Backcountry Backup: Defending Your Life and Property

A very important part of the comfort zone is knowing how to prepare if you ever encounter a situation in defense of life or property (DLP). Even venturing into restricted areas such as national parks, designated wilderness areas, refuges and other outdoor recreation sites — especially those with expansive sections of remote backcountry — requires the sensible outdoor adventurer to maintain a heightened degree of DLP awareness and readiness.
“But there are bears who need more space,” Artz said.
“If you have to pass through an area where bears can’t see you, make noise, talk loudly, sing out loud, etc..”

In bear country, you might even consider procuring a specific woods gun aside from your usual carry gun; .380 does not work particularly well against this fellow.
Frank Udovich, the owner of Kawishiwi Lodge and Outfitters in the BWCAW, said that it actually comes down to a matter of preference, one now made easier by the new law regarding firearms in national parks.

In backcountry, where accessibility is restricted to flying, floating, or footing it an effective escape is not often a viable alternative.

Mind the Borders

The post Backcountry Backup: Defending Your Life and Property appeared on USCCA.

Wildlife Woes in the Backcountry

A Different Type of Predator

It’s often said that when someone leaves civilization and heads into a wild area, they”re-enter the food chain.” Though this is unassailably accurate, it does not mean you need to behave like (or end up as) food.

Walk Softly and Pack a Big Bore in the Backcountry

Still, during the period from 1985 to 1996, bear attacks did result in 36 injuries to individuals and six deaths.

Defense against attacks by wild animals has always been a valid concern among people who frequent the backcountry of America in areas where there’s a heightened chance that you might encounter a huge carnivorous animal. However, incidents leading to death are extremely rare. According to an article in the Journal of Wildlife Management, through a 25-year interval in Alaska, 52 brown bears and 38 black bears (5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, of the complete bear kills during that period) were dispatched in defense of life or property.

National Park websites have been updated to include links to every state’s firearms legislation.
So far as a favorite weapon for DLP, especially against attacks from big critters, .40-caliber service sidearms, .44 Magnum revolvers and shotguns appear to be the weapons of choice among those in the general public and private sectors who carry firearms. Bear spray is a serious option as an alternative or complement to a firearm. Many feel it’s equivalent to or better than a firearm for deterring animals or people.
[Wild animal] incidents leading to death are extremely rare.

There are no definitive answers about whether or not you need to have a firearm if adventuring inside a national park or other similar locations, nor which caliber to use. Clearly, owners of guns should be comfortable and proficient with their weapon to be used as an effective and safe tool in defense of life and property. Public Law 111-24 now extends that right and responsibility throughout the majority of our national parks and other recreation lands as well.

In Alaska, the wildlife regulations require people to stay 50 yards away from bears.

Besides brown/grizzly bears common to, and an attraction of, many parks in Alaska, Montana and Wyoming, an experience with black bears could occur throughout much wider regions of the U.S.. Other animals that could also lead to a serious threat to individuals include mountain lions, wolves and even moose.

“More than 30 national parks are located in more than one state, so visitors will need to know where they are in those parks and which state’s law applies,” said Kathryn Warnes, grant management expert with the National Park Service.

“It’s really a non-issue,” Piragis said. It is just asking for an accident or unwise use… (Bear attacks) are so rare as to even be mentioned in my opinion.”

Since both areas share a water border with Canada, there’s absolutely no visible line to inform you once you’ve boated to our northern neighbor’s waters. Cross the line at Voyageurs and you have to now also abide by Canada’s firearms laws, which prohibit handguns but may allow certain kinds of”camp firearms.” However, absolutely no firearms of any sort are permitted in Quetico Provincial Park, the BWCAW counterpart unit on the Canadian side of the vast boundary waters region that shares many border lakes with the United States. It is up to the person to make arrangements to manage a firearm in their possession prior to entering Canada.

These regulations were adopted with particular scrutiny toward each nation’s laws, including non-restricting laws, regarding the carrying of concealed weapons. Certain areas within national recreation areas (visitor facilities, offices, etc.) still enforce site-specific bans on guns.

This responsibility upon the firearm-carrying visitor becomes even more challenging when international boundaries are crossed. Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Areas Wilderness (BWCAW) and Voyageurs National Park are two specific examples of how complex this legislation can become if you have not done your firearms possession homework.
It is up to the person to make arrangements to manage a firearm in their possession prior to entering Canada.

“When I’m in the backcountry, I take my .40 service weapon in a chest holster and a marine flare in my pants pocket,” Artz said. “I have not had to use either one.”

Popular firearms in Alaska include .44s in torso holsters, but some prefer to take a shotgun. Many outfitters in the BWCAW argue against the need to take a firearm into the wilderness area.
Oftentimes, the threatening hand dealt to you doesn’t permit you the option of enjoying the avoidance card. Instead, you may be forced, sometimes traumatically, into the Flee-or-Fight mode. In the backcountry, where accessibility is limited to flying, floating or footing it in, a successful escape is not often a viable alternative either. Carrying a firearm might be your only life-saving option and ultimate DLP course of action.
It was a rare incident that has not since been repeated, at least within the distant BWCAW, in the seven decades hence. Under the revised law, members of these campsites could lawfully possess weapons to use in self-defense. Whether these counter-actions would have evolved into an even more dangerous situation fuels an ongoing debate.
Since February 2010, Public Law 111-24 makes it legal to own firearms in national parks and refuges. You might carry a firearm, concealed or otherwise, so long as applicable federal, state and local firearms laws in the country in which the park is situated allow your possession of that weapon. That law doesn’t, however, change prohibitions on the use of firearms in national parks or affect any hunting regulations. And even if it’s legal to carry a firearm within a park’s boundaries, it’s still not legal to discharge it.
Many outfitters in the BWCAW argue against the need to take a firearm into the wilderness area.
Using Minnesota’s laws as a perspective, there are currently 32 states whose handgun possession laws are”not substantially similar” to Minnesota’s firearms possession laws and as such are not valid in the state. Furthermore, laws in the country where a firearm is registered don’t supersede Minnesota’s regulations or laws. In the case where a portion of two or more states lies inside a park boundary, it is up to each individual to confirm the status of legislation in each of these particular states.