bears, guns, and the BMT

[illabelle]

Most likely this guy was hunting feral hogs. It is often done with large caliber handguns for the reason cited (brushy areas restricting the shooter's movement/aim). I'd further speculate he had his weapon unholstered due to wanting to "be ready" in the event of flushing one at short distance. Feral hogs can go 200-300 lbs, are capable of shocking bursts of speed, and are very aggressive. Those who hunt them are taking considerable risks by doing so, given their capabilities and aggressiveness.

AO

We were hiking in Virginia a few weeks ago and a guy told us a story from his hog-hunting friend in eastern Arkansas:
Guy was walking along when a hog came out of nowhere, hit him hard from behind and flipped him onto his back. Hog turned on him, pinned him down, ripped up his right arm and would have done more. The man was able to get hold of his gun with his left hand and shoot the hog.

I haven't seen a feral hog, but I'm more scared of them than a bear.

[saltysack]

Ive never eaten either one but I've heard wild boar is a tough meat......

and i believe that most bear hunters don't necessary eat the meat but rather hunt for the fur and mounting the carcass on the wall.....

I use to bow hunt but gave it up after shooting a bear.....if you hunt don’t ever kill a bear, the sound they make is horrible.....it’s been years and haven’t killed anything since....the meat is greasy but the natives in Saskatchewan seem to like it. They make all sorts of things with it. As for wild pig it’s fine but the mature boars meat is gamey and tough .....we use to go with a crazy bastard who used dogs to catch hogs. He would then castrate release in pen to fatten up for awhile, then it’s not bad.....the catch dogs get the rewards...the freshly cut hog nuts.....yummy...


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[squeezebox]

I've fixed hog nuts before a time or 2. Kinda of like beef liver. But instead of the darker, bloody, almost chocolate flavor. It's a bit of a lighter kinda creamy flavor. If you've ever had lamb liver? Testicles , also known as fries?? Tangy, male stink, though. I think I remember venison liver as sour. Notice I said only a time or 2.

[SWODaddy]

who hunts with a pistol?

Lots of people.

[martinb]

Lots of people.

Interesting, I've never seen any. Not doubting or anything, it's just I haven't seen any hunters using a pistol, only.

[jboggg]

Ive never eaten either one but I've heard wild boar is a tough meat......

and i believe that most bear hunters don't necessary eat the meat but rather hunt for the fur and mounting the carcass on the wall.....

I frequently use the AT in North GA to access Chattahoochee NF for hunting bear, deer, and wild hog. Most of the bear hunters I know not only eat bear meat, but prefer it to venison. A bears diet will definitely affect the flavor of the meat. Bears that live near civilization and make a living out of dumpsters and trash cans would not make great table fare.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Ive never eaten either one but I've heard wild boar is a tough meat......

and i believe that most bear hunters don't necessary eat the meat but rather hunt for the fur and mounting the carcass on the wall.....

All depends on who cooks it and whether they know what they're doing. One of the best meals of my life was wild boar in marinara over Gnocchi.

Also, we don't have boar in the US, we have feral hogs a combination of domestic swine that interbred with introduced wild boar hundreds of years ago.

Haven't tried bear yet, but I'd like to.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I frequently use the AT in North GA to access Chattahoochee NF for hunting bear, deer, and wild hog. Most of the bear hunters I know not only eat bear meat, but prefer it to venison. A bears diet will definitely affect the flavor of the meat. Bears that live near civilization and make a living out of dumpsters and trash cans would not make great table fare.

Supposedly in parts of New England and Canada, bears that have been feeding heavily on wild
blueberries are highly sought after because if the incredible taste it imparts in the meat/

[rocketsocks]

Supposedly in parts of New England and Canada, bears that have been feeding heavily on wild
blueberries are highly sought after because if the incredible taste it imparts in the meat/

I love them blueberry bear claws, the kind with a little cheese in the middle too.

[GaryM]

Gee, the bad man put his pistol away to make you feel a bit better and you now he is an *******.
Here is something to think about. There are a lot of guns on the trail you will never see.
Yet they are still there. I would bet you have shared a shelter with one more than once. All of us have.
Tolerance for everyone... Except those yucky guys over there.....


Pistol hunting is not common but it is out there. Usually by accomplished hunters who find using a rifle too easy and want the challenge. Pistols are also for self defense. There are a few disreputable people out there you know.
Try camping around Gooch shelter, a lot of "machinegun" fire at night there. But hey, that is where the US Army Rangers are training. Don't forget the evil black helicopters flying around too.
Whatever....

[Sarcasm the elf]

Gee, the bad man put his pistol away to make you feel a bit better and you now he is an *******.
Here is something to think about. There are a lot of guns on the trail you will never see.
Yet they are still there. I would bet you have shared a shelter with one more than once. All of us have.
Tolerance for everyone... Except those yucky guys over there.....


Pistol hunting is not common but it is out there. Usually by accomplished hunters who find using a rifle too easy and want the challenge. Pistols are also for self defense. There are a few disreputable people out there you know.
Try camping around Gooch shelter, a lot of "machinegun" fire at night there. But hey, that is where the US Army Rangers are training. Don't forget the evil black helicopters flying around too.
Whatever....

Friend, I'm a gun nut myself and a hunter, I also backpack in Georgia with my friend from Banks County who open carries a G4 Glock on trail. That said I cannot imagine a person walking down the BMT in hiking clothes while carrying a pistol in your hand is a hunter and doing so violates a number of basic gun safety guidelines, it sounds borderline negligent to me and having a gun in the hand while walking on uneven trail risks negligent discharge. I'm totally comfortable around responsible hikers with holstered guns, but gun in hand is a different story.

[JeffreyH]

Just wanted to notice that pistol will not do serious damage to a bear.

I think that guy was carrying the pistol not for a bear but for feeling safer and calmer.

[DownEaster]

Just wanted to notice that pistol will not do serious damage to a bear.

True for most pistols, but there are exceptions.

DesertEagle50.jpg

[rocketsocks]

Location location location!

[greentick]

Just wanted to notice that pistol will not do serious damage to a bear.

....

Don't tell this griz...
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.or...d-preserve6320

and with an anemic 45ACP.


Another example: My wife lived in a remote community in the interior of AK for several years. We went and visited a few years ago and one of the guys was giving me a walking tour. Showed me some dumpsters that had been destroyed by brown bears. He was walking to one of their greenhouses and had a brown bear stand up in some thick brush about 20yds away. He carries a 44mag and shot it once, it dropped an stood up again. He shot it again and it dropped only to stand up several yards away in a different section of brush. Bang and it drops. Turns out it was 3 separate bears. He turned himself in to the AK state patrol. They confiscated the pistol (and the bears) and after investigation gave him the pistol back and he was fined for shooting the bears out of season but no other charges.

AT black bears are more person sized. I think any self defense load that would work on a human will work on an eastern black bear.

Like rocketsocks said: location, location, location

[greentick]

Ugh. Can't edit. I wasn't there during the shooting... he was describing it as we walked around where it happened.

[Longboysfan]

you would need a pretty big gun to stop a bear.

[Scars]

The next morning, I was 30 minutes up the trail when a dude comes over a small hill 20-30 feet in front of me carrying a pistol IN HIS HAND. As soon as he saw me, he holstered it on his belt, chuckled, and said, "Sorry if I scared you by carrying this." Of course you scared me, you @$$hole, you're walking around in the woods with a handgun drawn. And as soon as he passed me, he pulled it back out again. Unlike with the bear, I spent the next couple of hours looking behind me to make sure that nut job wasn't coming back.


If you're so scared in the woods that you need to have your firearm in your hand the entire time, then choose a less frightening activity. And if you're just carrying it for attention, then go wave that thing around in an airport or something. They'll give you plenty of attention, and I won't have to carry an extra pair of underwear.

I’m trying to wrap my head around the definition of an a$$hole...why does the mere presence of a firearm cause you such fear and dread, particularly when the guy carrying it was clearly very rational and engaging? This reaction strikes me as odd, given the previous night’s presence of an instinctual vice rational animal caused you no concern. We have no idea what lead to gentlman to carry a firearm, so speculation is of no value. On your end, you do realize that, in a normal course of your day, 5-20% of the people around you are armed? They are no threat to you, so why this irrational fear of inanimate objects? I guess it makes a good story to tell to your ‘friends.’
FYI, for all the pontificators, I hunt solely with a pistol, for deer to boar to bear. I don’t carry it when I hike, but that is a personal decision. When I hunt, I use a 454 Casull with cast 325g LBT truncated cone bullet over H110 handloads for 1250fps, which is suitable for anything in America.

[greentick]

...I use a 454 Casull with cast 325g LBT truncated cone bullet over H110 handloads for 1250fps, which is suitable for anything in America...

That'll do it.

[rocketsocks]

Don't tell this griz...
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.or...d-preserve6320

and with an anemic 45ACP.


Another example: My wife lived in a remote community in the interior of AK for several years. We went and visited a few years ago and one of the guys was giving me a walking tour. Showed me some dumpsters that had been destroyed by brown bears. He was walking to one of their greenhouses and had a brown bear stand up in some thick brush about 20yds away. He carries a 44mag and shot it once, it dropped an stood up again. He shot it again and it dropped only to stand up several yards away in a different section of brush. Bang and it drops. Turns out it was 3 separate bears. He turned himself in to the AK state patrol. They confiscated the pistol (and the bears) and after investigation gave him the pistol back and he was fined for shooting the bears out of season but no other charges.

AT black bears are more person sized. I think any self defense load that would work on a human will work on an eastern black bear.

Like rocketsocks said: location, location, location

that is some story, I’ll prolly pass that one along, crazy.