Sig229 wrote:
Im asking because this spring I want to take a long rage hiking and camping trip, I want to carry a pistol and my AR while back in the mountains.
Yeah, in a PA state forest, you should be OK.
But you say that you're going on a long-range hiking trip, so it sounds like you're doing the Appalachian Trail. Is that what you've got planned? Because if that is the case, it's sort of a gray area...
With the new National Park Service Concealed Carry law going into effect at the end of February, the AT is most likely covered under this, and so CC of a handgun or carry of other firearms is probably OK.
HOWEVER, large parts of the AT also coincide with Federal Parks, State Parks, and other "protected" or "prohobited" lands, so it's difficult to say who would claim tru jurisdiction in any given part of the AT...
As for carrying an AR, I'd leave it at home if I were on a long-range camping trip in PA. A good handgun should be sufficient for any personal-protection situation you'd find yourself in, and you don't have to worry about running afoul of the rather convoluted PA Hunting laws. Plus a handgun would be a LOT lighter and easier to lug around on a long-range hiking trip. The firearm is lighter and smaller, and so it the ammunition.
Do you REALLY want to lug a rifle around for a few weeks on your vacation? Wouldn't it be a lot easier (and more efficient) to have a pistol on your hip, and 50 or 100 rounds of handgun ammo in your packs? That would be WAY more "luggable" than an AR and several mags of .223, and a LOT easier to explain as a "self defense tool" to a overzealous Park Ranger or Game Warden...