real quick opinions: best sidearm for scouting/ fishing:colt .45, glock 9 mm,or a sig sauer .40??

HK USP Compact in .40 S&W.

Good capacity (11+1), compact, multiple firing modes, accurate.

From your choices, Sig. Spendy, but dependable.

The grip angle on the Glock is more extreme than I like.

I like the .45 ACP Colt, but the 7+1 and large size turn me off. Now if you were talking Para Ordinance .45's, I'd choose that over anything. Not the P-10, but the next size up, in the LDA.

Anytime I am in the woods whether camping or fishing, I carry my Ruger KP-90 .45 with me.

Personally, with all the cougar sitings now, I would carry anything smaller than a .45 semi but that is just me.

There is no best answer. It all depends on what you want. I had a .45 for awhile. But then the weight and cost of ammo sent me back to a 9mm.

Depends on the area you at. Likely hood of cougars/bears I carry my .454 Casull. Likely hood of two legged animals 9mm. The .454 will run off anything just by the noise of the round going off. Sounds like a thunder clap in your hand. 9mm hold 15 rounds and is much lighter. Just about any gun .380 and up will deter any animal. I would not carry anything smaller though. May just upset them.

While I very seldom Carry, I do have a CCW Permit, when I do it's either my 9mm Makarov or my Taurus Raging Bull 44 Mag. it all depends on the situation and where I'm going or what purpose.

It's my personal belief that unless you are in law enforcement and if you pack 24/7 you are either insecure of yourself or you are looking for trouble.

When you have that CCW and you pack you have a trumendous responsibility to use that weapon only as a last resort.

We are talking about carrying it in the woods, not to our local bank branch. Probably most people here don't carry day to day...

Yeah, I think your intent was pretty clear. We don't need lectures...

Me?

No Mau, ACT is who I was talking to.

Whatever you think you can draw and shoot to hit the equivelent of a pie plate going 30 miles an hour :p Thats about what it would be like shooting a cougar or bear . I used to carry A .44 then a Short barrel 12 guage with 00buck fishing the rivers of Alaska and I got tired of the weight .

If some one said I had to pack a gun it would either be a revolver or a shot gun. The caliber should be what you can shoot well freehand and have freely accessable.

I used to carry a Kimber .45 but I couldn't hit a barn door with the thing. I sold it and switched to a Ruger .357 six shooter. The single action aspect improved my marksmanship remarkably. I liked it so much I also purchased a five shooter and it is also very accurate. I now only carry the six shooter while scouting or I am otherwise in the deep woods and the five shooter the rest of the time. At less than half the price of the Kimber why not have two!

An interesting and surprising result of this switch is that I now shoot much more. Since I sucked with the semi-auto and it was a total pain to keep clean I hardly ever shot the thing. The revolver is the exact opposite. Within six months I had put more rounds through the Rugers than I did through the Kimber in six years.

I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you decide!

Beretta Elite II 40 S&W, or a S&W 500

I would feel ten times safer with a 40 than a 45

40 S&W 135 gr cor-bon 1300 fps with 520+ ftlbs of energy

45 acp +P 185gr 1150 fps it only has 4-6 more ftlbs than the 40

now look at what most use (standard 45acp 230 gr JHP) 835 - 875 fps and 356 - 391 ftlbs of energy

philpac, the 40S&W in a comfortable fit should fill your needs.

I'll show my age here and say the old charter arms bulldog 44 revolver was maybe the best close quarters defensive weapon I've ever fired.

For all around carrying, take the glock. You won't hurt it any in the weather, won't jamb if cleaned, and will do what you need to do.

Steve

SpringField Armory XD 40

Either Beretta Cougar 8040 in .40 cal S&W fairly light and compact, with lot's of punch.
It's like Andy's HK, with 11 in the mag and 1 in the pipe.

Next would be my Glock 21 in .45 APC, even more punch and holds 15 rounds in a +2 mag with 1 in the chamber.......both work great for me!

H&K USP .45, great gun right out of the box. You can get a range of ammo from 230gr. to 165gr. hydrashok, with a range of speed and force. All depends on your intended target. Colts and 1911's are fun and accurate guns, but have some issues with stovepiping, failure to feed, and failure to return to battery. I love them for competitive shooting, and love single action only, but for that one time you need it to fire and keep on firing, the H&K won't let you down. Do a google search and see what you come up with.
Best of luck!

A Colt Python Elite .357 Magnum

Anything in the woods that is hit with that load up to 6 times and still lives deserves to survive and pass on it's remarkable genes.