UPDATE: Rossi Ranch Hand Mares Leg

Bushmen are Indians, trappers, loggers, prospectors and laborers
the biggest difference is all these people work in the Bush with their feet on the ground.
 
Ardent - to answer the debate on why most of the urban buyers want the mares leg for bear defense, I give you this:
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Hey - it ain't just bears ya know - you never know what wildlife you may have to defend yourself against in the city!

Try explaining to THIS guy he can't have it his way!



drive-thru-moose.jpg
 
The most dangerous animal in the Bush is the Moose!
More people get attacked by them then any other wild animals in Canada!
 
well thanks for the compliment caverk im a laborer that works in the bush :D I take being called a bushman and redneck a compliment haha
 
Driller 212 Yeah I am four of the five on my list.
I am just your typical uneducated northern BC guys who cannot do anything else but work in the Bush.
I am definitely not a redneck though.
I cannot wait to have a lightweight carbine rifle this exploration season!
 
carverk said:
Driller 212 Yeah I am four of the five on my list.
I am just your typical uneducated northern BC guys who cannot do anything else but work in the Bush.
I am definitely not a redneck though.
I cannot wait to have a lightweight carbine rifle this exploration season!
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hek yea on the rifle!

woooo so excited for this season, I will be working in the white gold district!
 
Driller slugging it out in the Bush will make a man out of anyone.
It is good honest work and something to be proud of not everyone is cut out to do it.
I never know where I am going but then again I am a slut and go where the money is best LOL
 
Don't want to turn this into yet another CGN bear defense thread, but.....

To use the Mare's Leg as issued for a real bear defense gun is certainly someone's prerogative, but it sure isn't ideal. Putting a full stock on it would make it much more effective. A good revolver would be 10 times better for this purpose than the chopped down stock Mares Leg.

Like I have said before, I'd use one "as is" to do some "handgun" hunting but that is an entirely different set of circumstances than facing down an irate grizzly with a gun that is difficult to aim and reload, although sometimes just the mere presence of a gun (any gun) in your hand is enough to give you the courage to stand your ground and make a bear back down and leave you alone.:p

I tend to agree with Ardent about the urban guys that want "novelty" guns for bear defense. I think the 8.5" Pistol grip shotguns and Mares legs look cool, and of course they are better than nothing, but far from "ideal."

I think it's important to choose a light/short gun you will carry but will also work well if you need it. The guns I will reach for when I pack a "defense" gun are my .45 Colt Trapper with a 16" barrel (loaded hot) and my 14" barrel pump shotgun with no stupid side saddles or picatinny rails on it, just a great big, tough as nails hand filed rifle sight. I think 14" barrel is about as short as practical in a shotgun (but 12.5 might not suck) And if I could carry a good revolver I'd probably take that instead of any long gun at least 50% of the time.

If I am actually hunting grizzly bears I will take my .375 Ruger and there are some places in BC that seem to hold lots more grizzlies than anything else and I'd carry the heavier and longer 375 in these situations, too.

Bottom line is that while the Mares LEg intrigues me for it's capability to be a "fun" gun and to get as close to handgun hunting as we can in Canada, no way would I bet my life on it as a defensive gun and I personally wouldn't advise it to anyone that asked me, either. (Unless they were to install a full rear stock);)
 
Gatehouse said:
Don't want to turn this into yet another CGN bear defense thread, but.....
If I am actually hunting grizzly bears I will take my .375 Ruger and there are some places in BC that seem to hold lots more grizzlies than anything else and I'd carry the heavier and longer 375 in these situations, too.
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... but what? You'd rather turn it into another .375 Ruger thread??? :p






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Gatehouse said:
Putting a full stock on it would make it much more effective. A good revolver would be 10 times better for this purpose than the chopped down stock Mares Leg.
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And where's your non restricted revolver? Ten times better? Ten times?!? Chopped down, no it's like that on purpose.

Saying over and over that a Mare’s Laig is too hard to shoot respectably because it doesn't have a full stock.... is right up there with saying a motorcycle is too hard to drive because it doesn't have a proper steering wheel.

The Ranch Hand, the NEW KING... of little.
:dancingbanana:

(If I didn't say it, someone else would have!)
 
im no urbin guy and I am no armchair expert when it comes to the working in the Bush I have done it my whole life.
I definitely plan on taking a mares lag and putting on a full butt stock!
Hopefully the rifle is built strong and can handle the demands of a working rifle.
The converted mares leg to a carbine that is a serious Bush rifle anyone who works in extreme remote places knows the value of a lightweight carbine. For me handguns are impractical when you work in different provinces because you will have to get permission from each firearms officer in that province. `Shotguns are a camp rifle for shooting at night if you have to bear banger, rubber slug then all business after that. But then again what do I know I get paid for my experience and skills in the Bush.
 
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tha picture of the Moose is funny
Next time I'm Moose hunting I will make sure to bring a BIGMACK LOL
maybe I should start buying cases for the trap line!
 
As cool as a mare's leg is from a practical standpoint I'll stick with an ATC and a .454 Casul Super Redhawk from March to December and a smaller/lighter .357 magnum for the rest of the year.
 
carverk said:
I quit a job once when I was working in the backend of work channel it took five days to walk out just to prove a point.
Between the rivers and glaciers nobody believes anyone can do it but I proved them wrong.
I would have been grateful to have a mares leg especially when I would come to an entrance of a grizzly bear den.
This was in the spring time as the grizzlies were just coming out of hibernation!
Those who have encountered the dens know how dangerous position a person is in jurring this time of year and having any firearm would have been in my best interests.
Not to mention the stink that is one horrible smell I never want to encounter again.
Long story short I came out in the Nass Valley and had to listen to everyone Lecturing me pulling off such a dangerous stunt just to make my point.
Take it from someone who knows the Bush any lightweight firearm is appreciated when there is no trail or road to walk on.
I know some geologists that are going to love the mares lag
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With all due respect, based on 31 years in the field, that was a risky thing to do to prove your point. I have worked solo in BC and the Yukon when the economic times were bad and I had no other choices. But to do a long solo trip like that just to prove a point, no way.

Glad it worked out for you and good on you for your field skills but remember that "pride goeth before the fall".
 
You're right walking out of the Bush just to prove a point is stupid on my part.
There thousands of things that could have went wrong besides I could have just worked those five days and flew out in the helicopter.
But things worked out my employer fired me of course then turned around and recommended me to quantum helicopters, because they were having trouble with larger helicopter companies bullying there ground guys! Next thing I knew I was up in the Galor Creek project as one of the head riggers, eventually I was doing so much rigging under Vancouver islands helicopters some of their pilots that I was working for them. I used to get a kick out of the low hour pilots I would tease them about spending 50 grand to pump gas for the helicopters and myself I never finish high school and I was the boss LOL
it was just a small patch on our airstrip but it was mine and with 20 or 30 helicopters it was nonstop action!
This was back in 2007 during their big construction season and yes the Russian mill was there.
If galore would have went back havy with the helicopter construction I would have went back as the head rigger for the Russian Mill
Only told the story to make a point that a lightweight carbine is worth its weight in gold!
 
i have had really no trouble with bears in the bush ( talk to them like you would another human , and they seem to get the gist of what your saying ) .

in fact all the bears i have shot have been in my property , my parents property and my brothers property .

humans on the other hand have given me more grief in the middle of no where ...... especially when they figure i have something valuable .

more than a few people have smartened right up the second they realise i have a loaded rifle .
 
Talking to bears is the proper deterrent as a boy I was taught a ancient Haida prayer the translation goes like this.
(Grandfather please don't eat me I want lots of berries to)
by talking with the bear you demonstrate that you are not prey.
It is comforting to have that rifle in your hand just in case you need it.
There is never a shortage of idiots that do not respect other peoples property that they have worked long and hard to get.
 
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