Carrying a Sidearm While Hunting

A few weeks ago Glock posted the below picture on Facebook with the following caption.

“Featured Fan: Thanks to GLOCK fan Dave Johnston for sharing a photo from his recent elk hunt. It is always good practice to bring your sidearm with you in the woods.”

Photo from Glock's Facebook

This as you might expect sparked a host of comments on a range of topics from hunting with sidearms, hunting in general, the 2nd Amendment and control, what is the best caliber, and so on. Many of the comment were saying something along the lines of the guy in the picture shouldn’t be hunting elk with a handgun, even the powerful 10mm Glock G20. Those people are missing the point I believe Glock was trying to make “it is always good practice to bring your sidearm with you in the woods.”

That’s all they’re saying; just bring it with, not necessarily hunt with it. I personally carry a handgun with me while bow hunting. I know several people who have had close calls in the Wisconsin wood with black bear while bow hunting. One friend even had to kick a bear in the face as it was climbing the tree he was in. When that didn’t stop the bear, he fired a shot from his .45 ACP in the ground and that scared the bear off. Fortunately he didn’t have to aim his next shot at the bear itself.

I have never seen the need to carry a side arm with while rifle hunting deer. I have always figure if I have a deer rifle in hand, it is pretty simple to scare off a bear. Besides, the black bear are usually in or close to hibernation during Wisconsin’s deer rifle season. But as a friend of mine suggested, it would be a bad idea; especially for hunting large game out West, such as elk. As shown in the picture Glock posted on their Facebook.

An elk hunt is a great example of a reason to carry a sidearm. Many times an elk is harvested many miles from the nearest road. With a mature bull weighing in at over 700 pounds, dragging them out of the woods whole is not a good option. Usually the elk is quartered in the woods and carried out in pieces on back packs.

During in the process of preparing the elk to carry out, one’s rifle maybe several feet away. With the scent of blood in the air attracting the attention of bear, wolves and cougars; this may not be the best time for a lone hunter to be unarmed. At a time like this I know I would rather have a sidearm on my hip, than a rifle several feet away. Also while hiking out with a hindquarter on your pack, it would be faster to reach for a holstered handgun, than to unsling a rifle.

Carrying a sidearm is certainly not for everybody. But it is something one may consider to do while enjoying the outdoors. With the current wolf population now in Wisconsin, I may consider carrying a sidearm during the upcoming deer rifle season.