What was your very first experience enjoying the ability to defend yourself from dangerous animals by carrying a firearm?

[BRICKBURN]

I didn’t actually have to defend myself, but during my first experience around DG in the Caprivi, a .416 Rigby in my hands, it felt awfully small when the elephants got a little cheeky.

No charge or attack, but Walking in close to Elephants in tall cover while hunting plains game, I told the PH I'd go down swinging if they decided to come after us. I was holding my .270 Win. and I knew it was 99.99% certain to be useless, but....

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I grew up on a turkey farm. Male turkey breeders are 25-35 KG, large and aggressive. I was just five years old or so. Decided to explore a pen of big breeder toms in the hen barn.

Those aggressive buggers started to peck and flap and kick, big sharp beaks going for my head and eyes. Chased me so hard the only way out was up, so I climbed onto the lid of a self feeder. Seemed like hours crouched there with a dozen big gobblers strutting and circling below and trying to get me. Yup, turkeys are very scary when they are head height and weigh the same as you!

Eventually a trusted and respected member of our farm staff heard my yells and rescued me. I always liked Alex, but I liked him much more after that incident. The whole experience was emotionally formative.

Turkeys were my families livelihood, and were to be respected, so I’ve never told anyone, only my sisters after my parents were both dead… full disclosure? I avoided the Tom pen for a few years. When I was nine years old I bought a Daisy lever action BB gun from another hired man for $2, all the money I had. That gun was old and weak, and could barely kill a barn sparrow.

One day when I shot a sparrow and wounded it, the bird dropped into the Tom pen. I knew my responsibility and had to track that sparrow down and finish it off. The Toms tried to attack me again. I discovered a BB to the wattles is a great deterrent to an aggressive Turkey and they respected me much more after that.

It’s not socially fashionable any more I suppose, but to this day I feel much more secure in the bush while carrying a firearm, whether to deter Grizzlies in British Columbia or Buffalo in Zimbabwe.

What's your story?

I was on my first safari in 1983. I shot a buffalo late in the day and it was dark when we finished it. the oh and tracker had to hike out a couple of miles to the Toyota, so that they could navigate their way back to the buffalo. I was left to wait with the buffalo to guide them in when they got close. So I was sitting with my back to the buffalo waiting. We had found lion scat in the area, leopard tracks were in just about every spot with soft dirt. Hyenas were said to be common. I felt a lot more confident holding on to.my .458 WM.

 

[Field28]

I was hunting black cock and capercaillie in northern Norway.. Came upon fresh bear tracks and dung.. went back to town and bought Brenneke rounds for my 12G..

If you are hunting for that sort of thing then surely there are better locations than Norway.

 

[Pondoro]

If you are hunting for that sort of thing then surely there are better locations than Norway.

Black grouse - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[bimbo]

No charge or attack, but Walking in close to Elephants in tall cover while hunting plains game, I told the PH I'd go down swinging if they decided to come after us. I was holding my .270 Win. and I knew it was 99.99% certain to be useless, but....

Depend...with soft point bullet surely...

 

[coyote wacker]

I guided bear hunter in the UP of Michigan did it for 14 years alway carried a S&W 629 with a 4" barrel loaded with Hornady 240 gr. bullets. Well one day wife and I went to town to get supplies usally a hour drive to town, so maybe 4 hour to get what needed to be done. That day wife did a little more looking and shopping than normal and we got home a little later than I wanted to. So in my hurry I didn't remember to change my handgun from a Kimber 45 ACP to the S&W. Get to the first bait and the wife stayed at the trail head and I walked in with 2 buckets of bait. My baits are 55 gallon drums chained to a tree and a 12" opening for the bear to feed. I took out the 2 bolt for the lid and poured one bucket in. When I bent over to get the second bucket I saw a bear running at me from the cover of tree 50' away. I drew the Kimber by that time the bear was just feet away and fired two rounds, bear stopped 2' from my feet with smoke comming off its fur. I had shot the bear one between the eys and once in the top of the head. My ears were ringing from the shots. Then the phone rang my wife calls me and wants to know whats happening. told he bring the 4 wheeler and trailer I shot a bear.
When I skinned the bear it had very little fat on it for late September. It wasn't very big 220 pound field dress. I figured the bear though I was a bear and was going to run me off the bait it wanted and needed, there were several bear using the bait.

Many times I caught my wife out of the house with out a gun. Alway told her you can never tell if or when you need a gun. After that day she never walked out the door with out a gun.