I think all of us with more than one gun (or if we are needing an excuse to buy something new
) have played the Bear Game. It doesn't just have to be bears, of course. However we tend to load up to face some sort of calculated threat. It's not foolish at all. It's still very very unlikely. Let me be the first to admit that I am just as guilty as anyone of doing it
If I am hiking an unknown part of our little patch of dirt known as the Midwest, a 3" GP100 in .357 is my go-to. Packs well, shoots well, durable, powerful, etc.
If I am to do some impromptu sight seeing on a nature trail while on vacation, I'm perfectly fine with a 9mm single stack or even my pocket. 380. Gravel lined tracks don't require that I load for bear...when the nearest bear is 100 miles away
The only animal encounter that has ever startled me enough to start to go for my gun was when we stumbled upon a hungry coyote nipping at the heels of a doe while walking along the lake at my stepdad's cabin in the fall.
The deer shot past us and I could hear something coming after it, I thought we had spooked them bedding down for the day. The coyote came busting after it.
It alarmed me enough that I stepped in front of my 5 year old daughter and started to pull my micro .380 from my waistband. It wasn't needed...
My mother, ever the nature lover and standing an impressive 4'10 and 85lbs simple belted out, "Heyyy! Don't eat my deer!!"
The coyote sort of stopped in his tracks, looked at us, and bolted 180. I think we sometimes project our own human malicious tenancy onto nature. Generally, nothing out there in nature that will specifically "get" us for getting us sake. Most critters don't want to mess with the smelly, noisy, crazy apes that bumble through the brush.
I don't hike off the grid. I don't have the time for it and my daughter is a bit young for something like that. The worst thing I'll run into is a creep. Regardless of what he may be on, if I feel OK packing a .380 in the city then the same bullets will behave the same way out in the boonies. Mama Nature and I get along just fine. I respect her and keep my eyes open. It's our lowest common denominator of humans that I'm not so sure of.