as a land surveyor, I do my share of "woods loafing", and bears, moose, rhino's, etc., aren't an issue here in NE Texas. When I was younger I had little fear of anything of nature when armed with nothing but my machete, and dealt the final blow to many copperheads and cotton mouths. Back then, we didn't have near the feral hog problems either. About 10 years ago I realized my machete speed may not be quite up to the task for the snakes that needed disposing of (we do NOT leave poisonous snakes in the trails we will be traversing multiple times), and the fact that the feral hogs have become so established that momma sows can be a threat when startled. I carried a cheap .22 with snake shot for several years when snakes were the only real threat, then started carrying .38 spl when the hogs first seemed like they could be an issue. I kept rusting out the blued models, then had a buddy tell me about trying to "finish off" a gut shot feral hog with a .38 spl with a head shot (he tried a frontal shot). For the last 3-1/2 years the love of my life has been a 3" stainless SP-101 in .357 mag. During the snake season (10 months per year here) I carry the front two with CCI shot shells, followed by three hot hard ball magnums. The stainless SP requires very, very little attention to keep it running, and I have full confidence that it can handle most anything I'll run into in the woods. Actually when I bought my LNIB 1993 vintage SP101 it was love at first sight and shot. I bought 2 boxes of "factory ammo" the day I bought the gun, and ordered basic reloading tools the next day.... and was reloading the next week. Three plus years later and, thousands of rounds later (and only 2 boxes of factory), I still think that 3 inch SP101 is the ideal "woods gun".
JD
