Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/content/tncms/live/
Wyoming considers bear spray order
By Mike Koshmrl Jackson Hole Daily
21 hrs ago
Wyoming wildlife officials gathering in Rock Springs on Friday plan to discuss the idea of requiring hunters to carry bear spray in the grizzly-occupied Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Cannot open that link, but read about it on another WY media source. Seems the tree huggers are quite disturbed that too many griz are going to be killed in self defense, especially with their outsized population growth in the Absaroka and Shoshone forest areas, where they successfully blocked the griz hunts last year, and they want to make it a hunter's obligation to try bear spray first.
A few notes and observations from my recent trip to Alaska with Mrs. CF:
I carried a Gen4 Glock 20 modified to shoot heavy hard cast loads. This is a big gun and I'm not a huge dude, but I was able to conceal it fairly easily using a JMCK AIWB Wing Claw 2.5, and my hand made junk carry pillow.
I wanted to use the new HST 200gr for self-defense loads in town, but also be able to swap mags to the bear loads at a trailhead without racking a round. Because the bear loads require a special magazine, this meant I couldn't keep a hard cast in the chamber. I settled on keeping an Underwood/Lehigh XP in the chamber, and having one mag with HST and another with hard cast. Given how few bears we encountered (none), next time I would probably just keep an HST in the chamber and call it good.
For hiking, I tried a Hill People Gear Original Kit Bag v.2. It worked well, but I found it hot, sweaty, and hard to integrate with my day pack.
I also tried hiking with the G20 carried OWB in a Safariland ALS holster. This didn't work well either, due to the length of the G20's grip, a holster that doesn't keep the gun very close, and my 32" waist.
I ended up finding AIWB the most comfortable way to hike with a day pack. I think an AOWB (appendix, outside the waistband) hiking specific holster with snap loops might be even better. @Tony Mayer
Mrs. CF carried bear spray on the left side of her pack belt using a Mystery Ranch holster, and a Ruger LCR 9mm loaded with BB 147gr hard cast in a SafePacker on the right side.
We saw lots of bear sign, including several piles of very fresh bear poo in the center of the trail.
Nearly everyone we saw on the trails was carrying bear spray. Some were carrying it in their hand. We saw a few firearms, but not many.
About 75% of the time, it was too windy to use bear spray.
During our 9 days in AK, and over 50 miles of hiking, we didn't encounter any bears other than seeing a black bear while kayaking.
Honestly, I'm thinking that for our next trip I'll just bring my 9mm P-07 and load a mag of Lehigh XP for the trail. We climbed over 10,000 vertical feet, and the added weight of a G20 and two mags isn't trivial.
Last edited by Clusterfrack; 07-31-2019 at 12:53 PM.
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver
Great report. My AK hiking a few years ago was not as extensive as yours by a long shot. And it was far closer to town (and yet not long after we left someone was killed by a brownie not terribly far from that area). Those things are really all over and anywhere even if not in squirrel numbers. But, I digress.
As much as I like the HPG rig and use for a lot of outdoors rec, I carried OWB because the trails to get to the scenic lake bed etc had cover kinda way close and I wanted a fast rig.
FWIW a G22 with 180 gr XTP.
Last edited by JHC; 07-31-2019 at 01:56 PM.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
Leaving aside a long gun, which is an obvious choice, the handgun choice is all about capability, compromise and probability.
Single bear and where the weight of the handgun is not an issue, hard to beat a 629 with wide meplat, hard cast loads. In and out of town, with a variety of potential challenges, and the 9mm with separate magazines of JHP and penetrator ammo is attractive. All sorts of variation possible in between those choices.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
You talking about AOWB attached to your regular belt or the hip belt on your pack? I run AOWB attached to the hip belt on my pack and have it rigged up so I can attach the holster between the buckle and let’s call it the 2:30 position. The only reason I carry AOWB is at the start of a hunt I’m carrying 70+ pound loads and couldn’t effectively carry a pistol AIWB, IWB or OWB. Running AOWB attached to the hip belt presents the issue of the pistol goes where the pack goes so you have to account for that when you drop the pack.
@36trap, my day pack doesn’t have a hip belt for that very reason. If a holster could move (snap loops?) from pack to pants belts that would be even better.
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver