I am carrying the 357. I did not purchase another gun. The funny thing is that I did not think the 357 would fit in the hipbelt pocket on my Catalyst - I tried it with the pack laying in the floor and it seemed as thought the handle would stick out a little. But when I was wearing the pack I took the gun out of my pant pocket and slid it into the pack pocket and it fit. It fits just right as a matter of fact. I can't feel it, it comes out easily, and the bulge does not look like a gun. It was nice last weekend to have the gun. We passed two bears on the Bmt ridge near cherohala skyway and I felt better knowing that I had a chance. The funny thing is that when we were walking through blackberry thickets I was yelling 'hey bear' every once in a while and I think all it did was move them to brush at the side of the trail because when we got right beside them they took off crashing through the brush. It made my heart jump both times. The first one might have gotten shot if he had come at us - there was enough distance- but the second one was only yards away when it jumped and took off and I think it would have been too close for anything other than a scream.

In another month or so the hunters will be out moving around and I will face another challenge - the bears will be practicing avoidance, so I will not see them again until spring. But the hounds that chase the bears might be a threat to my dog. Many times I have been awakened by hounds in my camp at night. So I will have to worry that they might be agressive toward my dog. I sleep like a rock and he stays near me as far as I know - but he never barks at anything and he might go out to greet some hounds at night and get attacked. Just one more thing to worry about when taking a dog.

Thanks for all the input.