In all the time I have spent in the woods I have seen a bear only a handful of times, and a Cougar only once (very brief). Moose in the rut are more of a danger here, as they will gladly stomp you if you get too close, but even that is very, very rare. My biggest concern often comes from one of the smallest creatures we often encounter in the woods. Bees and wasps. Seems that there is a huge increase in the amount of these here in Alberta. They are absolutely EVERYWHERE. I've been in the woods hunting with all my fancy gear thinking that my 12ga 3 inch solid copper slugs would protect me from most any type of animal, and then stumbled upon a hidden wasp nest only to find myself running and screaming like a little girl and flapping my arms like a bird trying to get away from the relentless little B@#T%&dS. I am a fairly good shot, but not good enough to take out 100 angry bees or wasps on the run with a shotgun. I hear about more people dying in the woods because they get swarmed, or even due to allergic reaction etc. I consider this a far bigger threat to my survival in the forest than animal attack. Does any one here have tips on avoiding Bee/wasp/hornet attack ??