|
The issue really boils down to whether you can get a combined woods gun and concealed carry out of the same weapon given the two competing purposes. If you are in the Snoqualmie area, you may want to consider the very evident fact that the grizzly reintroduction is producing outlier explorers in the Idaho panhandle area. In 2007, a young male was shot in error by a black bear hunter below I 90 near Kelly Creek. In June of 2009, another grizzly was shot in Rose Lake, only 20 miles from Coeur d'Alene and that was also south of the I 90. If you look at the distribution of grizzly bear in the Cascades, I would make the assumption that not only mountain lions and black bears are in the Snoqualmie area, but you certainly cannot exclude the larger grizzly as well. Their population is growing immensely in the last two decades.
In such, the issue of .45 acp really becomes a non issue since even a .44 mag is woefully inadequate for many grizzly bears. The 10 mm has similar ballistics to high powered .357 rounds for comparison which few would consider the best woods hand gun, but it is certainly better than having nothing.
It should also be noted that in California, even though there are no grizzlies at this time, black bears in this area have been recorded as high as 700 pounds with one report I heard of a black bear in the San Gabriels reaching 800 pounds. For these reasons, the thought of using a .45 acp as a woods gun is really a moot issue as far as I am concerned anywhere in the west. If no other choice, 10 mm will buy you more killing power but even this is at the lower end of a real woods gun.
|