Hand guns in the bush

[DrTimPerkins]

If this ever becomes a problem or threat to your health, I'd make the sacrifice and come dispatch the offenders for you

Thanks. It is kind of funny how startling they can be.

[calvertbrothers]

I carry at Glock 40 cal. With the cheapest rounds known to man. My old woods were I grow up my mother tangled with a Rabid fox while doing chores and I have been checking or turning off vacuum pumps at night with coyotes close enough where I can hear there paws crunch crisp snow and the little yips they make to communicate with the pack. We started hunting them last winter end up with 7 big coyotes. Some raccoons taking a late night skinny dip in the sweet water and I even take shots at the red squirrels. Every red squirrel I get rid of 5 show up it seems. Beech nuts and hickory nuts are plentiful this year and so are the squirrels!

[Zucker Lager]

So a friend says to me the other day
"you know how to identify bear scat?"
"it's got little bits of air horns in it and smells like pepper spray".......................hehe Jay

[Sugar Bear]

I'd be willing to make a bet and a good one ... say 500 gallons of good quality syrup .... that more sugar makers have been killed in the woods by falling tree limbs then wild animals.

So with that said ... and it be your personal safety in the woods your concerned about, I recommend a hard hat first and then maybe think about the slick side piece.

It just makes good mathematical sense.

As for me ... no hard hat and no side piece or spray can. I just take my chances.

[maple flats]

It becomes even harder to make money at all in syrup when it is all given away.

[MapleCamp]

Last year while walking alone in my woods through some chest high grass, brush, and weeds in the middle of the day,, I stepped on a wet 45 degree root which caused me to spin and fall on my back. I was not hurt and laid there briefly laughing at my self. When I stood up I came face to face with 3 huge coyotes as startled as I was, 2 or 3 more lurked in the distance. I grabbed the only stick within reach and swung at them while also yelling. The stick broke in half , I fell again, got up yelling at them and they were moving away now and despaired like a deer. The only time I felt I needed one but really didn't. I carry to much stuff to also carry an handgun, but I usually have my dogs with me most of the time and they run anything off.

[Tweegs]

I carry a .22 in the woods mainly to dispatch the odd squirrel I happen to catch at ground level.
Raccoons too, if they’re up around the house or barn.

No bear or big cats in these parts and the two legged critters are of the neighborly variety.

Coyotes a-plenty here. Never had a problem with them.
Still, when the wife and I are out playing with the telescopes at night there’s a 12 ga nearby to cover our retreat back to the house, if need be.

Had a pack of at least 4 stroll by within 30 yards of us one night.
They never broke stride, just kept right on going.
We went back to looking at stars, once the neck hairs settled back down.

[Mead Maple]

I think something to note is folks who carry year round, not just in the woods. ME, NH, VT all have constitutional carry laws so many folks at least in my neck of the sugar woods carry regardless. I’m sure there is many other states that allow permit carry who do the same.


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[bigschuss]

Late to the thread here, but I'll add my 2 cents. Like many of you, I've spent the past 35 years in the woods of the Northeast...hiking, hunting, camping, rock climbing, mtn. biking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, trail running, logging, mushrooming and looking for ramps, and yes...sugaring. I've not had a single experience where I felt a firearm would have made a difference. They can certainly make you feel a whole lot better at times. So no....I do not carry one in the sugarbush. I do cary one on occasion if I venture out into the backcountry where I may encounter moose. Last year my 2 labs got behind a bull and they chased it in my direction. It came crashing through the brush right at me. I was running and drawing my .44 mag looking for a tree to get behind. The bull finally saw me at 15 yards and stopped dead in its tracks and ran off in another direction. In the end I never needed the pistol. But in that moment, I was sure glad I had it on me that day.

[Wannabe]

I have never carried while sapping.

But like the old saying goes, you'd rather have it and not need it then not have it and need it.