Last year in camp some guys asked where I was hunting and I told them and they said that two weeks before someone had a bad incounter with a bear there. There have been more and more bear / mountain lion sightings where I hunt. I can only imagine having a bad incounter and having the thought of "I wish I had my gun" running through my head the whole time; that would suck. I think I might be packing the .45 this year. I have a CCW, I'll conseal the weapon and only use it in an emergency. I know its technically illegal, but it will be worth it if the worst would happen to occur.

In the late 1970's my dad had a prized collection of coon hounds. He took a couple of the dogs out one night for some coon hunting. The dogs were on trail when suddenly the stopped baying. A few minutes later they were by his side, whining and wouldn't leave him. He was getting peeved when he heard a chilling scream pierce the cold november air. He quickly scooted out of the area but the screams got closer and more frequent. The screams were right behind him when he made it back to our house. He opened the kennel and released all the dogs. He heard more screams then a nasty fight. He ran into ther house called my uncle and grabbed a shotgun and was gone. The screams had stopped and he eventually caught up with the dogs, they were all bloody and two were missing. He and my uncle searched diligntly the next three days but never found a trace of the missing dogs. They did come across a bunch of blood next to a pond about two miles from our house. He went coon hunting again a few days later and never heard the criiter, or whatever it was again. He carried a blackhawk .357 from the night until the day he died.

That is what that toilet paper thing is, I was always afraid to describe my finger going through the paper! Hey thanks.