Protection from unpleasant animals
 

Hi everyone,
I am new here. Great forum you have! Anyways I am in the Air Force and just moved to Tacoma, Wash. I am planning on hunting Elk and Deer up here. First time for Elk, not for deer. I have done a little reading and am stuck between a Super Redhawk .44, S&W 629 .44 and a Super Redhawk Alaskan .454 Casull. This would be used in the event that I had to defend myself against Bears or Mountain Lions. I hope the never comes that I would have to use it. But it would be nice to have some added insurance. Does anyone have inputs? Sorry if this has been asked a bizillion times. I tried to do a forum search but did not turn up anything.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

I'm not very knowledgable about the large bore revolvers, but from what I've heard/read, the .480 Ruger seems to offer a considerable amount of power over the .44, but without the jarring recoil of the .454.

Not much help in this area, sorry. :eek:

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

Colorado Luckydog has a post along this line too.

I've not hunted Washington State, so I'm not sure what type of "bears" (black or grizzly?) you think you might encounter. I have hunted Alaska though, where grizzly encounters are frequent topics of discussion. I carried a .44 Redhawk as "backup" then, but after awhile started wondering whether the extra weight and one more thing snagging in the alder thickets was worth it. So, I quit carrying the .44 and started practicing snap shooting at close range with my rifle.

Mountain lions aren't all that durable. I know guys whohunt them with much smaller caliber handguns. A .44 Magnum should be adequate for black bears, provided you do your part getting the bullet to the right place. I never had to use it that way, but I think it'd be marginal for brown bears and grizzlies. If a bear were to charge me, I'd respond with the rifle first and keep shooting until it was empty or the bear dead. You probably don't want to carry a rifle everywhere around camp though?

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

In your area Mountain lions would probably be more prevalent then Bears. The little ***** cats don't bother anybody just be aware of your surroundings if you do any bugling or cow calling.One of the best mountain lion guides in Colorado who I happen to know uses a Glock 40 for personal protection.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/akforum/akshooting/49028.htm

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

They won't bother you if you don't mess with them. Most of the time they are there and you never know it. I spooked one coming back to camp one night when it was stalking a pig. I walked past a big boulder and spooked the pig and the cat roared right above my head. It scaredme but it just took off the other direction and I never seen it. When they roar that close to you all your hair stands up on youtr body. It couldn't of been more than 5' above my head. If it wanted to attack it wouldn't of mattered if I was carrying a cannon it would of just jumped me from behind andI would of never knew what happened.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

They were not called "Shadow Cats" by the Indians for no good reason. If one ever decided to take you it would be quick unless your a really strong individual and you had some luck on your side.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

I live on the East side of Washington State. I hunted several years with a handgun. Started with ground squirrel in Eastern Oregon with a Ruger Single Six 22lr. Then bought a Ruger Super Redhawk 7.5" 44mag. installed a Millet red dot scope on it for big game. Handloaded Hornady 240gr. XTP bullets. Bears in this State are mostly black bears. Up north you my run into a grizz but I would not worry about it. I would get the 44mag. for your purpose due to ammo price and availablity.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

We have them here in FL and protected by the state. In 50+ years in the woods I have only seen 1/2 a dozen, 5 Buff and 1 Black. The black one use to roam the dirt road on the South side of my property and the county named it Black Panther Road..

They usually get close when you are field dressing Deer or Hogs, but 9 times out of 10 will wait untill you leave to feed on the entrails left behind. I have seen them them up on tree branches also.

RE: Protection from unpleasant animals
 

My buddy in Alabama has a pet lion running around on his property. In almost 15 years have never seen him/her.