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Running Arrow Bill wrote:In any event, any serious outdoor activity should include proper equipment, pre-planning, and in wilderness areas some type of firearm for the occasional, if not rare, with a bear, cougar, etc.

That goes without saying.... but you have to understand that there are tens of millions of people who enjoy the outdoors who are not gun owners. They may not even be anti-gun. Guns just aren't a part of their lives. Guns aren't on their radar.....so it just doesn't occur to them to carry one along. But those same people may be otherwise experienced and well-equipped outdoorsmen. Sure, given what I know today, I would urge such people to bring along a firearm, but I'm not going to heap scorn on them because they don't.

Honestly, I'm not that worried about bears and cougars. I'm worried about other humans. Bear threats can be managed by proper food storage and disposal, and cougars will rarely ever attack a pair of humans. But human predators are truly dangerous.

The OP's comments are tripe. I have known lots and lots of conservative outdoorsmen. Like Texas Dan Mosby said, a self-reliant personality is not confined to one particular ideology. Furthermore, where do you draw the line? Today, I wouldn't dream of backpacking without taking my .44 magnum along, but Uncle Ted Nugent hunts dangerous game with a bow and arrow. I know someone else who hunts hogs.....get this....with a knife. I think they are all crazy. But I don't think they "get what they deserve" if they get hurt. Yes, you could say, "well what did you expect?" to someone who gets hurt, but I still have some kind of compassion for them if they do, and frankly, that is not a part of my character makeup which I care to dispense with. Compassionless people are simply irritating in their smugness.

Long before I ever became a gun owner, I once backpacked the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. It was just me and my (now ex) wife, and the year was 1974. The only weapons we had with us were a hunting knife and a hatchet, and the hatched wasn't brought along because it was a weapon. I certainly didn't think I was invincible. It's not that I deliberately decided not to bring a gun along, it was just that it didn't even occur to me that I might run into any danger where a gun might be necessary. It's not a sense of invincibility so much as it is simply a naiveté about what kind of dangers you might face. At the time, I wasn't worried about wildlife, and I didn't really think I might run into other hikers. As it turned out, we did run into 2 guys and a girl together about a week out, who were returning to "civilization." They were, quite literally, backpacking naked. If they had weapons, they sure didn't have any place to hide them which were quickly and easily accessible.