Contributors to this thread:
I booked a bucket list hunt with Jonah for moose 2024
The guide and I will be dropped off in the brooks range
I just ordered a glock 10mm to carry on this hunt. The gun store is helping me pick a holster. Fortunately the owner bow hunts and understands this situation
When I went bear hunting with Jonah the guides carried their gun in a chest holster. I worry about that with binos and drawing the bow. That one didn’t seem like a good idea?
Obviously we will face all types of weather
Anyone have a good strategy carrying a gun in moose country. We came down to buying two. One for the belt on my side and one wrapping around my torso on under my arm
I’m not a big gun guy so any 101 type advice is very welcome
I carried a .454 Casull pistol in a Kenai chest holster for last year’s moose hunt, and had no problem, even with the binos on my neck, on the shot I took with my recurve. Plenty of clearance with practice.
Gunfighters Inc Kenai chest holster worked great for my g20.
Fit perfectly under my binoc holder.
The Kenai is nice if you want a chest holster. I like a kydex holster attached to my pack and a simple flat leather holster that is on my pants belt and doesn’t bother me while wearing the pack.
Drop thigh holster. Can access at anytime. Won't get in way of bow. Will not cause issues with cehsy
Don't know what happened, but meant to say won't get in way of chest Harness for binos or range finder. It might be annoying at first hiking with the holster strapped to your thigh, but you should have plenty of time to hike with it etc and get used to it before your trip.
Plus with it being a glock no shortage of holsters available.
A black rhino hip/belt holster or a vedder. Kydex with positive lock and no straps to secure . Great holsters and easy to draw from. You could cover the outside with moleskin if your worried about noise. Then before you go on your trip make sure you practice , practice and practice draw the pistol. Glock+ buffalo bore heavy outdoorsman bul lets and your good to go.
Not sure if you will find a holster for your need at the link but they have a lot and sure to fit your weapon.
Second LBshooter advice. No matter what you choose, practice deploying the weapon.
Does no good to have it if you can't effectively draw and fire.
Like having a side arm in your nightstand and never practice taking it out or shooting it. It might give you peace of mind, but it's basically useless, and dangerous I might add, if you don't practice.
Good luck on your hunt!
I have no experience using one, but the Razco holsters are on my list. They just clip in to the bottom of your bino harness and have a strap that wraps around you for help with weight distribution. Holsters on your pack work great until you take your pack off...
I’ll throw in another vote for the Gunfighters Inc Kenai
Isn't one of the companies now making a combo bino harness chest holster? On my work computer so I would probably get flagged for searching it at work, but I am pretty sure there is one out there.
Whatever you get, practice with it, a lot.
I disagree with whipranger. If you need a handgun, you need it ALL the time, with YOU.
On a guided moose hunt that my wife accompanied me on, the guide talked us out of leaving her handgun behind. She would ALWAYS be with one of us. NOT! After moving us by air to another area, Cindy stayed in camp to dry gear while the guide and I climbed a ridge to glass. I left my handgun with her, and the guide had his rifle. We spotted a bull, and the best plan was for me to return to camp, get Cindy and gear for a day's hunt while the guide kept track of the moose. That left one of us, me, hiking around in heavy cover with only a bow. Nothing happened, but I would have been more comfortable armed. If you really need a gun in the back country, or anywhere, you need it at hand ALL the time. Otherwise, you may as well save the trouble and not have it at all. Also, a situation could come up where the one who is armed is the one who is attacked, without being able to use his weapon.
Odds of needing one is very small, but for many of us , it offers a little peace of mind.
I believe eberlestock has what Matt is describing. however, the gun slides into a pocket behind the binos etc. not sure I’d want to try getting it outta there in a hurry as I’m about to be chewed on.
I just normally tuck it in the back of my waist band… I also like to hold it at a 90 degree angle.. Parallel to the ground. I found that holding it that way looks cooler…
Good luck on your hunt safe travels
In those few times where $hit hit the fan you often read of one guy being pinned by a bear and the other guy having the shot. Sure would suck if the guide with the gun is pinned, and you're standing there without anything to shoot with.
I mean in Canada it's all dreamland since we can't carry anyways. We pray before we leave the truck. I can carry a shotgun for self defence but not a pistol. That would be way too scary I guess if I ran into a politician.
Adam, I think politicians in both our countries are way scarier than any encounter I have ever had in the woods.
Awesome advice guys as normal. I appreciate the responses. I have a bunch of leads thanks to you guys
When I asked jonah about carrying a gun his answer was he never goes in the woods without one. Pretty clear -
I didn’t carry on the bear hunt. I brought a pistol but with sitting on the bait and my guide having a rifle and pistol didn’t seem worth while
On this hunt, busting through the woods I’m carrying.
I working on this now since I know I need a lot of practice. Both shooting the bow while carrying and shooting a pistol
If I'm carrying a big bore handgun ,it's always in a chest holster.
I've tried to carry in a chest holster, but it's always in a ruckus with my bino pack. There just doesn't seem to be a good way to keep both on your chest and comfortable if you ask me.
I use a soft cordura and neoprene holster that clips onto your belt or waist belt of your pack. I take it on and off when ever I dump my pack so that I'll have it at all times. I have drawn my pistol three times now since 2018 on bears with it. Luckily haven't had to fire a round on any of them, but after the first yearling griz ran into 19 yards from me, I got a little more motivation to practice with it.... often !!!
On a side note, you can not get a plastic holster for bowhunting of any kind. Every stick, branch and strap on your pack will 'clink' on it constantly. The worst is your release hitting it when you get within 200 yards. Every deer and/or elk in the canyon snaps there head up and blow out of there if you just barely touch your release on a full coverage plastic holster.
Just my take on holsters and actually maybe having to use it in the heat of the moment :)
Cheers, Pete
Is Jonah recommending that you bring a side arm?
I didn’t ask him when I booked the moose hunt.
I figured I knew the answer from the brown bear hunt
For the brown bear hunt his answer was he never goes in the woods without a gun.
Moose hunting will require a lot more hiking in the woods vs the baited brown bear. I’m guessing I’ll be stationed out in front of the guide a lot too on calling set ups. I took a friends gun to the brown bear hunt but never carried it. The moose hunt I plan to carry one
Good thought on the plastic holsters. I never would have thought of that. Thanks for sharing
I use a kydex that works on my pack belt and pants belt. I draw and shoot a lot from that position so its intuitive for me.
Kydex chest holster below my bino harness. Done this for two trips to Kodiak so far and it’s worked fine. Never had to unholster the gun yet tho. It is pretty quick and it’s always with me. Not sure how tall you are but being 6’2” helps me having enough room below the bino harness. Probably would be even better if it wasn’t a .500 SW. i imagine a 10 MM would ride there pretty well too.
I carry a Glock 20 on all my trips to Alaska. Use a nylon chest holster—-works fine. While not as bad as the heavy magnum revolvers, it is still a handful and requires a lot of practice. To reduce practice costs, I bought a .40 S&W barrel. It paid for itself in ammo cost savings in no time. Dan in Kansas
Dan, what loads do you use in the 20?
Tried several, but have settled in on Underwood 200 gr. Hard cast FN. Totally reliable in my gun. Also the most accurate for my set up. Recommend trying 3-4 different loads and see what works best for your set up. You might also consider a set of Trojicon night sights. A big improvement over the Glock factory sights. Dan in Kansas
For carrying my glock 10mm i prefer a plastic thigh holster. It is out of the way and i find it to be one of the easiest places to draw from. I used hockey tape to cover most of the holster which keeps it very quit when moving threw the brush.
I didn’t ask him when I booked the moose hunt.
I figured I knew the answer from the brown bear hunt
For the brown bear hunt his answer was he never goes in the woods without a gun.
Moose hunting will require a lot more hiking in the woods vs the baited brown bear. I’m guessing I’ll be stationed out in front of the guide a lot too on calling set ups. I took a friends gun to the brown bear hunt but never carried it. The moose hunt I plan to carry one
Good thought on the plastic holsters. I never would have thought of that. Thanks for sharing
Kydex holster with molle clips. You can have it on the belt of your pack and if you decide to take the pack off you can still clip it to your waist on your belt. Get a fully enclosed bottom to keep all the brush and dirt out of the barrel, a high sweat guard wouldn’t hurt either. Ivory Holsters makes a really nice one.
Worth mentioning;For many years, I used to run dogs for hogs. I packed a .357 in a custom leather holster. Now that holster saw a lot more use than what we do as bowhunters….I hunted 60 days a year back then with a lot of it in the rain.
That leather holster got sloppy and loose- so much so I had to dump it as My pistol was flopping around in that thing. Kydex doesn’ do that.
.
look up leather crafters, I use them for my walther ppk and my glock. very nice
I run the Razco off the bottom of my AGC bino pack for my G20. No issues with drawing a bow.
Got lucky last night and found a Glock 10mm
Couldn’t believe it
Got the gun. Now I get to move forward with your advice guys. Thank you
The only bullets they had were flat nose full metal jacket. I know you don’t want hollow points so I figured these would work. Heck I paid $0.90/round. Practicing is gonna be expensive
I live in N Idaho and always carry in the woods. I run a Glock 20 in 10mm in a Kenai chest holster under my AGC bino holder. I have experimented with lots of different holsters and this is the best system for me.
Got the Kenia holster and underwood 200 grain bullets
Just need to practice.
Thanks so much guys this will work well.
The Kenai is great until you need to run to get in position on an animal and it’s bouncing all over, hitting your bino harness, etc. Or when you need to belly crawl. Or when you switch layers on your clothing up top and have to readjust the straps.
You won’t need the sidearm but I’m sure it’ll bring peace of mind.
Your guide will have a gun. I used to take a big revolver but realized there was no need when you're paying the guide to back you up. Leave it at home and enjoy the hunt.
A big fan of leather holsters. Comfortable & easy to carry.
I like 1911s and leather shoulder rigs
I like 1911s and leather shoulder rigs
My preference is a shoulder or hip holster. I've used some chest rigs that were decent. The problem is that they aren't all created equal. And some of them just simply don't carry/support a large framed handgun very well in my experience.
AGC Bino harness is the way to go with either holster mounted on bottom or as a cross draw. I carried this set-up, with cross draw holster, for over 2 weeks hunting moose this year in AK and it worked perfect. Easy access to the pistol quickly, would also recommend a tether around the pistol connecting back to the harness, don't want the gun to fall out of reach if you are using it to save your life. As you probably know, nothing will stay completely dry in AK, I recommend constantly cleaning your pistol while in the field.
I have a holster directly under my marsupial gear bino harness and it’s exactly what I was looking for. Marsupial gear holster as well, I’ve carried 10mm and 9mm autos in it both, it’ll fit all semi-autos.
for a chest holster designed, tested, and made in Alaska check out Diamond D Outdoors.
If anyone needs a holster for there weapon check out Lifeforce Tactical. They have a universal holster that will fit most styles.
