I can tell you from personal experience that you are exactly right. A few years ago in Idaho I was walking alone on a remote trail near Granjean. I turned around, and a lion was about 10 feet behind me.
It went down to the ground and growled, staring right at me. I stood up as tall as I could - I'm 6"1" - waived my hat in the air, and yelled at the lion. It just stared at me and laid its ears back. The problem was I was stuck on a little piece of land surrounded by a deep creek, and I had to walk right by the lion to get back to the main trail.
So, I pulled out my Smith Model 29 .44 Magnum, pointed it at the lion between the eyes, and walked right past it while I yelled at it. I could have tapped the lion on the nose with the gun barrel. It just crouched and growled and kept staring, but didn't move.
It followed me down the trail for at least a 100 yards. I kept yelling and waving my hat. Finally it broke off.
So, yes, resist, yell, waive, aim your gun well, but DON'T RUN.
Agreed. I came across a cougar for the first time last week. I was scouting out areas to fish next spring and was heading back to my truck along a trail in the middle of nowhere when one came out of a thicket about 80 yard in front of me. I thought it was a deer at first, but after a second or so I said to myself wow, that's a big cat! I froze as soon as I saw movement (long time hunter), so I was able to watch it clean itself on the trail for almost a minute before it saw me. When it did, it laid its ears back, and crouched. Without a second thought, I charged it - I don't even remember thinking about what I should do - I just acted. It took off like a bolt of lightening. I was damn glad it did too, because I really didn't care to tangle with it, and my 7' ugly stick wouldn't have been much help to me. He wasn't that big - maybe 110-115 lbs tops - but I'm not going back to that area again without my .357 or my labs.
So, yes, resist, yell, waive, aim your gun well, but DON'T RUN. Also, yelling will help clear that throat that is stuck to itself, and relieve some of that "tension" dripping down the middle of the back and out the shorts. :-)