I do carry a side arm in the field whenever legal. Here, you can only hunt with it if it's got a 4" or longer barrel and is centerfire. But I dont carry to hunt with, more for a "just in case/ya never know" type of thing. It's a Glock 19, and thus far has never left my leg in the field. Hope it never has to.

One Shot, One Kill
Hunting is the one sport where, if you are playing right, the other team doesn't even know you're playing.