Self defense while hunting?

The mindset that handguns are evil is what fuels opinions in Canada. Until people realize they can be used for something other than criminal activity, nothing will change.

That includes the vast majority of hunters who see handguns as useless tools. The evidence is in this thread. Pretty sad.

I work with a guy who meets that description 100%. His lever rifle and his 12g pump are all he needs to hunt with. My sks shouldn't be used for hunting and my hand gun should be banned. I don't talk to him much unless I have too. He is a pro hunting anti-gunner.
 
I see no mention of pepper spray.

I understand that this isn't the "Canadian Capsaicin Nutz" website, but I've always though that in a panic situation I could achieve more with an 8 second stream of chemicals than I could with a bolt action rifle.

It's cheap, light, and nobody will question you carrying a can of it around the woods.

Now what would be really slick would be to mount it under the barrel with a second trigger M203-style...
 
I see no mention of pepper spray.

I understand that this isn't the "Canadian Capsaicin Nutz" website, but I've always though that in a panic situation I could achieve more with an 8 second stream of chemicals than I could with a bolt action rifle.

It's cheap, light, and nobody will question you carrying a can of it around the woods.

Now what would be really slick would be to mount it under the barrel with a second trigger M203-style...


I'm sure it has it's uses in a perfect scenario
but if yer at the point where a firearm is the only answer, a capable sidearm in reasonably trained hands, in my opinion , is a much safer tool for defense of life. wind won't blow the bullet back in yer face..... it will do that to pepper spray.... blinding you and seasoning you up for mr cougar's meal hehehe
 
I carry a few slugs just in case..

I wouldn't have had time to switch. Twenty feet is 2 bounds for a bear and I would have been hard pressed to get my gun to my shoulder, and I didn't want to get caught with an open/empty gun.

Just for the record, I would happily take advantage if handgun carry were available to general recreationalists. A rifle might be a better solution, but a rifle may not always be at hand. It could be leaning against a tree feet away, or strapped to a packframe. Even slung over the shoulder, it can be too slow to get into action unless you've practised. The great advantage to a handgun, is that it is always there if you need it.
 
Question - has anybody ever wished they had a firearm other than their hunting rifle while out deer hunting (for the purposes of self defense either while walking or harvesting deer etc) ?
wilderness carry permits are very difficult if not almost impossible to get for a regular hunter so wishing really is useless.

Guys talking about carrying their 9, 40, 45 if they had a carry permit is also kind of useless, Min for me would be a 10mm with full power ammo as grizzly would be my main concern, never had an issue with being stalked by any other animal
 
If I am carrying a high powered rifle, I don't need or want a sidearm, as it isn't anywhere near effective at stopping a charging bear. I have been charged by a grizzly, and I did use a high powered rifle to end the charge, so I speak from actual experience. Now if I was fishing or bow hunting, I would like to be able to care a large bore handgun. In any case, I would not be carrying a 9mm or 45acp handgun for protection against animals.

When a bear sticks his head in your tent, that's when the handgun is beneficial. When you leave the rifle leaning against the side of a tree while you're skinning and butchering, or just addressing the call of nature, that's when the handgun is beneficial. Its not about which gun is the better stopper, its about what you wear as opposed to what you carry, and its about what you have with you, as opposed to what you have to go and get.

The problem a hunter has in a defensive wildlife scenario is that he's programed to take a chest shot no matter the circumstances, and if he sees a relatively small animal run off after being shot in the chest with a rifle, he isn't inclined to think very highly of a gun that's harder to use well, is less intuitive, and has a third of the velocity of his rifle. The thing is there's more to it than that.

Despite it's low velocity, a handgun with suitable loads penetrates exceptionally well, and is usually enough to exit on a head shot, turning everything inside the brain pan into a jellied mess. So if one does choose to carry a handgun defensively, he must load it with the right ammo, he must shoot it frequently to ensure he can score a decisive blow at 20', and have the knowledge of what a decisive shot on wildlife actually is. Compared to your bare hands, the handgun is decidedly a step up.

The bigger a handgun cartridge is, the more difficult it is to use, particularly if multiple shots are required. A 9mm with 147 gr bullets approaches the terminal performance of a .357 magnum, and it carries a bunch more ammo in the magazine than the .357 has in the cylinder. My carry gun is a .44 magnum which I load with 325 gr bullets over 20 grs of powder, the resulting 1200 fps produces 30 ft-lbs of recoil, and pushes the gun well off target. A .300 magnum produces about 35 ft-lbs of recoil, and if shooting off hand that amount of recoil complicates a fast followup shot, unless you practice incessantly, never mind taking a similar amount of fast recoil in the palm of your hand. A talented pistol shooter with a 9mm could probably fire 5 deliberate rounds by the time I fired a second one with the .44. If the the 9mm bullet punches through the animal's brain pan, what does the .44 do that the 9mm doesn't? My only 9mm has a 3.5" barrel, and its a difficult little sucker to shoot very well due to the small, hard to see front sight, but if I had a 5" model with sights I could see, I wouldn't hesitate to have it added to my ATC, and park my .357 which currently backs up the .44.
 
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Ontario, you can't have two firearms on you while hunting. IF you have more than one , the others have to be stored away.

When I hunt small game during the day, I use my SxS; one barrel has shot the other a slug.


This is not a regulation I'm familiar with. Where is that in the summary?
 
If I am carrying a high powered rifle, I don't need or want a sidearm, as it isn't anywhere near effective at stopping a charging bear. I have been charged by a grizzly, and I did use a high powered rifle to end the charge, so I speak from actual experience. Now if I was fishing or bow hunting, I would like to be able to care a large bore handgun. In any case, I would not be carrying a 9mm or 45acp handgun for protection against animals.

In one of the first few episodes of Lost, Sawyer shot a grizzly with a handgun that must have been a 9mm or .40cal. That's enough to tell me that that's all you need cuz I saw it happen on the Island.
 
I work with a guy who meets that description 100%. His lever rifle and his 12g pump are all he needs to hunt with. My sks shouldn't be used for hunting and my hand gun should be banned. I don't talk to him much unless I have too. He is a pro hunting anti-gunner.

So do I. He's a 'weekend warrior' though. I get to hear how much fun he has shooting his C8 and how no one else should have firearms because there is just no reason for anyone else to have one, but man, sure is fun shooting that C8:bangHead:
 
There is no Ontario reg which prohibits the number of firearms you can hunt with. I personally know guys that tote 2 muzzleloaders to a stand during drives while deer hunting and a CO replied carry as may as you want. Where the trouble starts is carrying slugs and birdshot. Regs are you can carry either not both. You must be either small game hunting or large game hunting in season. Can't do both.

Is there any sense to it NO but that is the intent of the law. I know when leaving the truck in the dark there is one in the pipe no matter what I am carrying. Case must have fallen out of my pocket.

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I see nothing in the Ontario regs that says you can't carry 2 guns. Am I just missing it?
 
There is no Ontario reg which prohibits the number of firearms you can hunt with. I personally know guys that tote 2 muzzleloaders to a stand during drives while deer hunting and a CO replied carry as may as you want. Where the trouble starts is carrying slugs and birdshot. Regs are you can carry either not both. You must be either small game hunting or large game hunting in season. Can't do both.

Is there any sense to it NO but that is the intent of the law. I know when leaving the truck in the dark there is one in the pipe no matter what I am carrying. Case must have fallen out of my pocket.


... So where in the Ontario regs does it say that I can't be big game hunting and small game hunting at the same time? (Providing I have a license for both)

There's a lot of dead spruce grouse that would like to find that reg...
 
... So where in the Ontario regs does it say that I can't be big game hunting and small game hunting at the same time? (Providing I have a license for both)

There's a lot of dead spruce grouse that would like to find that reg...


Page 34 & 60 of this years regs:

When hunting moose (deer) you may only use or carry a firearm of the type permitted for hunting moose ( deer ) at that time in that WMU
 
The mindset that handguns are evil is what fuels opinions in Canada. Until people realize they can be used for something other than criminal activity, nothing will change.

That includes the vast majority of hunters who see handguns as useless tools. The evidence is in this thread. Pretty sad.

^^^^^^^ This. I often wonder how the shooting community can complain about government decisions when we ourselves cannot agree on the basics! We all learned the K.I.S.S. rule. In this case, a firearm is a firearm. One classification, FIREARM!!!! Easy and cheap to manage.
 
have often wondered how a bear would react to being hit with a flare gun projectile at close range.
They have some sort of phosphorus or other powder that burns very hot and for some time. I think at close range they might penetrate the hide at least and I think mr bear might rather be other places.
Has anyone ever had any experience with flare guns and a bear.
 
have often wondered how a bear would react to being hit with a flare gun projectile at close range.
They have some sort of phosphorus or other powder that burns very hot and for some time. I think at close range they might penetrate the hide at least and I think mr bear might rather be other places.
Has anyone ever had any experience with flare guns and a bear.

I do not think that would be something to comment on in an open forum... shooting might be a legal activity in a wildlife scenario... but burning an animal? Not so sure that would go over well.
 
Page 34 & 60 of this years regs:

When hunting moose (deer) you may only use or carry a firearm of the type permitted for hunting moose ( deer ) at that time in that WMU


Right... Firearms... But I don't see anything that would prohibit one from carrying some bird shot in a pocket while slug hunting for deer for instance. Or using a Hammond game getter on a rabbit whe moose hunting.

Furthermore, when it comes to the firearms, judging by the rest of the paragraph, it would seem that the SPIRIT of the regulation is to prevent scaling up, not down. The example given is to prevent someone from carrying a rifle during a bows only season.
 
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