Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

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Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Izod on Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:48 pm

the family and I are headed out to Yellowstone area, staying in Montana, for a long week before school starts. We are planning on doing some hiking and possibly some ATV riding. When talking to the ATV outfitter i asked him 'is it crazy of me to consider carrying a pistol while in the back country'? he laughed and said he does every single time and there are LOTS of people in the area that carry all over the place. ok...good to know, and Yes i do have my MN carry permit that is legal in every state we will drive through.

Of my pistols the only one that i figure good enough to consider bringing is my FNP-9, 16+1 9mm round. (NO i do not have anything bigger than a 9mm in a pistol)

Of the ammo that's out there, what would be best for an aggressive wild life encounter? Bears, cougars, snakes?
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Postby IDPA Shooter on Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:20 pm

I will leave it to others to answer the ammo question. Just be sure you stay out of ranger stations and other federal buildings at Yellowstone.

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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby crbutler on Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:38 pm

What you want to defend against Grizzly and "everything else" are two very different rounds.

Get whatever you typically use for your everyday carry and you will be fine for everything except grizzly. For them, a 9mm is not really adequate except with a large dose of luck. The best bet would be a 147 gr FMJ. Then only shoot for the brain (not just the head.) My Grizzly skull is kind of a small one, and it has over 3/8 inch of very hard bone that was layered in fat and hide and a good deal of muscle. Shooting and wounding a charging Grizzly will get you in a whole world of hurt. Shooting and wounding a Grizzly and not getting hurt will likely result in club fed. (they will probably assume that it was a unnecessary shooting if it left with a 9mm. They are legally endangered in the lower 48 at this point- hopefully that will change soon.)

Not saying not to bring the gun- the odds are much higher that a 2-legged varmint will predate on you than a Grizzly, as long as you use common sense bear rules.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby UnaStamus on Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:40 pm

^basically this


Look for a heavier 135-147gr bonded/locked core JHP.
Winchester RA9B Ranger Bonded 147gr/PDX1 Defender 147gr (same bullet)
Federal Tactical Bonded 135gr
Speer Gold Dot 147gr
Federal HST 147gr
Remington Golden Saber Bonded 147gr
Hornady Critical Duty 135gr
or any load that uses the Barnes TAC-XP copper JHP (Barnes, CorBon, Black Hills, ASYM, etc)
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby gunsmith on Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:39 pm

Are you planning to bring printouts of local carry laws and other related info such as the 'peaceable journey' federal policy ?

Wouldn't hurt :)
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby farmerj on Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:20 am

We reap what we sow. In our case, we have sown our government.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby photogpat on Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:59 am

I returned from a trip to Yellowstone (and surrounding states) in June.

Carry (open or concealed) was/is permitted in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana. Review individual state laws on alcohol, car carry, etc at http://www.handgunlaw.us -- and on carry/discharge in State owned Parks.

National Parks were carry according to laws of the State in which they're located -- Yellowstone is open or concealed, and no carry into ANY NPS building (all had visible signage to that effect). Discharge, even in self-defense, is a crime...

That all being said -- no one batted an eye at open carry into the backcountry in Yellowstone, but cover it up if you're visiting Old Faithful - otherwise the Japanese tourists treat you as a curiosity and take pictures with you.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Izod on Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:12 am

photogpat wrote:That all being said -- no one batted an eye at open carry into the backcountry in Yellowstone, but cover it up if you're visiting Old Faithful - otherwise the Japanese tourists treat you as a curiosity and take pictures with you.


lol at the Japanese tourist comment... I would have never thought of that, but i can totally see it happening!! are you speaking from experience on this??

For the Record. I know that the risk of an aggressive wild life encounter is rare, but i have two young kids and they are the love of my life. i would hate myself if anything happened to them and had no way to defend them...sure same goes for my wife too :-).

I also like the idea of printing out the info on the carry laws for the different states as well.

Thanks for your help.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby photogpat on Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:14 am

Izod wrote:
photogpat wrote:That all being said -- no one batted an eye at open carry into the backcountry in Yellowstone, but cover it up if you're visiting Old Faithful - otherwise the Japanese tourists treat you as a curiosity and take pictures with you.


lol at the Japanese tourist comment... I would have never thought of that, but i can totally see it happening!! are you speaking from experience on this??

For the Record. I know that the risk of an aggressive wild life encounter is rare, but i have two young kids and they are the love of my life. i would hate myself if anything happened to them and had no way to defend them...sure same goes for my wife too :-).

I also like the idea of printing out the info on the carry laws for the different states as well.

Thanks for your help.


We were in some pretty remote areas on this trip - my wife commented she was glad we had the gun in the car, and glad I had it with me while hiking.

She's never ever made those comments before...

We had no issues with wildlife, either 4 legged or 2 legged variety. Although the college kids in the campsite next to us in Custer SP firing up the party at 2am was a little much... GAWD I'M GETTING OLD....
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Bearcatrp on Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:42 am

That 9mm will only piss off a grizzly if you do have to shoot one. I went out and bought a 44 mag couple months before I took the family on a trip there. Practiced with buffalo boar ammo too before going. Yellowstone has allot of beautiful places to see out there. Best not be stupid and go hiking miles in by yourselves, but with a bigger crowd. Keep the perfume off, don't carry candy or anything that will draw wild life attention and you should be able to enjoy the sites without incident. Have a good trip.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby photogpat on Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:46 am

We had a large bull bison come wandering through our campsite at Madison one evening. Pretty busy place, full up with people and RV's...he didn't seem to mind...but everyone stayed well away.

Wouldn't have been fun to meet him in the middle of the night on the way to the latrine.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Bearcatrp on Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:58 am

Was out driving with the family and stopped for some bison that folks were watching. Next thing we knew, an entire herd came through. got nice video of it. Must have been around 10 cars in this group. They just went around and between the vehicles. Wasn't about to piss any of them off by honking the horn. Have been told if you don't spook them, they just mind there own business.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby gunsmith on Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:08 pm

Izod wrote:
photogpat wrote:That all being said -- no one batted an eye at open carry into the backcountry in Yellowstone, but cover it up if you're visiting Old Faithful - otherwise the Japanese tourists treat you as a curiosity and take pictures with you.


lol at the Japanese tourist comment... I would have never thought of that, but i can totally see it happening!! are you speaking from experience on this??

For the Record. I know that the risk of an aggressive wild life encounter is rare, but i have two young kids and they are the love of my life. i would hate myself if anything happened to them and had no way to defend them...sure same goes for my wife too :-).

I also like the idea of printing out the info on the carry laws for the different states as well.

Thanks for your help.

I guess one solution Izod, is for you to volunteer to be the 'appetizer' while they flee :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Seismic Sam on Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:44 am

9mm against a Grizzly?? That's like me being an Offensive lineman for an opposing team and having Clay Matthews come right at me. No EFFEN way in hell will that work. NO WAY.

A relevant grizzly story I heard recently goes as follows: Some guy was grizzly hunting with a 50 caliber black powder muzzle loader, meaning he had determined in his ignorance that this was going to be a 1 shot deal no matter what. He got a grizzly up on its hind legs and coming at him, and he fired and hit the bear dead center of the chest. The guy said it was like a slo-mo shot, and you could see the 50 cal slug strike the chest and the impact ripple out through the bear's chest muscles. That seriously pissed the bear off, and the n00b went up a small tree, but the bear got its claws into the sole of one of his boots. So there was this tug of war, and the guy was able to keep his cool enough to fire a couple of cylinders of 44 mag into the bear, and he FINALLY hit an artery and the bear wandered off squirting blood all over and died.

And you're thinking about 9mm loads?? Minimum ante is HOT 44 mag loads in a Ruger Super Blackhawk/Redhawk, and in truth you really need a DE50 or S&W 500. If you have a buddy who has one of these, borrow it.
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Re: Headed out to Yellowstone, bring pistol for hiking?

Postby Izod on Fri Aug 08, 2014 10:03 am

Ok let's stay focused here people. I only own 2x 9mm and 1x 380auto pistol. The best option of them is a 16+1 fnp9 with two extra mags. I'm hoping that I won't come up against ANY aggressive animal but having something is better than having nothing right!? I'm not interested in how mocho you are with your more "manly" rounds and I'm not purposely looking to shoot a fricken grizlly or buffalo ...

In the original post I'm mostly asking what type of ammo would be best for the pistol I own. I'm sick of people trying to compensate for their dick size by only talking about bigger ammo when it's not needed to be heard. I never said I was grizzly hunting or that I was looking to buy something bigger.
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