Woods weapons, are they really neccessary

akthor said:
Umm there were several examples laid out in this thread were people have NEEDED their gun. You should go back and read.

Two legged critters aside there are many many areas where you NEED a gun just to be in the woods safely otherwise you are asking to be eaten. Especially anywhere up in Alsaka/Canada where they have grizzly, brown and polar bears. I would be very leery anywhere's there are Mountain Lions too seems they are getting braver or more populated and attacks by them are more frequent.

InfidelShootist's post was not the way I think most of us "gun bearers" think. I don't believe real men carry guns and that someone is a lesser man if they don't.

It is everyones right to choose. However if you choose not to I would hope you are also responsible about where and how you venture out. If you go somewhere where you shouldn't unarmed and something happens to you I have about as much compassion for you as people who die jumping out of planes for fun or climbing mountains in the dead of winter or swimming in shark infested water. It is your right to do these things but don't expect a lot of eyebrow raising when something bad happens to you.

It's funny that people who wouldn't drive into the "bad part of town" with a brand new Mercedes at 3am in the morning because something bad might happen to them seem to think it's no big deal to walk around in bear country in nothing but cargo shorts.

Common sense goes a long ways with guns and without them too.
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I guess I should have said many instead of any. Anyway, I'm not talking about areas like you say with a serious chance of needing a gun but for many of us and the areas we frequent the risk is minimal. Besides we're all going to die. I'd rather be eaten by a bear instead of dying from prostate cancer. I'm not saying you shouldn't carry, carry all you want. Just for me I'm taking a calculated risk in not carrying and I'm okay without your compassion if I get eaten or killed by a tweaker.:D
 
Mentor said:
Wow. :thumbdn:

I have to applaud some of you guys. Not content to exercise your own freedoms the way you see fit, you have to insult those who choose to operate differently and suggest that we ought to see the light and do things your way, because to do anything else would simply be irresponsible.

It's this sort of attitude that always drives these threads into the ground.

- Mike
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Well said Mike.... :thumbup:

Good discussion from some in this thread. :thumbup:
 
j williams said:
Well said Mike.... :thumbup:

Good discussion from some in this thread. :thumbup:
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Another big +1 from me - I grew up in a family where guns were common, and now that I've relocated somewhere where I hope to get more time out in the mountains, am going to re-ignite my own interest in them, but some of the redneck chest thumping, "you aren't a real man unless you have a big gun" BS being spouted in here is even WORSE than the anti-gun BS I've heard elsewhere.

America is about freedom - the freedom to carry if you choose to, the freedom to not do so if you feel the weight isn't justified, and the freedom to think (and say) that some of the people in this thread are complete tools. ;)
 
I "need" a gun the same way I "need" a FAK, BOB or fire extinguisher. I really don't expect to need them in a life-or-death emergency and I haven't so far in life, but I keep them handy because I might. I figure they are just part of prudent planning and risk assessment. I likely won't need them, but if I do then I will really need them. For the most part, I try to plan my strategies and back-up strategies in life, and not rely on hope as a strategy.

Everyone's planning is different, however, and I respect the right of others to arrive at different conclusions for themselves. I may even be in a position to help them out one day if they do.
 
RobbW said:
I "need" a gun the same way I "need" a FAK, BOB or fire extinguisher. I really don't expect to need them in a life-or-death emergency and I haven't so far in life, but I keep them handy because I might. I figure they are just part of prudent planning and risk assessment. I likely won't need them, but if I do then I will really need them. For the most part, I try to plan my strategies and back-up strategies in life, and not rely on hope as a strategy.

Everyone's planning is different, however, and I respect the right of others to arrive at different conclusions for themselves. I may even be in a position to help them out one day if they do.
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I agree with what you say but different people prepare in different ways and to different degrees. My not carrying a gun is based on risk assessment the same as why I don't carry a defibrilator (sp?) or some other specialized device that is of low probability of necessity. My FAK is vastly different to my buddy who is a combat medic just like my weapons set is different than his. He carries a full blow out kit and a Glock and I carry a FAK that can fit in my pocket and a tomahawk. To each their own.
 
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Mentor said:
Wow. :thumbdn:

I have to applaud some of you guys. Not content to exercise your own freedoms the way you see fit, you have to insult those who choose to operate differently and suggest that we ought to see the light and do things your way, because to do anything else would simply be irresponsible.

It's this sort of attitude that always drives these threads into the ground.

- Mike
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I never understood why some are threatened by the decision not to carry. I understand telling someone off who says you shouldn't carry, hell I do that whenever I hear someone say that. But what does anyone care what I do?:confused:
 
Shotgun said:
I never understood why some are threatened by the decision not to carry. I understand telling someone off who says you shouldn't carry, hell I do that whenever I hear someone say that. But what does anyone care what I do?:confused:
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there is a lot of that in the world today. I think there is even a psychiatry term for it.........
 
InfidelShootist said:
I've been driving without a seatbelt for 30 years.Why would I need a seatbelt? Nothing ever happens.You guys who use seatbelts are either afraid or inexperienced.;)
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Me too. That's my foot on the pedals, my hands on the steering wheel. In short I'm in control of my driving, so I'll probably never need a seatbelt. Those who argue that it's only a matter of time that someone hits me are full of it. The chances are astronomical, I'm not worried.

Now self protection. I carry because most threats I'd encounter are out of my control. But my mitigation of them is up to me.

I always carry when camping, but then I camp way back in the mtns in CO.
 
rnr said:
Me too. That's my foot on the pedals, my hands on the steering wheel. In short I'm in control of my driving, so I'll probably never need a seatbelt. Those who argue that it's only a matter of time that someone hits me are full of it. The chances are astronomical, I'm not worried.
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i don't wear a seatbelt because i doubt my driving skills.

i wear one because i doubt every other drivers driving skills. same reason i wear a helmet on a motorbike.

oh yeah, the $150/3 points fine is another incentive.
 
the only weapons i carry in the woods are my knife, and bear spray- it may not be as intimidating as a gun, but it'll do a hell of a lot more to a bear than a stick and it'll melt some douchebags eyes that thinks he can make out with the stuff in my pack
 
MustardMan said:
Another big +1 from me - I grew up in a family where guns were common, and now that I've relocated somewhere where I hope to get more time out in the mountains, am going to re-ignite my own interest in them, but some of the redneck chest thumping, "you aren't a real man unless you have a big gun" BS being spouted in here is even WORSE than the anti-gun BS I've heard elsewhere.

America is about freedom - the freedom to carry if you choose to, the freedom to not do so if you feel the weight isn't justified, and the freedom to think (and say) that some of the people in this thread are complete tools. ;)
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+1. :thumbup: If people agree not to criticize me when I carry, I will not criticize those who choose otherwise. There's room for us all.
 
I carried when I backpacked, for the same reason that I carried a first aid kit; because I was on my own, and expected to have to take care of myself if something went wrong. I never used much more than bandaids from my first aid kit, and I never fired my revolver in anger. However, I do not plan to sit on a rock and hope for rescue in an emergency. I carried because I believe that it is my responsibility to be self-sufficient.

And, I also completely respect those who choose not to carry. This is not a measure of character, it is a matter of personal preparation. I am fine with you doing it your way, just leave me alone about how I do it.
 
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Shotgun said:
I agree with what you say but different people prepare in different ways and to different degrees. My not carrying a gun is based on risk assessment the same as why I don't carry a defibrilator (sp?) or some other specialized device that is of low probability of necessity. My FAK is vastly different to my buddy who is a combat medic just like my weapons set is different than his. He carries a full blow out kit and a Glock and I carry a FAK that can fit in my pocket and a tomahawk. To each their own.
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Pretty much in agreement--different kits for different situations. With a family history of heart disease, I run 2-3 hours a week, eat very little red meat, and yes, I would carry a defib. starting in my 60s if they become pocket sized by then. Seriously. I've seen close up what heart attacksand their aftermath have done to precious generations. Not now though, risk for me would be too low.
 
DPris said:
The UTVs ARE cool, but very practical. I can drive rough country all day long with full bucket seat support, I can talk to a passenger, I can carry spare food, fuel, water, and other emergency gear in the bed.
Goes places Jeeps are too big to get through. :)
Denis
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UTVs are awesome, thing that sucks is they cost as much as a car :(

I used to get to drive a John Deere Gator every summer for about a week as part of my job. It was the thing I looked forward all year to doing. Last summer I got to drive a real suped up one an had a blast.
 
I started this thread and now that I know so many of you are armed in the woods, you bet I will carry a gun. :)

Geoff
 
On my second UTV. This time it was a choice between a Jeep & the Rhino for the outback.
Rhino won, like I said- it can go places a Jeep can't. Only downside is it has to be towed out on a trailer, not street-legal.

I tote a small tent, gas, spare water, three days' food, shovel, large Swamp Rat chopper, rope, medical kit, bivy bags, compressible fleece blankets, three different cooking systems, backup medications, flashlights, signalling devices, tire puncture kit, two GPS devices (for marking locations of anything interesting, not for getting me in or out), spare batteries for everything that needs 'em, and at least two firearms with supporting ammunition, all for just day trips, in case of a breakdown.

So far, the only thing out of all that I've needed is the extra gas.
But, I'm equipped to take care of myself and/or a passenger for two nights in good or bad weather if necessary, I file a flight plan of the general area I figure to be in with my wife or a friend, and I can hold on till I'm found if I have to.

Past experience tells me the odds are in favor of me not needing all that emergency gear, but the odds can always turn, and all it takes is one unprepared occurance to kill me. :)

Denis
 
Bufford said:
Animals such as bear can sense a person's level of confidence. Carrying a weapon will raise a person's level of confidence when danger is lurking. The bear or other threat will sense that and keep their distance for as long as the person's confidence remains high.

An unarmed person may feel threatened by the animal, the animal will sence that and that unarmed person may become prey. Some of these situations written in this thread from armed persons may have turned out ugly if they didn't have their weapon.

It's always better to be armed than to be unarmed.
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all though it isn't a dangerous animal read coon story in w&c (I can cuss over there and I was fuming) my wife yelled and threw stuff at a coon in the chicken coup he ignored her. she just doesn't have it in her to shoot something. so she went in the house and watched him .and called me with updates he sat there for 45 minutes enjoying his duck :mad::mad: the second the truck shut off and my feet hit the ground he got nervous. He decided to leave .he should have left earlier :D I have seen this reaction in dogs too!
 
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