Just one thing to add. It is unlikely any weapon will protect you against a human predator. A predator always has the advantage of surprise: time, place, cover, etc. That is why serial killers are so effective. If I had in my mind to kill someone who had no idea of my intention, they would be relatively powerless to stop me no matter what my choice of weapon. If I was a good shot with any rifle, you would have no chance at all. Watch the Mark Wahlberg movie, "The Shooter"

Randy

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"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee" Is 43:2a "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble" Jer 31:9b

It may be unlikely but I'll never adopt the mindset of a victim. Predators tend towards prey.

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http://essaysofasteelheader.blogspot.com/

Bear spray works killer on POed dogs. My other pass time is cycling and dogs can be a real problem for cyclists out in the middle of no where so most of us carry a little something for that problem. So i suspect it would work good on wolves too although its very very rare in all North America to have wolves attack humans anyway if you check the stats. A growing problem seems to be coyotes mating with feral dogs and wolves who are getting quite aggressive, up here at least. They will take a calf far more often than wolves will and will come right in to ranch yard,they are far less scared than wolves and are becoming a real problem lately. Dont know too much about nasty humans i avoid them.
Doubt you would have a chance to use it on a big cat cause they usually stalk and attack from behind and one would not likely even know its there till too late.
I was born and raised in the back country miles from anywhere , i carry a whistle which will sometimes startle critters enough to scare them off and bear spray and a rather long blade just in case.
Never found any whistles in bear scat, just bells.

Personally, I like to pack light, but my Springfield 1911 in .45 has never seemed all that heavy to me. I have only had two altercations when fishing the backcountry, and both were in the parking lot at trail heads. One was a guy beating the crap out of girl who I kindly asked to stop and the other was me walking back to the car and hearing someone smash a car window and set off an alarm whole trying to steal something.

Funny story about bear spray- A friend of mine serving in Iraq asked me to send him a can to fend off the half wild dogs while on patrol- apparently they had a blown mission because someone had to shoot a dog while they were sneaking up on a suspected IED builder's house.

I believe the best protection is smart travel - i.e., good food hygiene, bear bags, cooking outside of camp, etc; however, I do think in heavy grizzly country there is a need to carry a gun.

The only gun I have found that is capable of both dropping a charging grizzly (and there is a case study of a gentleman who was forced to use it) and is light /small enough for backpacking is the Ruger Alaskan revolver in the .454 Casull caliber. This gun is called the Alaskan because it was made specifically for backcountry travelers in heavy grizzly country and its design was built around emergency bear protection and nothing else. Don't get me wrong, it will still come down to how quickly you can draw the gun and how accurately you can aim in the heat of the moment, but at least with this caliber gun you have a fighting chance.

Smith & Wesson used to make a very similar revolver in a .500 caliber (I believe), but I do not think they make it anymore.

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Website: http://www.backcountrymaven.com

The best fisherman is the one having the most fun!

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"The reverse side also has a reverse side"

jd_smith,

Have you been to Alaska or serious bear country in British Columbia? There is a reason that all of the guides and locals carry shotguns loaded with slugs. I agree bear spray is great and it's often all I carry in the lower 48, but I believe serious grizzly country travel (especially immediately post-hibernation in the spring) warrants carrying a gun. The objective is of course to never use it! This isn't an argument about which is more humane because it is highly unlikely that either will ever be needed.

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Website: http://www.backcountrymaven.com

The best fisherman is the one having the most fun!

RMT

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"The reverse side also has a reverse side"

jd_smith,

That certainly wasn't my intent either, and I apologize if the tone was inflammatory

I just thought that while on the topic of what type of backcountry protection exists someone should bring up the fact that at least one gun manufacturer makes a revolver purpose built for bear protection (mainly for Alaskan fishermen) in the backcountry.

I certainly don't condone people running around with handguns, nor the use of them. In fact, I might add that it is illegal to carry guns into our national parks and most state parks unless you have a carry permit and abide by applicable state regulation. BLM and national forest land is a different story.

Edited for correction: I was wrong. It is now legal to open carry firearms in all but about 20 of our 392 national parks following a law passed on February 22, 2010.

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Website: http://www.backcountrymaven.com

The best fisherman is the one having the most fun!