41 mag). So, the 44 mag is not really outside the box. I just like the 4" M57 (Mountain Gun), but it is heavy to carry all day when you really don't need that much power for defensive purposes. Hunting .... YES.
 
I think I would go with the Glock 20 or a Ruger in .357 if I wanted a revolver. The Glock has a LOT of power in that magazine to handle anything in KY, not a huge Glock fan but I think the 20 is hard to beat in this situation.
 
fishface5 said:
I used to have a longslide G20 loaded with Doubletap hardcast 220gr I think for woods critter control. That's up near 41 magnum territory with the same loaded weight as a revolver but with twice the ammo. The EAA Witness Match Elite seems to be a fantastic 10mm for the $$$, BUT I decided I had more confidence in the Glock working if I dropped it in the mud or such
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I carry the Glock 29SF with the same rounds as fishface5. Sometimes I carry the G20 mags, but I often just carry the G29 mags with +2 extender... that's 13 rounds of 10mm.
 
rbmcmjr said:
To be brutally frank, a pistol is a poor choice for a woods gun. All it takes is one lucky stick/branch/rock to hit the mag release and you might never know until you reach to use it that you now have a single shot (or none if there is a mag safety).

Pick a revolver in as large a caliber as you find controllable and as long a barrel as you find comfortable to wear. DA or SA is up to you. I prefer DA but that is probably just due to my long exposure to them (and none with SA).
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I have no idea what you just said but that signature is outstanding! :D
 
357 or 10mm are fine defense weapons for two legged concerns, but not for animal defense. 41 mag, 44 mag, 45 lc, or 454 casul are your best choices. 454 and 44 mag have an advantage of also shooting lighter calibers (44 spl & 45 colt). Get a double action, single action is not good for large predator defense. Ruger (or s&w) is preferable to the taurus in terms of quality, reliability, longevity.
 
Glock 21 converted to .460 Rowland. I have 255gr hard cast flat nose rounds for bear country.

 
10mm is a good round. I have a model 29 Glock (subcompact); my son has the model 20. I like the 29 as you wouldn't be taking any long shots beyond 15 yards or so..
One of the nicest rounds in the world is the .45 Long Colt in a Ruger Blackhawk revolver. And longer shots are easy and accurate.
You can purchase decent hunting ammo in either caliber>
 
I carry my 44 mag when Bow hunting...but a .357 would probably be just about right...

I just cannot seem to bring myself to carry a semi-auto when hunting.
 
Unless you are actually hunting bears I'd carry bear spray. It's a better deterrent than a pistol. If you are hunting bears you'll want someone with a long gun to back up your shot. Slugs, magnum rifle, or magazine fed medium caliber rifle.

10mm will get the job done with the right load. The police in greenland swapped out their 9mm sidearms for 10mm when they proved ineffective vs polar bears. They still carry 30-06 bolt action rifles as their primary gun.
 
This ^!!!

I wouldn't place my life on a pistol even large caliber with an animal of that size. With a bear on your 6 and running at 20+ miles an hour at you or jumping out of tall grass, enveloping the space in front of you with bear spray seems safer and more idiot proof than a highly placed shot on target. They really don't like bear spray.

But if that isn't convincing here are some ballistics

30-30 Winchester 150 grn 1,611 pounds of muzzle energy at 2,200 FPS
10mm 200 grain 490lbs of muzzle energy at 1,050 FPS

You would need a +p 44 ammo to get near a hunting riffle. And if you've ever shot plus+ ammunition you know that it's not pleasant. Or maybe that's just the hipster in me talking lol.

Check out this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCmtsyDdtng

sideways said:
Unless you are actually hunting bears I'd carry bear spray. It's a better deterrent than a pistol. If you are hunting bears you'll want someone with a long gun to back up your shot. Slugs, magnum rifle, or magazine fed medium caliber rifle.

10mm will get the job done with the right load. The police in greenland swapped out their 9mm sidearms for 10mm when they proved ineffective vs polar bears. They still carry 30-06 bolt action rifles as their primary gun.
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Well, I had to pass on the Tracker. It was in pretty rough shape. So the search goes on. I already carry bear spray, btw. I'm just looking for another tool that will probably never be needed but is there if it is. Plus it's an excuse to buy a new gun.
 
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