Hilarious Tragedy

I bought a Ruger LCR 357 magnum a couple of years ago. It is a good 'concealed carry' gun as it is small and does not have a hammer to get caught on clothing.

So why do 'need' this the gun controllers might ask? A couple of years ago I was going hiking in the Great Smokey Mountains. As I read about the various trails I read about the number of bear sightings. Hmmmm. I told a coworker I was thinking about bringing my 9mm with me just in case. He laughed and said that 9mm would just pizs the bear off! Did some research and found he was right. Bears have very tough hides and very thick skulls. I decided a 357 magnum was a good fit for hiking. It was light enough so you aren't lugging some monster gun all day but had enough power to (hopefully) stop or deter a bear.

Went to the Smokies and headed out on a trail. It was late winter and there were patches of snow here and there. I saw several bear tracks! There were some trails on the side of a big hill/slope that the only way to traverse it was on the trail. And that goes for man and bears alike! I saw bear tracks on the trail and I saw where a bear had broken apart a rotten stump presumably looking for grubs. The tracks looked to be less than 24 hrs old. I was alone and there were no other hikers on the trail. At times it was spooky quiet. The good news is, still being winter, visibility was great and you could see a ways off without all the leaves and underbrush.

So here is the real "value" in having the gun. I never saw any bears but is a certain peace of mind knowing I had that gun if the need arose. My plan was to shoot once in the air in hopes of scaring the bear off - 357 magnum much loader than my 9 mm. Then hold my fire and back away never turning my back to the bear. If he charged, I'd give him the other 4 rounds.....and pull my Bowie knife if that didn't stop him. The (long winded) point is the gun was like having insurance. You hope like heck you never use it but it is comforting knowing you have it.

I did have a run in with cougar once.....she was 40 and I was 19.....but that's a whole different story.

ETA

When you are hiking alone in the boondocks of BFE and you hear Dueling Banjos......good to be packing. I've hiked some on the AT in north Georgia....never know what highway bandits you might run into. And if you are sleeping in a little tent and you hear 'something big' outside walking.....there is a certain comfort having a gun.




Edited by Rogillio 2018-06-05 11:39 AM






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Bear stuff reminded me of one of my favorite signs.







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Reminds me of a story my dad used to tell.

My dad and his best friend (later to become my uncle) were home on leave from the Navy and had gone deer hunting at our camp in Louisiana. They had split up to go to different locations in the woods. My dad had to take a dump so he found log that was leaned up against a tree that he used as a backrest. Several hours later my dad and his friend met up back at the truck. Dad asked him if he'd seen anything. My uncle said no but he had seen where a bear had taken a crap! My dad was skeptical as he grew up in that area and bears were very rare. He asked my uncle if where he saw the crap was by a log leaning against a tree? He said it was. My dad laughed and said, "That was no bear, that was my bare asz!"

Anyway, it was very funny when I was 10 years old and dad first told me the story.

Edited by Rogillio 2018-06-05 1:55 PM

I've been thinking about this agent's gun deal. I have picked up lots of guns.....you can't really just touch them and have it go off. I need to see a longer version of the movie to see if maybe this was a "dance off" and the FBI dude was out of his league. I think at some point he just said F it and did the backflip hoping to hit the other guy in the face with his pistol....when that didn't work out he just shot the guy in his damn leg....that way he effectively ended the contest and won when the dude couldn't continue....I think I can sell that to CNN.