Off To Slay The Lizard

Since the wildfires have subsided, its time to get back into the swamp and I'm just about done with gathering the right gear. A rather stiff leather billy club with a pound of lead sewn in the first 3" makes a decent enough get-away-from-me persuader, along with an 8" tanto-blade rough use knife, and a Glock 23 on the hip loaded with 200 grain fmj's cranking at 1150 fps. Going with a shorter barreled
12 gauge stoked with Remington Buckhammers (602 grains @ 1500 fps) this time around and fitted with a far sturdier sling should I need both hands for whatever. I decided to go with the G-23 over a .357 magnum simply because having 14 rounds at one's disposal might be a good idea if encountering more than one wetland denizen at the same time. I can let off a full magazine, plus one in the chamber, at around 5 seconds while keeping a hole the size of a grapefruit at 25', which is critical when facing things that are a lot damned faster than I am. I've a map and a compass, some familiarity with the area, and but of course am bringing a flashlight, canteen, and some of those gods awful health food bars.

We simply need a better map of the swamplands because the fires have considerably rearranged both flora and fauna. Noon to zero-dark-thirty seems about right.