Do you feel safe doing remote geocaches in the Maine woods unarmed?

some friends were over this past weekend and It came up that In a couple of weeks I was going to be going on a two night three day geocaching trip to try for 13 pages on the Delorme challenge. Not really a true power run because I plan to do a lot of hikeing type geocaches and I do not want to do one geocache on a page and run, so the plan is two-four per page. OK back on topic, My friends ,and the better half, think I am crazy for alway's heading out on camping trips and Geocaching runs without a hand gun for "protection" from either wildlife or wild people. I think they are parinoid, I have been hiking and camping since I was 12 and my first camping trip in maine was over 24 years ago and NEVER have I carried a gun. I have them and I am not oppossed to them but Like I say, personally I don't feel the need to go geocaching "armed". I was just wondering how other "GEOCACHER'S" feel on this subject. I also realize some folk may not want to give their views to this in a public forum.

It's been my experience that here in Maine a little bit of prudence and commonsense (i.e. do not approach the baby moose when the mom is near, do not attempt to pet the cute little black and white kitty cat or movable pin cushion) is all you need to avoid the wildlife . . . well there is the chucabra, but I hear that's only in western Maine.

It has also been my experience that most of the wild people and crazies tend to congregate in the cities and not the deep woods of Maine . . .

So in answer to the question . . . I have gone 41 years of hiking, camping, geocaching, sledding and riding the backwoods of Maine and have never yet had a single moment where I have thought I needed a fire arm . . . I think common sense and a bit of prudence is all one needs.

And yes . . . like you . . . I am most definitely not opposed to firearms and have them . . . that said . . . it doesn't bother me if other folks feel compelled to bring them along on the hike . . . it's a personal choice.

I've spent time "out in the wilds" in several states and have never had an encounter where I even remotely thought I'd need a gun to protect myself. I have, however, been out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by civilization and thought, "Gee, if I had a gun I could shoot that humongous rattlesnake.", but it wasn't a total necessity to do that. The one time I was out with my father and we stumbled on a living raccoon that had been hit by a car and was in really bad shape and Dad had his .22 revolver with him it was a good thing for us, rather than leave the animal to suffer or to use a stick as a club and beat it out of it's misery just one little pop with that .22 and the animal was humainly destroyed. One other time, I found a beaver that had been run over and had a broken back. I didn't have a gun of any kind with me. Fortunately, for the beaver, I had an old golf club in the back of the car and a well placed swing put him down. Currently, I own the very same .22 that dispatched the raccoon but it needs a bit of a going over to make sure it's in good shape before I'd carry it much. I'd consider carrying, if for no other reason than to have the means to end an animal's life rather than leave it to suffer.

I have been in the woods most of my childhood and a bunch lately.

Ever since my fathers murder I have carried a firearm. He never needed one until the first time either.

I have had only one encounter where all the noise and waving my arms around did not scare away a bear. A shot right in front of it into the ground did the trick. I'm not sure of the outcome without the weapon, but enjoy the outcome with it. The encounter happened in the big city where one would not expect such an occurrence.

For me I feel better knowing I have all the tools that might be needed, so I can tell the story and not a game warden and/or a coroner.

There is a lot of truth in that saying, Mike, never need one until the first time. It's kinda scary that the state I grew up in from, the 6th grade on, is coming to the point where we're even having this dicsussion, however.

That is so true.

Being a big supporter of the 2nd Amendment and believer in the right to arm one self by choice, for self defense purposes, I actually feel very safe in the northern Maine woods unarmed. Although, I generally have my K-Bar knife on me which can be quite deadly, I myself have never come across a time that I felt threatened. There have been some late nights where I could hear coyotes in the distance, but I feel less safe walking around certain towns and cities in Maine and New England unarmed, then I do up north.

After pondering this question my answer has to be: I do feel safe in the woods unarmed....lock-n-locks and ammo cans are easy to open. But in the city....no way! A typical nano would be extremely difficult to open with no arms........

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Originally Posted by EMSDanel

A typical nano would be extremely difficult to open with no arms........

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Sigh. That was bad.

With o.b. you will always feel safe. And that's why some people stuff them in caches.

Never needed to be armed, psychos will kill you with tree branches or stone you just the same, keep your uzi at home

Most of the me the onlyctime I am in fear and would like to be armed is whe n I am in a city with alot of people. gwt me out in the middle of no where and I feel real safe.

Well, since I'm considered the most dangerous thing in the woods to begin with, I just carry when or when I don't feel like it.... I've never encountered a situation I couldn't get out of without a firearm (yet...) Common sense prevails. :D

But when it comes down to it I have to agree with EMSdan, those smaller caches would be hard to open with no arms! :P

Well I agree with Hiram and Mike. I been in the woods for 50+ years. Hiked and backpacked the North Cascades and the Appalachian trail thru the Carolinas and Virginia. At no time have I ever felt that I "needed" a firearm, but I must admit there have times that I did feel more secure knowing it was handy. Not so much safe from other individuals, however to be able to give a warning shot to inquisitive wildlife. But the whole point is as Mike pointed out is you never know when that one time will present itself. Caching and hiking seems to be safest when doing these activities in groups of people that have the same interest

I have thought of getting a carry permit but not necessarily for the woods .Maybe carry a taser although I've never needed one; wouldn't really want to kill anyone and get sued!

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Originally Posted by Hiram357

Well, since I'm considered the most dangerous thing in the woods to begin with, I just carry when or when I don't feel like it.... I've never encountered a situation I couldn't get out of without a firearm (yet...) Common sense prevails. :D

But when it comes down to it I have to agree with EMSdan, those smaller caches would be hard to open with no arms! :P

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Hiram also tends to take along his older, fatter and slower friend Firefighterjake . . . so he can always outrun him. :) ;)