[Backpacker Joe]

Hey Kat. Nice to hear from you. Well, some variables to consider. Any gun experience? If so, then you might look at a Glock 26 (Sub-Compact) in 9mm. 12 round magazine. Using 147 grain subsonic rounds not terrible recoil. If no gun experience, you might look towards a Smith and Wesson, or Ruger revolver 5 shot in .38 special. Glock 26 Smith and Wesson Lady Smith .38 147 gr 9mm ammo .38 special ammo I hope Dave will chime in here. His experience is invaluable....

[Dave Workman]

[Backpacker Joe]

Thanks Dave. I mentioned the Glock because to me its as close as any auto ever has been to revolver reliability. That said, I agree with you on your point. I didnt mention anything less than the .38 special because I've always believed that "IF" you're going to carry in the first place carry something with some stopping power! Having said that, I don't disagree with your point of volume and its effect on the animal. Im glad Kat bothered to ask. I bow to your expertise and experience. Please let me clarify one thing. I never saw your post Dave. As far as I knew I was the first to offer advice. That's why I mentioned hoping you'd chime in after me. LOL.

[Kat]

Thank you both for the suggestions & helpful comments! Hope all is well with you BPJ. It's been years since I've done any plinking, so I'd say no, not much gun experience. In the interim I "packed" a Kimber pepperblaster Only 13' range tho. The coyote thing freaked me out because, around 2:30 am what sounded like a really large pack of coyotes were yipping just across the lake we were at. We started talking in the tent, the coyote pack immediately went quiet. I was thinking they might be silently sneaking around the shoreline to get to our goats so we got out of the tent and walked around with our headlamps until daylight. Good to know loud noise scares off coyotes, I am guessing they just took off because we spooked them by talking. Altho I carry a first aid kit for the stock, had a small scare on our trip we just got back from, which made us think about dealing with a critically injured animal that could not hike out. A gun would provide a quick merciful option; much preferable to leaving it to suffer some horrible painful death.

[Backpacker Joe]

Im not trying to scare anyone here, and I certainly don't expect this as the norm. A few years ago two coyotes killed a woman in Canada. I guess my point is, there is certainly an unpredictability factor whenever you're dealing with wild animals. Being prepared is always better than not.

[Kat]

I would agree, all animals are unpredictable for that matter as well as humans! Altho I've never been particularly worried about coyotes before, they do apparently hunt in packs and that fact alone can give me the willies if I think about it too long. I gotta say, there was that enlightening moment when he said "we have to get up and protect the goats" and I looked at him and said - "protect them with what, our freakin' trekking poles??"

[Dave Workman]

[KekistaniProphet]

[Dave Workman]

[Kat]

I know a couple of folks that have fired (not at the animal) to deter - the noise was enough to scare it off.

[KekistaniProphet]

Yeah that doesn't always work. Better to plan for the worst case scenario.

[bulldog18]

A lightweight pistol like the Ruger LCP or Ruger LC9S/Pro for two-legged threats and bear spray for four-legged threats.

[Dave Workman]

[Randito]

Bear spray, it works on various forms of "wildlife" and is cheaper and requires less,skill than a firearm. Anyone hoping to use a firearm for self defense really needs to spend considerable time at the range developing their skill in order to be effective. My sister used to manage field biologists in Alaska. They equip their teams with bear spray and a double barreled shot gun loaded with a single lead ball and magnum powder load cartridges. The firearm training takes a week and involves a simulated bear that is pulled toward the student at 35 mph to simulate the stress of a actual bear charge. Shot a griz with any of the peashooter handguns mentioned above and you'll just piss it off. Might work on a scrawny black bear though.

[DIYSteve]

Randy, I concur that studies favor bear spray over a handgun. But if one is properly trained and in practice, why not carry both? In grizzly country each of us carry bear spray and I also carry a Ruger LCRx w/3" barrel, a 5-shooter revolver chambered for .38 SPL +P. It weighs less than 1 lb. I use Buffalo Bore Outdoorsman hard cast Keith loads, which BB claims will penetrate a grizzly skull. I gotta quibble with your claim that shooting a handgun "will just piss off" a bear. There is good evidence that a very loud noise will scare off a grizzly bear, e.g., tests with air horns and devices using shotgun shell blanks. Of course, I hope to never have the need to use bear spray or fire my revolver. The best grizzly country travel strategy starts with mitigating the chance of a hostile encounter, e.g., cooking away from camp, letting the bears know you're in the area, proper food storage. ETA: My research suggests that the most reliable fatal shot to a grizzly is just below its ear.