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Protection in the woods

Started by Artski, January 25, 2016, 04:57:29 PM

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HiTech

I never really thought about it while actually logging. Last fall I just stopped my saw and heard a strange noise. I turned around to see what it was and saw 2 bear cubs sliding down a tree. I knew mama was around and was probably close. Never saw her but after the cubs hit the ground I heard a lot of brush breaking. I would imagine she was leading them away. I thought about my .45ACP and it would be nice to have just in case. I never carried a gun while logging or even checking out a lot. There are too many "tree Huggers" who don't like loggers and a logger with a gun would put them over the top. lol

sandsawmill14

but the pistol could protect you from the tree huggers too ;D
i dont carry in the woods either unless im in a low bottom where cottonmouths are a problem but we dont have the predators down here alot of you guys have :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

Grizzly

No pistol packing for us here in Canada. Long gun only unless you go black market. OP is just east of the Banff National Park where there have now been 4 grizzly attacks. Them things are getting too used to people as people are backpacking all over their range and thinking the park warden has tamed them all and moved them back from the trail......  well maybe some are smarter.   ;)

We have black bear, wolves, coyote, and a very occasional cat in our area. The only ones I'm concerned about is the cat and wolves. The cat for all the reasons already posted, and the wolves because they are beginning to show odd behaviors. They used to be content with the odd cow if the deer were scarce but more farmers are noticing them crowding livestock corrals and even close to yards. Black bear just wants some noise and space so he can leave, coyotes are just plain scared.
2011 - Logmaster LM-2 / Chinese wheel loader
Jonsered saws - 2149 - 111S - 90?
2000 Miners 3-31 Board Edger

dustyhat

I did have my first meeting with a black bear a few years back , it was a nervous meeting too .i let him get to close because it was my first seeing one .i aint even been to a zoo. let it get with in ten or fifteen yards , i keep talking to it and it keep coming. finely i sent a round over its head and found they dont like load noises . later found out it was probly some they caught from the parks and set loose. i guess if they make trouble with tourist somebody else will get them.

62oliver

I used to have nothing, then after a couple bear encounters I started carrying bear spray, now I keep a rifle handy.
Husqvarna 266, Case 90xt, JD310C, TJ240E, 02 Duramax

ohiowoodchuck

Quote from: beenthere on January 25, 2016, 05:02:34 PM
Have someone along who can not run as fast as you can...
That reminds me of the one I always heard. Take a buddy and a .22 pistol, if a critter got after you just shoot your buddy in the knee.
Education is the best defense against the media.

sandsawmill14

Quote from: ohiowoodchuck on January 26, 2016, 07:31:26 PM
Quote from: beenthere on January 25, 2016, 05:02:34 PM
Have someone along who can not run as fast as you can...
That reminds me of the one I always heard. Take a buddy and a .22 pistol, if a critter got after you just shoot your buddy in the knee.

that would work unless he had the same plan :o :D :D :D

grizzly  i dont have any experience with bears but with that many attacks in one area i would get firearm or leave the area one or the other
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

York Woodwright

Quote from: terry f on January 26, 2016, 05:06:43 AM
... Shooting a animal at distance, or one you see first is one thing, shooting one charging you is another...
I was working on a scientific project on Svalbard (an archipelago that's about as far north as you can go and still be on land) and the Norwegian authorities demanded that I carry a rifle because of the polar bears which happily stalk humans. I was working right where a geologist had been eaten two years earlier. When I was going through the training with the rifle, I asked what happens if a polar bear is coming and I miss. The instructor said, "Don't worry. Your target will be bigger by the time you are ready to fire again." :o
Charles
I'm still learning how to use my WM LT40HD. This is an avocation, not a vocation -- not as pecunious as medicine, but a lot more fun!

sandsawmill14

york  sounds like a good comforting instructor :D :D :D :D :D
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

Peter Drouin

30 years a go I was deer hunting with a bow and no 45 with me. When a bull moose came at me just walking. I did not have a moose tag.  :D
Well, when he saw me was all he needed. We dance around a W pine for a while. Him on one side and me on the other.
I was looking for a tree I could go up into. The one between us had no branches I could get too.
I saw a hemlock, he looked the other way and I droped the bow and ran.  :D
He was on my heals. A big thing like that can move faster than you think. After he treed me he look up gave a grunt and left.
Now I always have the 45. Just as a nose maker.
No pics but a true story.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

HiTech

Don't know how true this story is but an old timer told it to me 40 years ago. This guy and some of his friends went on a moose hunt. They had guides. This guy told me his guide got him real close to a big bull moose. The guide told him not to shoot it head on, wait for it to turn sideways. Lyle, the guys name, had just bought a new .30-06 and was going to take the shot head on so he wouldn't ruin any meat. He took aim and pulled the trigger. He paused for a long time. Finally I asked him what happened? He told me he didn't remember much after that. The moose shook his head and charged them and he dove one way and the guide the other. Never got the moose. I guess the bone is really thick in front of their skull and the angle the bullet hit it it just glanced off. He told me the guide was mad at him. lol He ended up getting a moose but a smaller one. I would have given a months wages to see that performance. lol

Wudman

The one time in my carreer that I actually feared for my safety was due to a pair of dogs.  I was reconning a wild fire that had run through a 3 year old pine plantation.  I was on the edge of the tract and heard something coming at a run.  What appeared was a big Rottweiler and a German Shepard mixed breed.  The Rottie was about 150 pounds or so.  The Shepard probably over 100.  I was a mile from the closest house and 1/4 from my pick up.  They were coming at me at a dead run.  I threw my hands up and yelled.  They broke stride about 15 feet from me, snarling with an extreme attitude.  I started back peddling toward the truck.  Every thing that I picked up was too rotten to be of use.  They maintained that distance as I retreated toward the truck.  When they saw the truck, they turned and ran.  I would have liked to have had something that day. 

I have been bitten by a dog twice in the last 30 years while working, but they were not threatening events.  A full sized poodle bruised me up one day when I was contacting a landowner adjacent to one of our properties.  He took one bite and ran.  I've been stalked by a Chow as I worked around a home.  He would close the distance when I turned my back, but then retreat when I would look at him.  And I had a protective Rat Terrier chomp into my Red Wings after knocking on a door one day.  His owner was the one that about had a heart attack from that.  No harm done to me.

My Dad had an encounter with a black bear sow with cubs a few years back.  He was in his garden right at dark gathering some vegetables that he had picked.  He walked up on the sow in his corn patch.  She laid there until he was right on top of her and then she stood and advanced.  His dog was with him and she (A Lab) got after the bear.  The bear stood her ground until the cubs vacated and then she retreated as well.  Dad feels that he would have been hurt had it not been for his dog.  Dad doesn't care much for bears these days.

Now a days I carry a Ruger SP101 in .357.  Dad carries a Taurus Judge in .45 Long Colt / .410.  My wife a S&W 649 in .357.

Wudman   
"You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can't kill the spirit of patriots and when they've had enough this madness will end."
Charlie Daniels
July 4, 2020 (2 days before his death)

Northern Logger

I've spent over 40 years in the bush just about every day either working or training.  Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had a dangerous encounter with a wild animal, with the exception of a buck in rutting season who stood his ground staring at me while I was running toward him on a bush trail.  I kept on running toward him to see who would be the first to blink, for I was on a time trial run and really didn't want to stop.  At about 50', he jumped into the bush and took off.  I was younger and full of foolish bravery then.

Nevertheless, I've met plenty of black bears, wolves, moose, and deer and always felt at ease around them.  But humans and their dogs are another story.  Both of them can be a lot more dangerous than wild animals in Ontario.

Sixacresand

The company from which I retired would not allow firearms in the woods while working.  The alternative tool of choice was the bush hook:  handy for vines and brush and good for snakes.   If we had bears like those in Canada, I would want a bazooka!
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

BargeMonkey

 My skidder operator has a .40cal in the cab, I keep a "NY legal"  :D black rifle with all the bells and whistles handy on the header. Alot of coyotes and cats on this job, plus the occasional methhead / dope addict looking to steal something.   

luvmexfood

Quote from: SineWave on January 26, 2016, 07:04:28 AM
Quote from: CCC4 on January 25, 2016, 09:12:15 PMOne thing to be very very very sure of is "if" you decide to carry a pistol, get a single action revolver...not a dual ...

I wouldn't worry about that too much. Most (all?) modern revolvers – both double-action and single-action – incorporate a "transfer bar" safety system so that even if you pull the hammer back 99% of the way to "cock" and drop it, the gun won't go off unless the trigger is held rearward. (And in nearly all holsters, the trigger area is covered.) This also prevents them from going off if dropped on the hammer. Personally, if I wanted to carry something in the woods, it would either be a shotgun loaded with slugs and OOB, or a double-action revolver.

Straight on with the shotgun. Shorter one with a sling. And if it's thugs you encounter with one nothing gets attention like pumping a shotgun.

Had some thugs sitting down at the entrance to my driveway one night. Went to see what the dog was barking at. She had an alert bark when she gave something wasn't right. Anyway, shineing my flashlight around I shined it on them. One of them started cussing me. When I pumped the 12 gauge you would have thought they had rockets on their shoes.

Two of them were killed later after that in a pool hall. Seems like three of them jumped a one armed man and beat him. When he got loose he got a pistol from his house right next door and came back. Best I remember very light prison sentence for him.
Give me a new saw chain and I can find you a rock in a heartbeat.

Artski

Quote from: Sixacresand on January 27, 2016, 10:08:17 PM
The company from which I retired would not allow firearms in the woods while working.  The alternative tool of choice was the bush hook:  handy for vines and brush and good for snakes.   If we had bears like those in Canada, I would want a bazooka!

This is the kind of thing I would be comfortable with, being in Canada handguns are pretty much out of the question and I don't want to be lugging around a long gun.

One guy was jogging near Banff a couple of years ago and got jumped by a cougar, he fought it off by sticking it in the face with a knife he had on his belt.

Puffergas

Jeff
Somewhere 20 miles south of Lake Erie.

GEHL 5624 skid steer, Trojan 114, Timberjack 225D, D&L SB1020 mill, Steiger Bearcat II

Quebecnewf

We had a lone wolf around our cabin a few days back. Followed around one our snowmobile tracks as we were checking our snares. Unusual for a wolf as they range around but do not follow around per say. Heard that a couple guys caught it in the open and killed it with snowmobile. I would not have done that my thought being its not hurting me why should I hurt it.

It turned out to be a small female which is very strange the lone ones are normally older males...
Quebecnewf

Logger RK

Well if I'm on a escaped emu hunt I've found a Marlin 22 pump does a fine job(as previously stated on here somewhere)But also have a Savage model 99 lever action. Which of coarse my Boys think I should upgrade till when my one Son gets back from Marine basic training & we  do some target practice. We put empty barrels with one gallon plastic jugs filled with water. Starting at 100 yards & every 100 ending at 600 yard. The Marine Son I believe has a 300 mag win. Or 7mag. Not sure but the boys like the Big Guns. Anyways I come out with my old savage with one bullet. I say I'll go first to start this party. Coarse I went for the 600 yard & even surprised myself when it blew the water jug real good.(didn't let them know I was surprised) Son asked,u going 2 shoot again? Y is all I said. He did hit the 600 his second shot. :D I usually packing a pistol or 2 just incase. As previously stated,I think the 2 legged preditors r worse then then 4

enigmaT120

I guess I just don't think the woods are dangerous.  I'm more likely to have a tree branch fall on me than be bothered by a bear or mountain lion. 
Ed Miller
Falls City, Or

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