Do you feel the need to have a weapon when camping

[john101477]

Bear Attack Easton Bowhunting TV ....
.

Wow thats super intense.

 

[xtatik]

I see the wanna be outdoorsmen are still trying to rub their horse crud in this thread...
Pretty idiotic. Just because someone spends a weekend out in the desert every 5-6 months does not make them an outdoorsmen.
First off bears are not all that loud unless they are foraging I have personally been nose to nose with a 350lb bear. I think we both messed ourselves as she went one way and I the other. My father had one swipe at his head and he never seen it until he heard it breathe out less than a foot above his head on a ledge. They are pretty neat to watch when they are foraging for bugs or berries. About 99% of all bears will run away from you when they SEE you not smell you as bears are quite curious to smells except human urine. That figure is grossly adjusted if the bear is a sow with cubs.
Second cats are not THAT reclusive, it is just that most people do not SEE them. They know very well that all they have to do is be still and they can stay right where they are. I have seen this happen quite a few times.

Chest-beater says what?
First off, this "wanna-be" has spent more time in the outdoors than you'd give credit for even if I had proven it to you.
I've slowed down a bit recently to 2 weekends a month locally, usually in the local ranges or Sierra. I still make week-long and multi-week long trips to more (much more) remote locations 3-4 times a year. Until very recently, I was being paid partially and reimbursed fully for taking clients on fishing and hunting forays. I was chosen to do this because my employer soon realised he'd hired someone that already had skills and knew his way around out there and it's a much less mundane form of entertainment than taking them golfing. I don't do golfing. Another reason was he knew I couldn't be relied upon to get any real work done over a weekend I'm not going to name the employer, but I'll tell you our primary business had nothing to do with the outdoor industry....it was a forest/building products company. It was a sweet gig...but that's only recent history.
I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not the gun opponent you'd like me to be. I love hunting, fishing, backpacking, climbing, among other things, and I've done them for as long as I can remember and I'm no kid or yuppie as you say. I do know what I'm talking about, both from study and experience. I just have issue with those who would state that a gun is "essential" to wilderness adventure......It simply isn't so!
I too have seen plenty of cats and I'm sorry but the best way to term their behavior is "reclusive". I didn't have to look far to find others referring to them in the same way. They are even reclusive amongst themselves. Except for very brief mating episodes every couple of years they live very solitary lives.

http:www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar
Second to last sentence, second paragraph.

http://www.wildernessutah.com/learn/mountainlions.html
Third paragraph.

And, for frightened bears making noise:

http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=168&Itemid=38
Scroll down to sounds. I know what I heard....

 

[john101477]

Chest-beater says what?
First off, this "wanna-be" has spent more time in the outdoors than you'd give credit for even if I had proven it to you.
I'm sorry to inform you that I'm not the gun opponent you'd like me to be. I love hunting, fishing, backpacking, climbing, among other things, and I've done them for as long as I can remember and I'm no kid or yuppie as you say. I do know what I'm talking about, both from study and experience. I just have issue with those who would state that a gun is "essential" to wilderness adventure......It simply isn't so!
I too have seen plenty of cats and I'm sorry but the best way to term their behavior is "reclusive". I didn't have to look far to find others referring to them in the same way. They are even reclusive amongst themselves. Except for very brief mating episodes every couple of years they live very solitary lives.

Chest-beater says what?

Hahahaha long time since i heard that one!!! :REOutShootinghunter
Nah I am not asking for proof. We will have to agree to disagree on the "essentials" of packing in the outdoors. Most up here agree that it is an essential and going un-armed is considered stupidity.
I also think we have 2 different ideas of reclusive. No a cat is not gonna stand up and do the boogie dance for ya but just because people do not see them does not mean they are not there. Thats where I was going with that. Having such an ample outdoor life you know how easy it is for them to "hide".

Nice link on the bears to. In general situations they are a very quiet animal. I have also heard them grumble, even back and forth to each other. I have often smelled them long before seeing them if the wind was in the right direction.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I always carry a weapon for people...not animals.

 

[xtatik]

Nice link on the bears to. In general situations they are a very quiet animal. I have also heard them grumble, even back and forth to each other. I have often smelled them long before seeing them if the wind was in the right direction.

Well, no offense intended but, unless you were paying keen attention to the wind direction, I'm sure they smelled you long before you smelled them.
One of the things I found most interesting were the facts given in the last two points at the bottom of that page regarding Black Bear mothers and their cubs. I'd heard of this before, but had never seen it stated as fact. They don't protect their cubs like Grizz. I'd heard of Black Bear mothers abandoning their cubs when threatened......guess it's true...

 

[john101477]

Well, no offense intended but, unless you were paying keen attention to the wind direction, I'm sure they smelled you long before you smelled them.
One of the things I found most interesting were the facts given in the last two points at the bottom of that page regarding Black Bear mothers and their cubs. I'd heard of this before, but had never seen it stated as fact. They don't protect their cubs like Grizz. I'd heard of Black Bear mothers abandoning their cubs when threatened......guess it's true...

Be carefull about believing sites like that to much. 4 years ago a man was killed by a black bear sow cause he got between her and her cub. This happened in south Idaho.
I do not trust any site claiming 100% scientific fact, many things are written down simply on a hypothesis that to them makes since. - Just another Sierra Club

We have had a steady increase in the bear population up here. many of the bears in the Sierra Cascades and surrounding foot hills do not hibernate at all. The weather does not require them to.

Well, no offense intended but, unless you were paying keen attention to the wind direction, I'm sure they smelled you long before you smelled them

No offense taken. I understand what your getting at but because of the nature of what I do, I generally have to take measures to eliminate my scent. Thats not to say I am always successful at it And yes I do always pay attention to wind direction. As a hunting guild I am sure you do as well.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: I've been camping/off-roading/hiking(not now), for over 55 years

We make sure our kids wear helmits, when riding a bike--CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN

We take first aid kits, in the boonies-CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN

We wear lifepreservers when in a boat-CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN

We carry a fishing license with us, when fishing-CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN

We carry a GAZILLION different recovery tools-off-road-CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN


I ALWAYS carry a S&W 1911(SS)-.45 cal, when I go "out"-CAUSE SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN

If you argue AGAINST IT, you don't live in the real world !!

This is not for arguement, it's just the way it is--

:victory::wings: JIMBO

 

[OverlandFJ]

If you don't have a firearm handy, you can always do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f94WI-0chv4

 

[xtatik]

I forgot to comment on this lol. Thats hilarious. While I have encounter or seen the after effects of a mad bear. One of my most memorable Black Bear encounters was at Mt. Shasta. I had set up a cot outside while on a family outing. during the night I was woken up by a bear eating jelly filled powder sugar donuts about 3 ft from me. Now I am kind of a heavy sleeper/snorer but that bear was not even worried about me until I stopped snoring, then he sniffed my hair and about tore our camp apart trying to get away.

Say John,
Why were those jelly-filled powder sugar donuts sitting just 3 ft from where you were sleeping? How'd that bear get a hold of those?.........tisk, tisk, tisk, bad outdoor boy!!
I think your right, you probably should pack a gun. But if that bear were to of met its demise resulting from a scenario like this.....it wouldn't be the bears fault.
Now, before you get your knickers in a knot. I could show you an ice chest in my garage that a bear had its way with. Pretty embarrassing, fortunately, he wasn't an experienced "ice chest specialist" like some bears, and was heckled until he left.

 

[john101477]

Say John,
Why were those jelly-filled powder sugar donuts sitting just 3 ft from where you were sleeping? How'd that bear get a hold of those?.........tisk, tisk, tisk, bad outdoor boy!! .

Hahaha well they sure as heck did not start there lol. I was 17 at the time and as I stated before on a family camping/boating trip (if you can call half of the family hauling 5th wheel trailers up). The donuts were in a plastic storage box. of all the things in that the bear could have dug into it chose the donuts. The donut deal did not worry me in the least I curled back up in my bag and back to sleep I went. The women in camp were not to happy and wanted me in one of the trailers but it is not like the bear was gonna come back that night.

 

[xtatik]

Hahaha well they sure as heck did not start there lol. I was 17 at the time and as I stated before on a family camping/boating trip (if you can call half of the family hauling 5th wheel trailers up). The donuts were in a plastic storage box. of all the things in that the bear could have dug into it chose the donuts. The donut deal did not worry me in the least I curled back up in my bag and back to sleep I went. The women in camp were not to happy and wanted me in one of the trailers but it is not like the bear was gonna come back that night.

Yeah well, lucky you. As much as I tried to get sleep that night, my daughter kept rustling me every time she heard the slightest noise.

 

[teotwaki]

If you don't have a firearm handy, you can always do this:

When in DANGER!!

When in DOUBT

Call 911!

Scream and shout!!

.....and die. :ylsmoke:

 

[xtatik]

When in DANGER!!

When in DOUBT

Call 911!

Scream and shout!!

.....and die. :ylsmoke:

Teo,
Did you watch the vid from that post. Serious side-splitter!

 

[john101477]

that is hilarious. I seen that quite a while back.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Thought I'd weigh in on an old thread.

I've been considering this for awhile. I know lots of guys that've been exploring the back country way longer than I have that say they've never felt the need for a gun. When the growling and barking GSD in my tent didn't deter something from pounding on my truck at 3AM, I wished I was confronting the pounder with more than just a Maglite. So yeah, I feel like I need a weapon in the wild. It turned out to be a drunk camper on the way back to their camp mistaking my Land Cruiser for their Honda Element.

On group trips through Death Valley, 8 trucks worth of us have rolled up on a couple in a tent by themselves. When I'm the solo couple in the tent, I want something more than "the campers' code" keeping everyone honest and safe.

Between feeling a duty to protect my wife and wondering what my dog is growling at in the night, I'd rather be called paranoid and be safe, than be naive and sorry.

In reality, you're always a sitting duck in a tent. But maybe the weapon makes you feel more in control.

I carry a, in order of my perceived effectiveness:

• German Shepherd bred and trained for protection.
• 3D battery LED Maglites (100 lumens in the face as been the most effective 2 legged deterrent in my experience).
• Bear Spray (Read the gov reports, anything short of expert marksmanship and speed with an elephant rifle won't do squat against an angry bear).
• .223/5.56 AR-15 (Not the most effective round, but most attackers stop when you point a gun at them, might as well make it a big, black scary looking gun.
• .22 CMMG conversion bolt for the AR-15 for plinking.
• Knife in my pocket at all times (more for opening packages than defense.

I also have and lock away in the truck at night so no one can use them against me:

• Axe
• Shovel
• Machete

The ARs are a silly choice for campsite protection, but they're just what I have. Being able to mount tactical lights and sights and carry a lot of rounds might make up for its short comings. But in a survival situation, having rifles around probably doesn't hurt.

I'd like to swap them out for a semi auto 12 gauge--10 Rounds of 12g buck shot or slugs is pretty devastating against anything on this side of 400lbs. I'd also feel better with a .45 ACP pistol on my hip at all times--good stopping power in a light package that helps you fight your way to your big guns.

http://forum.pafoa.org/open-carry-144/110490-had-pull-gun-somebody-while-camping.html