I don't live in bear country or anything but i am pretty sure you should never go in the woods hunting or hiking unarmed. I am looking to get something inexpensive for this purpose but not sure what to caliber or pistol to get. I would say a snakes, coyotes, possible rabid racoon would be the only threats. I am looking at a ruger 22/45 target, a s&w m&p .45, and a rossi 971 357 mag. I do already have dies for 38/357 and a ton of 38 spl loaded ammo and have 45 acp dies. Thank you.
G26/27 for the size, ease of carry and the benefit of double stack magazine... plus you can keep an extra mag handy with another 13/15/17 rounds if you wanted.
If you want a wheel gun (the biggest argument is reliability and the ability to load different ammo, ie snake shot and hollow points) then I would look hard at the SW 640 pro series-- its a 38/357, all stainless construction with excellent night sights and a good trigger.
