Fair point. Supposedly there are two bears per square miles in the Smokies. Every backcountry site has a steel bear cable to hang up your food and odor things. Last summer I was 10 yards away from a 300 pound bear. Fortunately, I was with a couple people and we all made noisy, threw rocks near it (didn't hit him), etc and he eventually ran off. The fact he didn't run off immediately had me freak out! This was at a shelter too and the next morning we began our ascend to the second highest peak in the Smokies and there were fresh bear scats. That bear hangs around that shelter!!! Since then, I've backpacked and dayhiked a few times and haven't had a encounter. I did see tracks and scats, but no flesh.

To get back on topic, I do have a shotgun I use for duck hunting and my dad carries, but it never cross my mind that I need one for backpacking other than the random erroneous thought I previously posted above. I have heard stories out west that wolves can be aggressive in the winter months, but out here I've never seen any in the wild, just tracks. Bears are only major animal I have to be super cautious about and I have better chances of getting hurt walking than an aggressive encounter.