"With that being said you've survived an encounter w/o a firearm why do you fell the need now? Did it spook you or is this something you've thought about for a long time?"

I had a 17HMR at the time. I was walking along paying more attention to the game trail than my surroundings. I wound up being around 30 yards from a bear who started huffing at me and then actually stood up on his hind legs and starting smacking and clawing a tree and stared at me the whole time. I'm sure a few of you have had such encounters. They tend to stick with you for a while. Plus its a peace of mind thing.

Sorry for bringing up the same ol' topic again though, guys! I don't want to be known as "that guy" ha ha ha!