“Mostly if you’re moving and reasonably noisy you’re fine.”
Sorry, but you could be dead wrong, as was the cute female who was attacked from behind by a predator in a similar park in Canada.
Predators lost their fear of man when we lost our constitutional right to defend our life under the Endangered Species Act, and the numerous regulations of the Armed and Rangerous.
Once beasts lost their fear of man, a fear induced by gunpowder, they reverted to their age old practice of killing and eating humans.
“When gunpowder speaks, beasts obey.”
Broadly I agree with you, and in fact firearms do manage to supply the most peaceful means of coexistence with other species, especially cannids, who are smart enough to react. The real challenge in Glacier, however, is to be able to carry a firearm big enough to reliably take down a Grizzly or a moose and be able to deploy it quickly enough to be any good to you. In the average bear attack that's about three seconds. I can draw and present a .45 in an open-carry scenario in that time, but I can't dig my .41 magnum out of my backpack. With bear spray it's a reach down to the nozzle, I don't even have to unholster it. Some guy killed a Griz with a .45 last week but I'm thinking he was an awfully lucky feller, myself.
I'm all for a tiered defense system, myself, and I most certainly do carry now that it's legal. Notice to lurkers - I NEVER NEVER did so when it wasn't. Officer. ;-)