side arm for wolf protection

[sodakota]

My wife shoots 38 Special very well. She shoots perfect scores in concealed carry classes. The first revolver she shot was a 32 Long and her group was about 3" at 25 paces. I gave her a Model 10 S&W and she's deadly with it. There's no need for anything bigger. But I often carry a 44 special, 45 Colt, 357, or even a 44 Mag.
For me I like either the 44 Special or the 45 Colt the best. My 38 Special is set up for bullseye rather than easy carry.

I suppose if the pack of wolves were high on meth something bigger than a 38 might be needed.

 

[jbs2014]

YUP and Deleted my post, as, I got "sucked in",. again !

Sometimes it is kind of interesting I re look old threads and see how the solutions that were opted for worked out.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

@ jbs,. My reply was Lengthy ! But basically, I'd choose, a light weight, Pistol like, a .38 or 9 MM 4" bbl. ( Plenty for, a Wolf, in close Quarters ) and they are, very "shootable" for most, Women. I carry, a Light weight, Glock 19 with, 9 Rounds of, Fed. 147 gr. HST's, 8 in, the Magazine, in Cross Draw fashion on, my 45 lb. Back Pack "going IN" and around 15-17 lbs when, actually, Hunting ( weight is Important when, Hiking, several Miles W/ 45-47 Pounds ).
Rattler's and Mountain Lions, are to be, more feared than, Wolves ( Packs of, are Wolves are NOT, "present" usually, where we Bow Hunt, Elk ) as the most I've ever seen was, a group of, 4 !
Youngish, Black Bears are, Numerous but, scare easily and We walk / Hunt, slowly and try to SEE them,.. FIRST !

 

[jbs2014]

@ jbs,. My reply was Lengthy ! But basically, I'd choose, a light weight, Pistol like, a .38 or 9 MM 4" bbl. ( Plenty for, a Wolf, in close Quarters ) and they are, very "shootable" for most, Women. I carry, a Light weight, Glock 19 with, 9 Rounds of, Fed. 147 gr. HST's, 8 in, the Magazine, in Cross Draw fashion on, my 45 lb. Back Pack "going IN" and around 15-17 lbs when, actually, Hunting ( weight is Important when, Hiking, several Miles W/ 45-47 Pounds ).
Rattler's and Mountain Lions, are to be, more feared than, Wolves ( Packs of, are Wolves are NOT, "present" usually, where we Bow Hunt, Elk ) as the most I've ever seen was, a group of, 4 !
Youngish, Black Bears are, Numerous but, scare easily and We walk / Hunt, slowly and try to SEE them,.. FIRST !

Agreed, being surprised in the woods is probably not a good thing.

And I agree that given the OP's criteria a 9mm would probably be a good choice. FN 5.7 may not be too bad either, with 20 rounds in the mag and such low recoil.

I wonder if anyone here has tried that 7.5 FK BRNO for these sorts of purposes?

 

[Ohlongarm]

What bare minimum caliber would anyone here recommend for protection in wolf country?? Auto/revolver. A woman will be using this handgun. She has fired as large as .44mag. Any ideas most welcome. Thanks

Glock 19 wolves are skittish and easier to kill than most coyotes 17 rounds would get their attention.

 

[jjmp]

Their power is in numbers ,weather their coyotes or wolves,far better to be prepared ,vs being a victim that wasn't. The bare minimum I'd say a 9 mm, the semi-auto has more capacity, a revolver is limited ,but there are custom revolvers that hold more , it's very worth your while to study and read up .

 

[436]

Killing a Wolf? what caliber? Well, I've worked around K9s and read about many encounters, by those same, K9s against criminals and enemy soldiers, many were in fact killed on their charge, but... you might be surprised how many made to the suspect after being shot multiple times, with all manner of weapons, these animals have a great heart for sure.

Now, make that a Canis Lupus with double or more weight at blazing speed when they turn it on, and "very" big teeth grandma. So... what would stop that kinda attack? Not talking about a Wolf off in the distance or one just standing in your AO... I'm thinking of "Wolf" that has you squarely in its crosshairs and plans to make it to you in a full-out charge, giving you just enough time for you to get your weapon into play, "if" you are very fast, and don't screw up the draw.

That's the Wolf I'm talking about.
Just thinking out loud. Cheers.

 

[sourdough44]

A hi-cap 40, they seem to be out of favor these days.

 

[jbs2014]

Killing a Wolf? what caliber? Well, I've worked around K9s and read about many encounters, by those same, K9s against criminals and enemy soldiers, many were in fact killed on their charge, but... you might be surprised how many made to the suspect after being shot multiple times, with all manner of weapons, these animals have a great heart for sure.

Now, make that a Canis Lupus with double or more weight at blazing speed when they turn it on, and "very" big teeth grandma. So... what would stop that kinda attack? Not talking about a Wolf off in the distance or one just standing in your AO... I'm thinking of "Wolf" that has you squarely in its crosshairs and plans to make it to you in a full-out charge, giving you just enough time for you to get your weapon into play, "if" you are very fast, and don't screw up the draw.

That's the Wolf I'm talking about.
Just thinking out loud. Cheers.

Good points.

However aren't K9s extremely courageous? I read a SIGACT back in 2011 or so where one had sniffed out an IED which was detonated to limited effect on the dog sending it flying and not killing it. Immediately afterwards the dog went right back to the location trying to sniff out other ordinance, unfazed. Point being K9s, from what I have heard, are extremely brave and will keep on coming. Do wolves have that same tenacity do you think?

And really good point on bringing the weapon to bear quickly. What good is a .500 S&W if it can't be brought to bear quick enough to be decisive like can be done with a 9mm or 5.7?

 

[dfanonymous]

Good points.

However aren't K9s extremely courageous? I read a SIGACT back in 2011 or so where one had sniffed out an IED which was detonated to limited effect on the dog sending it flying and not killing it. Immediately afterwards the dog went right back to the location trying to sniff out other ordinance, unfazed. Point being K9s, from what I have heard, are extremely brave and will keep on coming. Do wolves have that same tenacity do you think?

And really good point on bringing the weapon to bear quickly. What good is a .500 S&W if it can't be brought to bear quick enough to be decisive like can be done with a 9mm or 5.7?

There's something to be said about the differences between human bread instinct and in the case of military k9, human intervened training, vs nature as it is with the wolf. The wolf has to make decisions to stay or play, or rather cost vs reward in its hunt.

I've yet to know a adult person who has been mauled by a wolf in the wild. Perhaps there's published data to the contrary.

 

[436]

Good points.

However aren't K9s extremely courageous? I read a SIGACT back in 2011 or so where one had sniffed out an IED which was detonated to limited effect on the dog sending it flying and not killing it. Immediately afterwards the dog went right back to the location trying to sniff out other ordinance, unfazed. Point being K9s, from what I have heard, are extremely brave and will keep on coming. Do wolves have that same tenacity do you think?

And really good point on bringing the weapon to bear quickly. What good is a .500 S&W if it can't be brought to bear quick enough to be decisive like can be done with a 9mm or 5.7?

Yeah, the K9s have, "heart" and that's a fact.
I've spoken with a few of the people back in the day that was involved with the Nez Perce: Wolf Recovery in Central Idaho, I hunted near them in Winchester ID for Whitetail for many years, it was not uncommon to hear a Wolf that had escaped from the program on the sides of the mount(s) now and then in the early morning as we waited for the light. Wolves are extremely powerful animals and can become very focused, they are intelligent, and when on the attack laser-guided. I was on the side of a hill overlooking Lawyer Creek Idaho one morning, when I saw a flash on the hill across from me, it was Coyote in 5th gear... out of nowhere from behind came a missile, a very large Wolf, as fast as I saw them they were gone, second later I could hear it was the end for the old Yote... man that was fast. I digress, one of the Nez Perce Game guys told me that he has never seen an animal with more drive and heart when they need it, I'll go with that. Cheers

 

[ultimag43]

I'm going to tend to agree w/ Phorwath. Noise is going to scare them. Having said that a 9mm or .38 special should be handy for a woman to carry and will do some damage on impact. Recoil should be manageable and available in a decent carry weight. Bruce

no noise doesn't always scare them been there done that

 

[jbs2014]

Yeah, the K9s have, "heart" and that's a fact.
I've spoken with a few of the people back in the day that was involved with the Nez Perce: Wolf Recovery in Central Idaho, I hunted near them in Winchester ID for Whitetail for many years, it was not uncommon to hear a Wolf that had escaped from the program on the sides of the mount(s) now and then in the early morning as we waited for the light. Wolves are extremely powerful animals and can become very focused, they are intelligent, and when on the attack laser-guided. I was on the side of a hill overlooking Lawyer Creek Idaho one morning, when I saw a flash on the hill across from me, it was Coyote in 5th gear... out of nowhere from behind came a missile, a very large Wolf, as fast as I saw them they were gone, second later I could hear it was the end for the old Yote... man that was fast. I digress, one of the Nez Perce Game guys told me that he has never seen an animal with more drive and heart when they need it, I'll go with that. Cheers

So do you think 5.7, 9mm (+P+), and .40 would be sufficient for something like that?

I'm pretty sure a good hit from that FKBRNO pistol would do the trick but at 7500$ per pistol.,.

 

[ultimag43]

22 mag to the head drop them FAST