Hmm... I'm surprised there's really much of a problem with meth labs on public land in the sticks there. Around here they're generally on private property, and there aren't many of those anymore.

I bushwhack off trail here all the time, and I prefer the more remote areas. I never run into pot fields or meth labs. I found the remnants of an old meth cooking operation one time about 15 years ago on public land. It was pretty close to a road and the site hadn't been visited in at least a year. They were probably there for one night, left their mess, and never came back.

Here, the local law and feds combine resources and fly all over looking for pot fields. They find a few each year, but not many, because there aren't many, and almost all of them are on private land.

So here in Missouri and Arkansas I never worry about going off trail on public land, and I have never felt the need or had any reason to carry a gun while backpacking here.

Of course, hunter's carry rifles and shotguns all the time, that' common here, but I've seldom met a backpacker carrying a sidearm. Honestly, there is nothing out there you need a gun to protect yourself from. Try as I might, I've never even run into a single axe murderer out there yet. Maybe I'm just too old for them now, but I never even ran into one when I was a teen, not even with my girlfriend along.