While hunting coyotes down along the Mexican border the local game warden suggested that I pack a handgun in addition to my shotgun or rifle.

I have a Taurus Tracker in 41 Mag that I carry up north when I'm in the woods without a long gun but it is a little on the heavy side with my calling gear. I don't think the warden was thinking about bears but multiple drug runners.

I was thinking more on the order of a Glock 26 with a spare full size mag in reserve. Any pro's and con's with this selection?

Thanks
Erich

As a G26 owner I'd go with a G17 or G19. 9mm with good ammo is adequate for 2 legged foe.

G19 would be good. I like my M&P9 also. I have an XDs 45 that is small and light, but packs 8 rounds of 45 with the mag extension.

I think folks should carry whatever they want to carry. That being said, there is nothing that a handgun, any handgun, will do in that particular situation that a long gun will not do much, much better.

RS

few years ago a guy i know was sitting in a white dodge truck on the road next to the barb wire fence down mexico way. A lot of that country is brown, no pun intended, and he was glassing from the top of a hill. Out of the brush jumps some black suited ninja types carrying full auto's on the was back into micheho.
They tried to hide until they realized wasn't a border patrol type of guy.
The cartels have lots of money and good equipment. A two or three shot varmit rifle isn't high on the list in my opinion.
And I love .41magnum. But, I can see a ar15, or m1ascout, or a.k. in a rifle with some spare mags, and a hicap pistola of what ever flavor y ou want, key word hi cap.
Needless to say that ain't country to take lightly.
Another guy was telling me of hunting pigs along down there, and having a couple of guys open up on them with full auto a.k.'s.
Those aren't just stories, they happen now and then.

by the way not a game warden per se in arizona, game and fish officer is probably closer.

in rereading your post, i am pretty sure he wasnn't talking about bears. All that country south of I10 is cartel country these days, and in reality, a lot further north.

The 26 will certainly work though I prefer the G-19/23 size to the G-26/27. I shoot the larger size better.

this right here, ^

if we're talking about shooting two legged varmints that shoot back? then F a bunch of handguns imo.

I'd want firepower and range

besides if you're hunting coyotes, can't think of a much better choice than a .223 AR-15 variant

and getting proficient with that rifle only increases your stature as a patriot.

it's a win/win all the way around from my view.

An AR-15 makes a damn good Coyote hunting rig for the 4-legged AND 2-legged variety!
As far as packing a Pistole in the Border Counrty of the US, I want one with CAPACITY.
Glock 19 or 17 would be a logical choice if you like plastic. It's cheap, reliable, and plenty accurate for minute of Meskin work, too.
But any good Hi-Cap Wonder 9mm like the M&P, Springfield XD, Browning HP, ect will work in a pinch!

I'd get a Glock 19 over any subcompact and it sounds ideal for what you need. But I'd just start coyote hunting with an AR before I messed with either.

I'll echo the AR sentiment, but my personal preference is M&Pc over the G19. Just my own like/dislike.....

George

Not trying to tell you your business but I don't go out in the bush alone anymore. Especially anywhere south of Casa Grande.
I carry a G17 dove/coyote hunting and it doesn't get in the way at all.
If you decide on the Glock the happy sticks are a man's best friend.

This. In spades.

Yep. I can conceal my Glock 19 just as easily as my Glock 26, and I shoot my 19 much better than my 26, too.

For your purposes the g19 or standard M&P is superb. If im alone i mainly run my AR or the comvo gun i got from you but my biggest worry is hippie weed growers. Down that way a light AR with a back up handgun would rule.

I agree the combo gun is best all around for yote calling but when the atmosphere can turn deadly quickly i'll take the rd count and range of a semi auto rifle

Form for your needs I would go with an AR-15 with a couple of 30 round spare magazines if I ran into drug runner problems.

I really don't care what others hunt with but if I had to hunt coyotes with an AR I'd quit coyote hunting. I feel that way about birds and semi-autos also.

My idea of an interesting coyote gun, it is very effective, but the best part was getting it into the field again. Forty mile south of Tucson.



This hunt was a lot more interesting than with an 870 or SBE



The question is about a piece of gear that is going to hang on my side and be about as un-intrusive as possible to my hunt. Other than shooting it at paper to familiarize myself with it and to learn to shoot it as well as possible it will be like energy bar or match safe, never to be used in the field until absolutely and unavoidably needed.

I did look at the specs on the larger Glock and was surprised at how close it is to the 26 in weight.

erich,

The rationale behind the different suggestions is due to different locations.

Our TX and SW brethren are making the recommendations that they are because in their area coyotes come in on two and four legs.

The Glock 19 is about a good a suggestion as you'll get for what you're thinking about. A BHP wouldn't suck, either, and fits more with your preferred weaponry.

one of the things i left out, and i shouldn't have is optics. Along the border you can run into a lot of brushy, canyon short range stuff, or you don't, in which case you are talking long distance type stuff. I know a guy that found a stash of 300wsm in a hideout down that way a few years ago along with other stuff. It wasn't left there by varmint hunters. I do know the cartels have spotters up on top of mts. Most of the time you wouldn't know they are there, and they normally wouldn't want to call attention by bothering you, but you don't know. Optics are your friend.

The desert is a strange place these days. For years i ran all over arizona just with a revolver. Then like a week or two ago, i am up a desert wash and i find about 1000 L.C. 5.56 casings where somebody(s) have been beating up a human size target maybe 25yards away. Who would do that and for what purpose. I keep telling myself i have to take my own advice and carry a rifle anytime i am out on the rural desert. Another thing i might add, is a lot of that country along the line is not condusive to cellphone coverage, even the b.p. has trouble in some areas with their radio's. 911 type backup could well be hours away, and that's just the truth.
I was on a farm a couple of years ago looking for dove right off I8 south of casa grande, which is a ways from the international line. The mgr says to me, you DO KNOW while you are working those desert stock tanks you are in CARTEL country, don't you? He had a point, i went home.

After hunting along the border from El Paso to Tucson and most of it right along the border, I actually feel safer in the field than I do here in WA, between tweekers, weed growers, meth labs and virtually NO police presence. In the southwest it seems I can't get through a day without getting interrupted or checked a couple of times. Border patrol and sheriffs are everywhere, no matter how far you are from a main road here they come on their four wheelers, 4x4's and on horseback, I've even been zoomed a couple of times by aircraft..

Erich,
Given your taste in firearms, attitude about suitable coyote shooting sticks and the amount of effort you will devote to surviving in the desert, maybe you should get a Colt SAA .38 or .44 WCF. Then at least you know that even if you get outgunned and killed by border bandits - you got killed in style.

MOGC, if they weren't so heavy and bulky, I think it would work, but I already have a 41 Mag. and used to carry it working in the Seattle rail yards at night. I used to shoot a Star PD that was about perfect, very accurate, reliable with just about anything I tried to feed, compact and light. I really like the idea of a DAO striker fired handgun that is lighter and has a better trigger pull than a revolver of the same size, just pull it out and pull the trigger, no safety or hammer to cock.

Just about any dead end road on public land in the west will have a pile of 5.56 casings and a bunch of shot up trash. And if you are worried about a sniper up in the hills with a 300 WSM odds are you'll never know about it if he wants you.

I guess I'm to the point in life that I'm not all that concerned about my demise, I've lived the kind of life they write stories about and have experienced enough war that I'm NOT going into the field now with the EXPECTATIONS of HAVING to fight my way back out again. All I'm interested in is something on the order of a flint and steel or hand winch, something I never expect to use but will work if needed.

You just described a G19. It's about stone axe reliable.