Reinhardt, I bought my first rifle in Kodiak Alaska with visions of facing down Kodiak brown bears. I encountered one,once. I was waxing the deck of the PX late at night. I backed into a mounted specimen on display. I saw huge forearms stretching in the twilight. I screamed, ran and slid across the fresh wax and into the wall. All my encounters with wild animals after that have been rather anticlimactic. I enjoy firearms, but feel our unique american gun culture distorts things. Most people with a protective firearm blunder into situations out of subtle arrogance. I would have no problem taking animals in a survival situation. However, given a choice between 10 lbs of my personal rifle or a 5 lb sleeping bag and 5 lbs of oatmeal---;O)