Van Daele observed that many Alaska bear encounters may not appear in Smith's historical data in instances where no person or bear was hurt. Alaskans often travel armed in the backcountry. Positive outcomes where a person deterred an attack with a shotgun blast directed over a bear's head may very well never get reported, he said. [More]Just like many DGUs against two-legged animals go unreported.
And out there, if someone just shot it and kept their mouth shut--and with the legal/financial disincentives against coming forward, don't discount that option--there's a chance no one would ever know, especially if it were off the beaten path--the carcass would probably be stripped to bones and scattered within a week.
Of course how you conduct yourself and your situational awareness matters. No one seriously argues a gun by itself is a cure-all, and just because you have an insurance policy doesn't mean you can drive recklessly. But to argue that a gun in the hands of someone who knows what he's doing makes no difference is just agenda-motivated nonsense.
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