I carry for a couple of reason:
1) being handicapped and not very strong anymore, I feel vulnerable
2) I have encountered two critters of which I'm pretty sure were rabid (a raccoon and a yote)
3) you can generally scare off a bear with a gun that has a loud report
4) the thought of coming across the wrong person
If a bear charges you, good luck if you think you can draw, aim, lead and fire hitting a vital area. I carry a Taurus 22 mag 8 shot stainless steel snubby revolver. The first 2 rounds are shot shells. That way I can shoot in just about any direction without concern of hitting someone. The energy dissipates quickly. And that gun is surprisingly loud. I also carry a whistle around my neck.
Normally my wife is with me when I fish. And she carries a spray bottle filled with ammonia. It shoots a stream about 8 or so feet. They don't like ammonia; when we sit on our cabin deck (aptly named the bear pen) and if one gets closer that we feel comfortable with, I spray and they get the message. A game commission officer also told us to keep hornet and wasp spray handy - the kind that is capable of shooting a 20' stream. I also have a shotgun handy, and that bang sends them running.
About 30 years ago, I was walking along Cross Fork Creek and there was a very large boar standing across the creek. And he stared me down and didn't move. I made minimal eye contact and I slowly walked away, just glancing back a few times. The young woman who was attacked multiple times last year while jogging in Michigan made the mistake of running.
We have an over abundance of bears on our mountain (which is located off Kettle Creek), and the problem is people who feed them. It is unnerving to have a bear step up on the porch while we are sitting on the deck, and if you do not disperse them, they will walk right up and take your food from you. And we had a sow with mange last year who tried 3 times on night to get in our door. We called her "white face" because she scratched most of the hair from her face. My wife freaked out when I was looking out the door window while white face was leaning on the door, looking in. Our eyes were less than a foot apart.
The scariest encounter I ever had happened last September on a rainy, misty evening. We were sitting on the porch around 9:30 and heard a loud crash in the woods right below our cabin. My wife said "what was that"? I told her it was either a bear or a large branch fell. No ten seconds later a large boar ran full tilt right at me (I was sitting at the edge of the porch, which is less than 2' above the ground). At that moment I thought I was a goner. But he blew right past me and kept going. I could have reached out and touched him Like a blur. My wife dumped her drink all over herself and ran in the cabin. Then I heard a sound below the cabin and knew right away what happened: The bear that ran past me tangled with another larger boar, and lost. So I got my shotgun and fired a round overhead in both directions. My heart still raises a beat when I think about that moment.
