When I went away to fly fishing guide school in Idaho, all the guides that help teach the class had different stories about bears, wolves and even mountain lions. The owner of the lodge even told me of how wolves came right up to his house and killed his dog on the back porch. One day while on the river, my instructor pointed at what looked like a bush to me. He said keep looking and to my surprise a big as mountain lion was just laying there. He of course was a crazy Idaho boy and kept saying he wish he had his gun.
As for myself, I have gone fishing in the back country a lot in Utah and have never had any problem from any animal besides a sheep herder's dog or two. In Hawaii however I have been chased up trees many times while backpacking. Those wild pigs in Hawaii are big, nasty and not afraid of people. The only thing that sent pigs running were packs of a hunters dogs. Laugh if you want to but seriously those pigs are mean.
BC

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Hanapa'a
BC
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I'm with Sawtooth. The trail head concerns also, me especially when I'm closer to town. This world is getting crazier every day. We need to be aware of our surroundings when out in the woods as well as going to our cars at Walmart. Being prepared and having a plan when faced with a situation is our best defense.

I have been a Wilderness Ranger in the Mission Mountains Wilderness in NW Montana for over 5 years now, and as much as people would like to argue about this the best protection for bears is keeping a clean camp, making noise while hiking, hanging food (at least 10 ft up and 4 ft out), and carry bear spray. There is no need for a firearm. It has been well documented that bear spray is MUCH more effective than a firearm, unless of course you are carrying some type of elephant gun. Even if you are carrying a .44 or other realitively high caliber handgun, you would have to hit the bear just right numerous times, try doing that when you surprise a bear with an adrenaline surge and a large charging mammal coming at you. Bear spray will create a cloud of mist that will deter even the most rambuncious of bears and won't permenately harm the bear. I would be devestated if I ended up killing a grizzly bear.
By the way, I have never had to use my bear spray, and it would be pretty damn effective at stopping wackos too!
Cheers

Bear spray will dissuade both 2 and 4 legged varmints.

If you are not comfortable with a small firearm or can't carry due to regulations then you may consider a LuxuryLite Big Stick with his Needle Knife added as one of the sections. Great walking stick and and a couple of sections works well for blowing on the campfire.

http://www.luxurylite.com/ssindex.html

They also have some cool cots. If I hadn't taken up swinging between trees I'd probably own one.

I don't know about you guys, but I prefer to use a condom as opposed to bear spray, a gun, or a knife. Bear spray burns my junk too much, and I've never been a fan of the Bobbit, chop-it, lob-it approach either.

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Tenkara Guides