Maybe you should think again:
-You are 12 times more likely to die of a bee sting than a bear attack (120 times more likely compared to a black bear)
-You are 10 times more likely to die from a dog attack than a bear attack (45 times more likely compared to a black bear attack)
-For each person killed by a black bear attack there are 13 people killed by snakes, 17 by spiders, 45 by dogs, 120 by bees, 150 by tornadoes, 374 by lightning, and 60,000 by humans.
"60,000 by humans." As I said above, I carry a firearm when backpacking as much for humans as anything else.
Dogs? Do you want me to cite the countless instances where life-threatening dog attacks have been prevented with a firearm? I hate to go to the trouble, but I might if you insist.
No dogs, bees, tornadoes, snakes, or spiders, where I go brown bear hunting.
Two people close to me (one had a .44) had a black bear sow with cubs invade their camp area in the Sangre de Cristos, and it went on for hours. They didn't have to shoot the bear, but they would have been a lot more unnecessarily stressed if they had not had that option. A lady I know was with a "Sierra Club backpacking trip in the 2002 drought year in Colo. when the group was harassed for hours by a hungry mountain lion in their camp. They tried to deter the lion with rocks, screaming, etc... to no avail and then huddled in their tents for hours. When she told me of the story at work, and asked me whether I ever worried about something like that, I said "No." She said "Why?" I said "Because I always carry my .44 Magnum Redhawk when I go backpacking." She said "Ohhh." Epiphany. Animals (let alone people) do sometimes threaten humans in the wild. Even if you might be okay with no firearm, it's unnecessarily more stressful in some situations without a safety net. Just like the seatbelt you may NEVER need. I have NEVER EVER used my life insurance policy. You can believe that, or I would not me typing this. I still have one. I never go out into the wild unarmed. WTF? Carrying a 27-oz gun (e.g. loaded G27 with 11 500-ft-lb loads) is too much for a "backpacker"? And, as I said earlier, I avoided a serious tragedy once by being so armed when confronted by some freaks. Best 27ozs I ever carried.
