Advice for carrying side arm while deer hunting

[riprau]

I live in Northern Lower Michigan and going to deer camp in our Upper Peninsula for a few weeks. Not grizzlie country but we do have wolves and cougars. I decided to carry my S&W Shield 10mm. I do have my CPL so I'm legal. Looking for advice regarding best carry practices and holster recommendations. I did a quick search and didn't find any relative threads regarding this info. Thanks in advance and God bless!

 

[southpa]

When i archery hunt I carry a razco chest holster that attaches to my bino harness. I haven't found an acceptable way to carry a pistol on my belt or my pack that isn't annoying. It's either uncomfortable under the pack belt or less than desirable on the pack belt. I find my pistol gets trashed on the pack belt and about the only thing that is on my person all day without removing (accept for maybe shedding a layer or doing some paperwork) is my bino harness. And what good is a pistol if it's not on you at all times.

 

[riprau]

Thanks for responding. I just switched to the Kuiu Pro bino harness so maybe I can find an option there. I agree that it needs to be readily available or why bother?

 

[med358-boise]

A lot is going to depend on how you hunt and what your wear. Day pack? full size pack? stand hunt? still hunt? Carry your rifle via a sling - right side? left side?

 

[riprau]

A lot is going to depend on how you hunt and what your wear. Day pack? full size pack? stand hunt? still hunt? Carry your rifle via a sling - right side? left side?

I wear a large, backpack style fanny pack. I plan to stand hunt in the blind early in the day and then still hunt several hours. I use a sling usually on the left side. My first lite clothing has several pockets but I would rather have a dedicated holster.

 

[brcfo_outdoors]

I like carrying on the pack belt because I find it easiest to access and I have some amount of muscle memory from other shooting disciplines. If I am hiking in far I don't have my bino harness on because it is extra pressure directly on my lungs that I don't need. Adding extra weight to that seems counter intuitive to me. I tried a Kenai chest holster too, and there is no way I can make a kydex holster directly on my sternum comfortable. If you are carrying a small enough handgun a mount that goes under your bino harness might be ok, but the ones that mount behind it I would avoid for the same reason. The grip on my Sig P220 is somewhat aggressive and does pill the sleeve on my jacket, but I buy things to use them so its part of the hobby. Everyone's mileage may vary.

 

[Bravo 4]

Ever used a nut ruck? It's the manly (or tactical) term for a fanny pack.

 

[TonyRumore]

While hunting, I prefer a shoulder holster.

Tony

 

[memtb]

I prefer a "cross chest carry for any handgun carry……except for concealed carry! memtb

 

[med358-boise]

Not sure how wide the belt is on your "backpack style fanny pack' or if it also has shoulder straps. From what you have described, it seems you already have a bino harness on your shoulders and may have straps from your fanny pack over your shoulders. Adding a third set from another chest rig or shoulder holster could be problematic. Plus your shield is going to be over 2 lbs when loaded that may be a lot to comfortably add to your bino harness.

If the belt on your fanny pack rides low enough, you might consider, a IWB on your right side if the fanny pack belt does not interfer with access.

 

[TRG65]

I use a holster attached to my bino holders for my S&W 329. It does shift a bit when I draw with only one hand and makes the draw a bit inconsistent. But if one hand grabs the holster/bino pouch and the other draws, it works very nicely. I've found this works best with a backpack that has a hip belt.

 

[Bob Wright]

My buddies carry a thigh holster supported by the waist belt and thigh straps. It's a pretty good way of clearing bino packs and back packs.

 

[JJMoody]

Customer photo(not great, but shows the idea) chest rig adjusted for use with bino harness and pack in semi cross draw fashion

 

[LDHunter]

I have a nice Galco leather shoulder holster I used to carry my Glock 20 10mm with but honestly I started feeling it was pretty silly because any rifle I carried for medium or large game was more than enough to fend off anything short of a charging grizzly. The feeling of being overly burdened by gear when hunting quickly left me feeling like a wannabe when I hunted since 90% of that gear almost never got used and I didn't like feeling like a pack mule.

I quickly figured out that water, food, extra ammo, a simple first aid kit including snake bite kit (I'm in the south) and some compact binoculars were about all I needed to carry. If I was going to be very far away from roads there was more I'd add but really a handgun was deemed to be something totally unnecessary.