It is. There is no feeling quite like knowing you're being stalked and hearing that occasional rustling - was that the wind? - oh, my gracious no, nothing like it. And that atavistic mental connection with ten thousand years of predecessors who didn't have the comfort of a nice Smith & Wesson at their side.
Sometimes it's your imagination. Sometimes not. ;-)
I wouldn’t go into bear or cat country without my Marlin and Ruger .45LC. I’m reminded of a Gary Larson cartoon, two large gators basking on their backs in the sun on a riverbank, digesting a couple humans they had for lunch, w/ caption:
“That was great! Soft and pink, no horns or hooves.”