in 1990, an obviously younger and in better shape me went bow hunting for elk in the bitteroot forest area on the Idaho/ Montana border near Darby. (near in this case is a subjective term) It was just me and my brother-in -law, no guide, no backup. We backpacked in and up about 8 miles from the trailhead where we left the car, which was about 20 miles from the ranger station. There was no gun, period. I had a Bear compound bow, 75 pound pull, 8 arrows, and two knives. We spent 17 days there. I could have shot a raghorn, or a cow elk, but 45 yards was my outside limit, and I never got that close to a bull.
There was considerable bear sign around, and we kept our food, which was MRE/ freeze dried stuff high in a tree. I had a bear tag, and when I spotted one at about 150 yards crossing a talus slope, I had to do some serious thinking . Did I really want to stick a pointy thing into an animal that could cover the distance between us in a few seconds and kill me before he died?? I watched him carefully disappear into the bush and went quietly the other way. I think one of the greatest thrills I have had in hunting was knowing that I was not the top predator in the field, that the bear had the edge on me. To hunt something that can hunt you back, that is sporting. The rest is basically just killing animals of relative difficulty to locate or afford.
There is a difference of course in hunting as a deliberate act, and in living in territory where dangerous animals live on a day to day basis, but I would have no problem with single shots. After all ,driving through north St Louis in an expensive car after dark is more dangerous by far.
