Sounds like you have a good life there in God's country. Many years ago I was walking a back country trail with my then wife and I became aware of a mountain lion tailing us. It wasn't that big maybe 70-80 pounds but I knew instinctively I had no chance against it. No gun, no knife, no nothing. I turned and yelled loud in it's direction and it turned tail and ran off. The next time we took a hike I was carrying a .38 snub nose and my buck knife. I'm no mountain man, that's for sure. I just liked to explore the back country of California when I was younger.