I am a firm believer in being prepared. I hunt predators in Collin County and Fannin County. If I inadvertantly call something in "too" close I want my .45 handy. One of the places is 1/4 mile from the collin county jail. I deer hunt in the Gatesville area. Gatesville has the state's women's prison. My dad has personally seen a set of 3 mountain lions on our place at dusk. He described to me what was a female with 2 yearling kittens with her. Even though I have my rifle with me, I always have my pistol holstered on my belt. I've never needed it, but if I do it'll be there.

.357 mag is always hungry for an attacking predator

An attacking predator is the last thing I am worried about when out hunting, lol. It just doesn't happen enough to scare me.

I have taken a pistol with me before though just to shoot crap with. Mainly when we go to Sanderson and stay on the ranch a few days. Mostly do our varmint hunting at night and just mess around during the day, shooting stuff.

I carry when bowhunting and yes I know its illegal. If a GW cant tell the difference between a .357 mag wound and that of a broadhead then hes in the wrong buisness

9MM ALWAYS ON MYSIDE ESPECIALLY WHEN I BOW HUNT

I just carry a pistol with rat shot in case of snakes. Not worried about varmints attacking. Chances are they would sneak up on me and attack before I knew what was happening anyway.

Why would I take the thing off to go hunting? Heck... I barely take it off to take a cr... reading break. :-)

Just FYI. My best friend called me last weekend ALL SHOOK UP. I said what the he// happened. He said he was out checking on some new calves and thought he'd turn on his game call for a little while. He was in his old 80' model jeep and the only firearms he had was a Ruger 10/22 and his Kel-Tec .380 down in his pocket. The call ran for about 5 minutes he said and all of a sudden out of the brush came one of the biggest Tom Bobcats he'd ever seen. The tom was headed straight for the decoy he had set up with the call that was only 5 yards from where he was sitting. He shot it with the .22, it got up and kept coming, he shot it 2 more times before it headed under a cedar tree and then he lost it. I asked him where his pistol was and he told me it was in his pocket. I said "not that dang Kel-Tec, your .40?" He explained is was in his truck and he wasn't. He vowed right then to never go out without his larger pistol. I got to say "told ya so." I understand that bobcat wasn't necessarily attacking my friend, but he was definately way too close for comfort. I've had a pi$$ed off house cat in my hands, I can only imagine what a bobcat would do to ya.

That wouldn't have scared me at all. I have called animals in that close alot. What was he shook up for? Because a Bobcat was a 5 yards away?

5 yards was way too close for him. He wasn't wearing camo or really hiding that well, and didn't think he would call anything in at all. I guess that's why it startled him. I've called them in pretty close, but not that close. So I don't know how I'd react, but I bet it would certainly get my heart rate up.

My adrenalin gets going for sure, but not because I am scared. Thaat bobcat would have been gone in a flash as soon as he had noticed him.

I think that's probably right, but you know sometimes wild animals...wait animals can be unpredictable. (people are animals I'm just saying)

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so, the guy turns on a predator call with no expectation of seeing anything come out? That's like turning on the feeder and being shocked when deer come out...

No. Don't carry a pistol
if carrying a rifle or a shotgun.

I always carry my judge while I hunt w/ 410 and 45 cart. A couple hunts ago I walked up to my blind and there was a rattler coiled up right in front of my ladder. ever since that I carried my judge. I hate snakes!

So would you risk ruining a hunt by blasting your pistol at the snake?

I do that with my .357 mag. I load it with 3 158 gr SPs/3 pest shot.

Not necessarily expecting nothing to come out, just not expecting it to be that close too him. About 95% of the time when were hunting they show up at least 100 yards away and slowly close. Sometimes they show up way out there. And we usually don't have any good results in the day time only at night. That's why he didn't have good expectations.

yes and it wouldnt ruin a hunt in most cases.

You are probably right but I would definitely be wondering if I just scared off a monster buck with that shot.

I always carry my 44 mag with me when I'm hunting. Not so much worried about predators and such, more just in case I'm presented with an opportunity to take a deer or hog with my pistol.

While hunting deer, I don't want to fire a round unless it's absolutely necessary or it's the rifle shot at the deer. But I too would love to tell the story of a hog or predator I shot with my pistol at close range if it was too late in the evening deer hunt.

I carry my 40 with me just because , and I walk through really thick brush going to deer hunt so I dont want to be surprised and I think I could react quicker with my side arm .
I carry it everywhere else so why not ?

It ain't the bobcats I am worried about when carrying my bow, it's the damn Hogs. Found myself standing in the middle of 20 or so in the full moon. I could see the steam on their breath! Scared the bejeezus out of me! I hunt on Corps of Engineer land (federal property) no handguns while hunting. Yes i know some will say you can but it aint worth the Felony charge if your wrong.