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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2227 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 28, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I've been hiking a lot again. At least one day long hike per week and, thankfully, I've even engaged in a few 2 - 3 day overnights. Wonderful stuff.

Question for the motte; what are your thoughts on being "armed" on the trail. I put "armed" in quotations because this could mean one or more of;

  • Pocket knife
  • Large pointy stick
  • Inconvenient and heavy rambo style "survival" knife
  • Pistol
  • Shotgun / rifle toting.

Bear in mind I am specifically asking about a non-hunting situation. While I am experienced enough to agree with the adage that the most dangerous critters you will encounter are the two-legged kind, I sometimes have these intrusive thoughts about encountering something like a rabies ridden buck. That would be frightening.

So, open question. Not looking for advice per se, just everyone's thoughts.

Wasn't there a post recently about how bears will run away if you have the smallest firearm?

Black bears will run away if you cough unexpectedly.

Given that Russia has stifling gun control, it's a can of bear spray or a "gunshot imitator" here. Which is basically a plastic barrelless flare/flashbang "pistol".

As an avid outdoorsman, my personal recommendation is something small and compact, like a .22 pistol. That way, when the bear is on top of you, it's a lot easier to get the barrel into your mouth...

All kidding aside, concerns about attacks by wildlife are usually the mark of a greenhorn, and rabies is a particularly odd thing to be concerned about. Your scenario about deer isn't really plausible, since deer fight by butting with their antlers and kicking, not by biting. They do get rabies, but not in numbers large enough to report outside of "other wildlife", and deer attacks on humans are rare to begin with, especially considering how often we encounter suburban deer that have lost their fear of humans. And if you're hiking in the deep dark woods, you aren't likely to see many deer to begin with, since they prefer forest edge ecosystems where there's more to browse.

If you somehow were attacked by a rabid buck, stabbing at it with a knife would be about the worst possible thing you could do, and shooting it wouldn't be much better. Rabies is usually transmitted through saliva, but it can be transmitted through blood as well, so drawing blood probably isn't a good idea. Rabies is usually transmitted through raccoons on in the East, skunks in the Midwest, and foxes in the Southwest, and bats can transmit it anywhere. Trying to defend against these small mammals while they are attacking you and unlikely to do any permanent damage seems like just increasing the risk of shooting or slicing yourself and making a bad situation worse. And if you do get attacked and are exposed to rabies, it's not like it's a death sentence. Rabies has an incubation period of several weeks, plenty of time to get to a doctor for prophylactic treatment, which is almost 100% effective. It's even more effective if you wash the wound thoroughly immediately after getting bitten.

Thanks you for this reply. This is prime Motte advice.

Part of the reason I asked the question was to become more informed. Which is exactly what your post did. I used to have a mild to moderate fear of flying until I spent about an hour talking with a coworker who had had his pilot's license for over a decade. He walked me through everything about clear air turbulence, pressurization, and all of the checklist protocols that pilots go through in the event of any sort of emergency. It's not hyperbole to say it cured my fear of flying.

So, now, when I crash in the Alaskan Bush after unexpected turbulence, I won't be nearly as worried about rabid deer.

concerns about attacks by wildlife are usually the mark of a greenhorn

Except of course attacks by ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies, blackflies, deerflies and wasps (not to forget midges if you're in Scotland). And probably a bunch more that luckily don't live up here. Goddamned motherfuckers.

if I'm worried about being attacked by anything, it's wasps. Evil bastards. Can't see the nest until it's too late half the time, and even if someone else steps on it, they can just randomly decide it's your fault anyway

I am terrified of wasps and yellow jackets. But ticks are not to be underestimated - I say, out of maybe irrational fear, because I don't live and haven't lived in major tick-infested locations, but the idea that I could go hiking and end up with a life-changing inability to eat meat without even realizing is scary

Large horseflies are even worse in some ways. When they’re circling you they look like angry wasps and then you can’t quite know if you should smack them or run from them. And the fuckers keep following you unless you run many tens of meters (or over a hundred).

And the fuckers keep following you unless you run many tens of meters (or over a hundred).

I've had them follow me for miles while I was driving away in the truck! Not sure if they were clinging to the side, tracking my scent, or flying supernaturally fast, but either way I drove to a place previously without horseflies and had a handful of them at again as soon as I got out.

Here they were simply infesting the entire countryside on sunny days and would often attack me after barely walking 10 meters from the car if stopping by the side of the road. Worrying about human or animal attacks is for noobs. Real men fear insects for a reason!

On typical days, (15-30km, 1000-2500m elevation gain), no I don't bring any of that. I used to carry a medium fixed-blade survival knife, but even that has been replaced with a small folding climbing blade instead.

If I'm alone and going to be passing through prime bear habitat, I'll grudgingly bring a can of mace, but if I can justify leaving it behind for any reason, I will. If faced with a rabid squirrel or deer or whatever, I'd probably grab the nearest stick or rock and improvise. What's a knife going to do in that situation? I'd be more likely to cut myself than deter the thing. Honestly, I think the energy advantage from carrying a lighter load beats having a dedicated weapon.

As far as two-legged predators, I trust anyone out that far into the wild to either be friendly, or else dangerous enough that I'd be fucked regardless.

Good insect repellent. I'm surprised you say that "he most dangerous critters you will encounter are the two-legged kind" when where I live the biggest danger by far is from ticks.

I could see a pocket knife be useful for all kinds of other things. If you're worried about wild dogs, a good flashlight and large stick should help fend them off. For the rest you've basically already lost (eg. a bear encounter or some redneck with a shotgun) or extremely unlucky. Maybe a flare gun or pepper spray?

Coyotes and wolves will not come near you unless they have rabies. Mountain lions and black bears also very rarely hunt people.

As for deer- they’re strong but they’re going to run away. Feral hogs are not your friend but if they threaten you, you’ve got bigger problems.

Unless you’re in grizzly bear country, or particularly scared of snakes, you don’t need anything more than a hiking stick.

black bears also very rarely hunt people.

A friend of mine had a black bear break his leg years ago. He heard a noise on his porch and went out to investigate. He spooked a poor black bear so badly that it took off running and knocked my friend clean off the porch.

Obligatory.

100% agree. I am not in grizz country and have encounter all of the animals you've described -- 99% of the time by seeing their backside moving swiftly away from me.

But, again, I get tripped up by the catastrophic-low-probability event; rabid animals of any type - accidentally walking between a cub and mother at precisely the wrong time.

accidentally walking between a cub and mother at precisely the wrong time.

Finland has a fairly sizeable brown bear population (grizzly is basically the same species, just somewhat larger) but unprovoked bear attacks are really rare. A brief search through a national news site shows that there was only one unprovoked attack within the last 10 years and that wasn't serious (the bear struck a guy who fell down, after which the bear left and the guy got off with a few scratches). The rest have all been hunting situations gone bad or a dog aggravating a bear and the owner getting attacked when trying to fend off the bear (and even then they've been very rare). If you make noise and look around, the bears will just hide and avoid you.

Grizzlies are much more aggressive than Eurasian brown bears and it’s entirely reasonable to worry about an unprovoked attack if you’re hiking in grizzly country. It’s not a super likely scenario but it isn’t ridiculously implausible either.

The OP specifically mentioned they are not in "grizz country".

Also grizzlies are quite literally the same species. The Northern American subpopulation just hasn't developed as much fear of humans as the European one but similar differences exist even between local Eurasian brown bear populations depending on how remote the larger area is and has historically been.

Now polar bears, they are scary fuckers and will happily hunt a human.

Yes, they’re the same species but they’re different subspecies.

For black bears you should be fine- between a cub and mother is not a safe place to be, but if you are moving away from between a cub and mother she’ll let you. Thats grizzlies that chase people down.

Rabid animals are a very low probability event.

If you’re really still worried a nine mm might be worth it for peace of mind.

I frequently carry a single stack 9mm loaded with hot SD ammo when I'm out hiking. I've run into enough mobile meth labs deep in the woods to be wary of what might happen if the owners are nearby.

I doubt it would drop a large rabid animal in one shot, but it beats harsh language.

The rabid animal case, specifically, is difficult, because anything short of rapid exsanguination or a CNS hit is likely to stop them. Unless you're a trained marksman with a lot of experience in stressful shooting, you're not likely to get either of those with pure shot placement in circumstances like that. Given that generality, you'd need a fairly large, heavy, high velocity bullet that creates a large wound cavity and potentially damages distant tissue via hydrostatic shock.

Unfortunately, anything that can do that is going to be large and heavy enough that it's going to be miserable to haul around for the 99.999999% of the time that you don't need it.

Alright, so, for the rabid animal case, it's pretty much fend off the attacking zombie deer and then get my ass to the hospital for all of anti-rabies shots and whatnot?

My experience with rabid animals is that they don't really stop doing whatever they start doing until they get a new thought in their head.

I once had a rabid groundhog continue to violently attack an archery target for a solid 30 seconds after I put a .38 round into its neck. It only stopped because it bled out.

Aaaaaaand irrational rabies fear is back up to 11/10. Thanks.

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