Lets look at this without getting into a morality play or legal trial. Your party seemed to have had a 'mental template' of bears behind every tree, and pretty loose definitions of 'bearness.' You say you've shot for years, but at what? Paper targets are a lot different than Cape Buffalo. Your sister panicked and you did too. This is natural, part of our reptilian brain that kicks in when our higher functions don't have time to sort things out. Now to the people on horses. I don't know if they were Forest Service, but they were no horsemen. Hailing a camp is a time honoured tradition with very serious reasons and benefits. To approach a camp with superior vision and not give a holler is asking for trouble. Ask any policeman what the most dangerous call is or a Coast Guardsman who are the scariest people on the water. They blew it, whoever they were. I'd read up on bears, keep the firearm or repellant on hand 24/7 and remember the mantra " keep your finger off the trigger until your eye is on the target." Somehow I wonder if a bear wasn't up the trail having a laugh at you all <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />