Modern Homesteading Off Grid – An American Homestead Off Grid Homesteading – Modern Homesteading
Everyone on the homestead has access to or wears a firearm. Usually the first thing I do when getting dressed in the morning before breakfast is tie on my Glock 17 9mm. Wearing a firearm is just something that most people do in this county.
This was also the case on homesteads all across our country back before telephones and motor vehicles were the norm. The firearm was a tool that when needed was absolutely relied upon to get the job done. The frontiersmen and women would not have thought for a second to traverse the rugged countryside without a reliable weapon in good working order. But Zac! This is the 21st century. Why do you need to carry a gun? These are modern times!
True, we are living in modern times and I can make phone calls across country to anyone and hop in my car and drive anywhere. So let me give you my 3 reasons why we carry firearms on An American Homestead!
- When we first moved here, the neighbors who also have livestock filled us in on the concerns we would have being livestock owners ourselves. Just a year ago last fall, a mountain lion killed a baby horse that belonged to our nearest neighbor. Additionally, everyone around us has sighted a number of bear families in the immediate area. In fact I’m pretty sure we are we not the only ones picking the blackberry patch this year. The good news is, at least nobody has seen any tigers around.
Lions, no tigers, but bears, OH MY!
So when someone who is not used to seeing people with steel strapped on their waist ask me why I carry a firearm, (this has happened) I remind them that I don’t live in a subdivision in suburbia and that in these woods, there are other creatures who think they are at the top of the food chain.
- We are 30 minutes (at least) from any police response and there are a lot of crazies running around the world right now. I feel very safe on my remote homestead out in the middle of nowhere. But being out in the middle of nowhere means you need to know how to look out for number one. I totally feel good about knowing that we have the ability to handle 4 legged critters and just as confident to handle crazy 2 legged critters as well.
- Snakes this time of year. This year so far we have seen copperheads and a rattlesnake. In fact I just shot a copperhead in my greenhouse the other day. They love hanging out in there. Last summer Jaimie found a copperhead near some stuff laying next to the house. A big one! These snakes have the ability to kill those they encounter. We have children on this homestead. Small ones. If these poisonous snakes are found near the living areas, we deal with them.
The first round loaded in my glock right now and all summer and fall is snakeshot. It’s hard to come by online but if you can find that kind of ammo, get some. It will dispatch a snake very effectively.
Everyone on the homestead has had some sort of formal firearms training except Joann. Tim was in the USAF and served in Vietnam. I was in the military while serving in the Army Infantry. Jaimie has taken a shotgun course and we all have been through concealed carry permit training.
Firearms on An American Homestead are just a way of life. They are tools and like all tools need to be respected and proper instruction needs to accompany their use. We are also raising our children with the proper respect and use for firearms. Both my wife and I feel very comfortable and safe knowing that the right tools are always a hands reach away.
Review Overview
Please rate and share our article. Thanks!
Thanks for answering a question I have been meaning to ask. I carry (concealed) regularly and one of the bennies, I thought, of moving out of the city was not having the need to carry so regularly. Oh well, I guess I will have to keep my “lil’ gal” with me a bit longer.
My mom moved to Osage Beach, MO from St. Louis when I joined the Marines (21 some odd years ago). My Dad passed a few years ago, and left my Mom with a few good pistols. I have trained her to use them, but she still will not carry. She thinks that the police will mess with her (all of the firearms are now registered to her). What would you suggest – and she will not CC. She lives right on the Lake of the Ozarks and has come across plenty of osage copperheads. I keep snakes and breed them (well, I do breed them, I just light the candles and put on the Berry White for them), and she doesn’t want to offend me, I guess…
Carrying concealed can be difficult for a woman, not only to physically conceal the firearm, but to be comfortable doing so. In my experience, if a woman doesn’t want to carry, there is usually nothing you can do to convince her. Sometimes a different holster with a light weight gun can help. My husband carries his gun in a belt holster. This doesn’t work for me because I never wear a belt. When I carry around our homestead, I put my 9mm in a Sticky holster inside one of my back pockets. It is not necessarily concealed, but it is the most comfortable option for me. If I was spending more time away from the homestead and had to conceal regularly in town, I would probably carry a smaller 9mm still in a Sticky holster. This is their website: http://stickyholsters.com/
The best defense is a good offense for snakes. You may need to import some king snakes. I always let the kings be, as result I have never seen a poisonous snake on my place.
Thanks for the post.
I don’t carry here in NZ as it isn’t allowed and the environment is relatively benign.
However I did in South Africa (9mm & .38 spl) as it was necessary, esp visiting Johanesburg.
I like the sticky holsters, mine were outside belt leather and we pulled our shirts over them if we didn’t have a jacket on.
We live in the country, but not as wild as your place. My men are all hunters and to be an informed momma, I took the Hunter’s Safety Course with my then 12 year old. I like being able to make sure they are safe when they head out to hunt. Our kids (7) have been raised around guns and have been taught respect for them. There is no curiosity or mystery with that approach.
Great post.
I have 80-acres of raw land that I’ve been slowly converting into a homestead. I see predator tracks on that land almost every time I visit, including mountain lion and what are possibly wolf tracks. I’d never go hunting them illegally, but if my life were in danger, I wouldn’t be willing to become a statistic.
Zach
I am surprised that your donkey doesn,t kill the poisonous snakes unless it doesn’t have access to the outer perimeter . most horses & donkeys will kill a poisonous snake.
She does kill snakes when she finds them. We have come across dead snakes just walking around the homestead and it was obvious she stomped on them.
Working through your page and videos now, so I may not have seen it yet, but do you have a post or video about what handguns and holsters you use and why ? I saw the one for rifles, and enjoyed it, though my preferences differ from yours. I always enjoy hearing other opinions. Thanks.