Always carry....XD 9mm sub. Blackhawk holster.
OK I gotta get this outa the way first, before the smart :ahole comments begin. NO I haven't hunted anything but doves for the last few years, and NO probably never the hours that many of you have. Up north I never felt the need for a 2nd gun & never carried one. Further south in N.C. and down here after Carlos had a close encounter with a +/- 6' rattler where I always went to to check my feeder/camera with shorts & sneakers on it changed my thinking/paranoia, and I spent a lot more time looking around my feet than at what was 15-30 yards away. After that I religously started carrying a sidearm with at least 1-2 rounds of snake shot in it. Yes I realize that most likely you will see a snake while you have enough time to go around it, or you will be bitten before you see it. NO I don't have any vendetta against snakes & will leave them alone, unless requested by landowners not to , or they are cottonmouths. Plus other animals like the not so playful otters/nutria/ feral dogs etc. that could chase me up a tree. If I'm carrying an open sighted rifle or shotgun I (likely) would not carry a sidearm, or if I did it might be an ultralight J frame with snake shot in all cylinders. when carrying a scoped rifle, Yes a sidearm, as a scoped rifle could/has be/been dropped into swamp water/ the lens gets dirty/ rained on, or in a thick palmetto thicket where ranges could be less than 15', you can't see your shoes, a handgun might be a better choice than a scoped rifle at those extreme close ranges, IMO. SO THAT'S MY reasons for a 2nd gun. I suppose the 2 legged vermin is a possibility, but I'd probably use the long gun first.
Here's another reason to carry no one mentioned....
The international signal for distress is three of anything. Three whistles, three gun shots, three yells, three signal fires, three horn beeps, etc..
If I am hurt, lost or in distress I want to be able to signal rescue
A buddy got lost in Croom one year (yeah I know, a WMA with square blocks.lol). He missed a deer late afternoon and had no other bullets. He went looking for it and before he knew it it was dark and he didn't know which way was up. By him firing his pistol and us blowing the horn is the only way we got him out. He also had no flashlight. And where he came out vs where he went in wasn't even in the same locale. He was very close to spending the night in there
I used to carry a full size Springfield 1911 in a Fobus type holster. I have since switched to a Glock G20 10mm in a Galco Fletch holster. I like the performance and stopping power of the 185gr 10mm over the 45. The G20 is also a lot lighter and more comfortable to carry.
