How do you protect yourself when woods hunting?

[njnydigger]

Quick question guys and gals...

I'm going to start getting more into the hunting of woods sites here in NJ. Cellar holes, old trails, etc. I'm not normally one to go alone into the woods by myself, so, will probably be bringing along a hunting buddy or two of mine. Question is...

How do all of you protect yourself when out detecting in the deep woods? You know, from bears, snakes, loonies walking around in the sticks, ticks, etc. Any advice to a newb woods hunter is greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, do most of you prefer to hunt in the Spring and Fall when the vegetation dies down or do ya'll just "brave it" all year long?

Finally, any strange or scary situations that has happened to any of you while out in the woods seems like a good topic post. So, fire away!!!

 

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[snake35]

I carry a light weight glock 9mm in addition to a two day survival pack. Some of the area I like there is no cell reception. I do not worry about bears much. More the mobile meth labs.

 

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[Frankn]

Hay Snake35 I have a Glock 26 also but I usually carry my Texas Defender. It has 2 barrels. One is loaded with a Colt .45 long, the other with a .410, 000 buckshot. 100% deet takes care of the bugs for about 4hours. My main concern is the timber rattlers! I wear heavy 100 denier gaithers over my jeans. I read a report that the timber rattler is good for a max distance of 3'. I hope they read the same report! The Colt .45 long has about the same muzzle energy as a .44 mag.

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[snake35]

I am hunting in West Virginia quite a bunch and wear shorts and boots. The heat and humidity is to much for me to wear jeans. We have lots of timber rattlers but way more copper heads.

 

[Frankn]

I was TH high up in PA. I didn't see any copperheads but I have a feeling they were around too. I lead with my detector coil. I take wide sweeps way out. Kind of like a snake mine sweeper! I only saw one rattler in 3 days out but that was enough. He was only about 4' away when I spotted him coiled up under the fern. When I see fern moving, I circle around!!

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[wwace]

Slightly off topic but I just had to run a black bear out of my yard, bears that are used to humans are more dangerous but any bear should be treated as potentially dangerous. A good friend of mine was killed and partially eaten by a 150 lb black bear about 20 yrs ago so just be aware. In Alaska we usually go armed for bear when outdoors but truth is city is more dangerous with druggies, gang members etc. So when you have people say black bears are just cuddly scared animals please be aware that not all of them are.

 

[snake35]

The bears at my place are more of a nuisance than dangerous. I can not keep bees! You are right my three year old daughter thinks that black bears are cute and cuddly. Not a problem as the wife and I keep a close eye on her. My eight year old boy wants to crawl in every cave we find to look for bears. What can I do I was the same way as a child.

Webster county West Virginia has almost zero crime. However due to the fact that my farmsets 7.1 miles from the hard top road we keep guns loaded around the place. Which is no easy feat with two children. By teaching gun safety and keeping the guns up high we have struck a balance point.

Be safe and have fun.

 

[silverswede]

You've received good advise here, especially Lumbercamp and dick99344. Just being capable of spending time alone in the woods is great feeling. You can be confident that only the bugs will annoy you. Many of us here who hunt the back country would be very wary of walking the back alleys and streets of a large city. Hell, I would'nt know how to use the bus system or "catch" a cab. A few things that could be a danger on a woods outing is the weather and getting lost. High winds and driving rain or snow can make it mighty unpleasant. Getting lost isn't too hard to do but with a good dose of common sense and calmness you can walk your way out from most places now days. Getting run over by a dirt bike or ATV is more likely. Hope to see some of your woods finds posted soon. H.H.

















v

 

[Shortstack]

Slightly off topic but I just had to run a black bear out of my yard, bears that are used to humans are more dangerous but any bear should be treated as potentially dangerous. A good friend of mine was killed and partially eaten by a 150 lb black bear about 20 yrs ago so just be aware. In Alaska we usually go armed for bear when outdoors but truth is city is more dangerous with druggies, gang members etc. So when you have people say black bears are just cuddly scared animals please be aware that not all of them are.

Yep. Back in the mid 1970s, I was stationed at Eielson AFB and a mama black with twin cubs included a part of our base housing in her hunting area. The base newspaper told us to be sure to keep all little kids and small animals inside for the time being. The wild life people decided to let her roam and wait until she moved out into another part of "her" area instead of trapping and relocating them. Worked out OK
When the pipeline was being built, fuel was stored in large rubber bladders surrounded by earth berms. Somehow, there were some black bears who discovered how much fun it was to jump from those earth berms and bounce on the fuel bladders. Hilarious as hell. But, Alaeska had to hire guards to keep them away instead of letting them have their fun and possibly poke holes in the bladders with their claws.

 

[dick99344]

I hunt the Salmo-Priest Wilderness for gold by panning and MD when permitted. The Sullivan Creek area will be open to prospecting for the month of August. I stay at a camp ground that has been known to have Grizzly bears visit. This area is a Griz recovery area. I pack two large containers of bear spray and make plenty of noise when going from one stream to another. In camp, I have a Remington 30-06. If you shoot a Griz, even in self defense, you will receive a heavy fine and possible jail time. As a camper in his territory, you are expected to be familiar with the ways and means to avoid a bear encounter. We have black bear in this area as well. I had an encounter with one when he stuck his head through the door of my tent. I smacked him on the end of his nose with a heavy flashlight. He did not hang around after that. All the campers were alerted and he was not seen again. I, of course, had to change my shorts after that and remained awake for the rest of the night. I heard later that he was tranquilized and moved out of the area. The bears will attack you here under the right conditions. There are too many people feeding them when they are not supposed to. If you smell like a meal, you can be dragged from your tent and you will become a meal. I always take my dog with me, he alerts me as to anything that may be outside the tent at night. There are too many people and too many bear trying to coexist in this area. They were here first.

We have Wolves here again. Cougars, Badgers, Raccoons, Moose, Mountain Caribo, and Timber Rattlers to watch out for. Mosquitoes as big as Shetland ponies and Ticks. I go prepared to deal with them all. No, I don't pack a saddle for the Mosquitoes. I do not go alone on these hunts for good reason. HH

UPDATE: I was in the Sullivan Creek campground, The Mill Pond campground, this weekend checking the water levels and the bed rock for my gold trip in august. There was a Sow Griz and two yearling cubs in there the night before. This would have been Friday night. There were signs posted in all of the other campgrounds giving warning and the Sheriffs department (They do the game warden functions in this state) were making regular patrols. A Sow Griz with cubs is considered to be the most dangerous to encounter. It turns out that this Griz was wearing a radio collar and was being tracked by the State Biologist, but the radio would fail intermittently and they would lose track of her. They will fix that when they catch up to her. We saw a Cow Moose in there as well. She was gone before we could get photos. HH

 

[Nugget Hunter Smith]

What are you telling me that NJ violates your 2nd Amendment right? Do the Law Enforcement personel carry guns? Are they better than the citizens of the State?
Always carry, always have, no matter which State/City I have lived in.

 

[Sky Pilot]

BamaBill has a great post that will help!
Personally I take an automatic pistol (M9 Beretta), and my youngest son takes his 870 12 gauge tactical or Ruger .40 police carbine (and assorted edged weapons!).

Here's the link I referred to: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,287484.0.html


Regards, SkyPilot

 

[ivan salis]

for ticks / bugs --the day before hunting spray the clothes with insect repellant * -- for things that might attack -- get a CCW permit and carry a 5 or 6 shot 38 stub nose pistol *---- for slip and fall / accident type protection --carry a cell phone on your person ---if possible its always best to buddy hunt for safety .---just general tips

 

[niffler72]

Out in the woods, I carry an airhorn for the bears and a good bug repellent for the ticks. Avon's Skin So Soft works wonders. I've owned and bred reptiles for years including rattlers and copperheads. They can strike accurate up to 3/4 the length of their body. Rattlers will let you know you're too close and even coppers will shake their tails in the leaf litter. Just be aware of your surroundings and try to leave one ear open on the headphones.
Niffler72
P.S. New born rattlers and coppers run full hot and inject almost 100% of all strikes.

 

[Old Town]

Out in the woods, I carry an airhorn for the bears and a good bug repellent for the ticks. Avon's Skin So Soft works wonders. I've owned and bred reptiles for years including rattlers and copperheads. They can strike accurate up to 3/4 the length of their body. Rattlers will let you know you're too close and even coppers will shake their tails in the leaf litter. Just be aware of your surroundings and try to leave one ear open on the headphones.
Niffler72
P.S. New born rattlers and coppers run full hot and inject almost 100% of all strikes.

Niffler? You a snake guy? I got hit by a pygmy rattler down her in Key West more than a dozen years ago. Right above the ankle. Snake about 16-18 inches long. Went to the ER under my own power and got treatment; some kind of pill and a shot. No cutting, no drawing off of blood. Doc said this kind of snake is only deadly to old or weak adults and babies. So I go home and feel OK. About 12 hours later I feel like the flu has me. For the next 36 hours I thought I was gonna die! Horrible reaction but it didn't kill me. I suspect a big western rattler would be different.

I carry a S&W stainless 1911 in .45acp when out in the islands detecting the little beaches. Some times I'm 50 miles from civilization.

OT

 

[LM]

Back when I carried a gun, I usually packed a beat-to-crap S&W Model 10 stuffed 'Mexican' in my waistband with staggered SWC's and snakeshot. Loved the Ruger GP100 or larger wheel guns, but those really sucked to carry around all day, even with a shoulder holster. Sometimes, a little Taurus J frame clone in .22 with solids and snakeshot went in the pocket.

If I was in an area where the primary concern was two legged animals, then a similarly beat-to-crap Glock 29. For a brief instant in time after the AWB sunset, some aftermarket company made 28 round stick mags for the 10MM Glocks. Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven- one of those in the backpack and 10+1 in the gun should be enough to handle pretty much whatever a sidearm might be able to handle...

Ordered a couple up- never did get them to run right and apparently, no one else did either so they got discontinued. Someday, I'll get crafty and fit a factory Glock top end to the extended aftermarket body and get that darn thing running right.

 

[NHBandit]

Back when I carried a gun, I usually packed a beat-to-crap S&W Model 10 stuffed 'Mexican' in my waistband with staggered SWC's and snakeshot. Loved the Ruger GP100 or larger wheel guns, but those really sucked to carry around all day, even with a shoulder holster. Sometimes, a little Taurus J frame clone in .22 with solids and snakeshot went in the pocket.

If I was in an area where the primary concern was two legged animals, then a similarly beat-to-crap Glock 29. For a brief instant in time after the AWB sunset, some aftermarket company made 28 round stick mags for the 10MM Glocks. Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven- one of those in the backpack and 10+1 in the gun should be enough to handle pretty much whatever a sidearm might be able to handle...

Ordered a couple up- never did get them to run right and apparently, no one else did either so they got discontinued. Someday, I'll get crafty and fit a factory Glock top end to the extended aftermarket body and get that darn thing running right.

Glock Model 22 .40 cal with 15rd mag. If you need more than 15rds you need to practise more, not a bigger mag. Here in NH the biggest problem in the woods is ticks though. As far as dangerous animals I'd be more afraid of a moose than a black bear.

 

[gleaner1]

I don't pack heat when I hit the woods. Just a lunch.

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

I hunt the Vermont woods and have never needed protection. I saw a bear this afternoon when I was Metal Detecting the " orchard ". He was more concerned with getting out of my sight than I was his. I love to see them. I usually see two of three a year.
If someone made a gun that was specific to deer flies...... That would be another story.


VPR

 

[LM]

If you need more than 15rds you need to practise more, not a bigger mag.

Hahaha yeah. Pretty much, generally true.

My concern was that the areas I frequented were known to play host to the occasional marijuana grow operation with ornery (and well, well armed) types. In a country where most people can buy a semi-auto AK with as many 30 round mags as they pleased (which those guys usually had), if I'm going to be limited to a sidearm in that gunfight, I want as many as possible. I'd much rather have available firepower than philosophy about shot placement.

For a time, there was a whacko who was killing deer hunters in Duval County... not to mention the Chai Vangs of the world. Weird stuff can happen in the woods.

 

[White Feather]

Never underestimate a black bear. They kill more people in this country than almost any other animal. People think that because they look small, cute and cuddly that they are not dangerous. Wrong! Even a small black bear can rip you to pieces, little pieces. Living in close proximity to humans and feeding on our garbage removes a lot of their fear of humans. If you get between them and anything they want you are in danger. Even an animal as small as a raccoon is more than a match for the strongest human. Hey, try grabbing a cute little Bobcat. Don't play with the animals out in the woods. We'll be watching a story about how the bears ate you on the animal planet station. Even a little old Bee can call his buddies over to kick your butt if you don't respect his space.
Protection from any critter from ants to sharks is common sense. A shotgun against fire ants is as useless as a B*B gun against a Griz. Try slapping a Croc You might get away with it once..... Maybe! I like taking someone with me. That way you have a snack to offer while you move your hunt location