I have alittle differant situation now, I no longer live in Tennessee. I am now living in the interior of Alaska. In the summer time I always have a .338, .35, or 45-70 in my hand, or a 454 Casull on my hip.
Five years ago my partner and I were fishing on Beaver Creek. I was building a fire on shore while my partner was standing out in the stream fishing. Suddenly a Cow Moose came out of the brush, with a calf in tow. I was a bit disturbed cause I was down on my knees, and my gun was leaning against a tree where she had came out of the woods. The cow walked to within 15 yards of the fire, looked straight at me, then laid down in the grass. What do I do? Crawl away, get up and run, stay put and hope for the best. I chose the latter. I slowly put more sticks on the fire, and sat down on the ground. A few minutes later a Grizzly came out of the woods at the same location. The bear stopped before it was totally out from cover. At this point I moved, I crawled towards the water, where my partner had a pistol at least. My rifle was leaning against a tree beside the bear. The cow jumped up, I dropped to my belly and froze. The bear went back into the woods, and disappeared from sight. The cow continued to follow the sound of the bear as it circled around the clearing we were in. The bear came back into sight on the bank of the creek. It then crossed the creek, at which time my partner finally noticed something was going on. My partner came running down to the fire. As he approched the fire he saw the Moose and Calf, he then stopped looking for me. I was hidden in the grass from his view. I slowly sat up and he dropped down and crawled over to me. The bear walked up and down on the other side of the stream, looking at the Moose and the fire. The bear being down wind could smell us, and after a while it just sat down watching. The cow laid back down then. We continued to sit there till the fire started burning down. I decided to put some more wood on the fire, thinking if the fire went out the bear might come back across the creek. I slowly got up and walked back to the fire. I placed more wood on the fire, and sat down on a stump. My partner joined me, where we sat whispering to each other. After an eternity (about 20 minutes) the bear got up, at which time the cow got up. We got up, the cow looked at us, and we sat back down. The bear went into the woods, the cow continued to watch, the calf nursed, and we sat still, without talking. After another eternity the cow went back the way she came. I ran and grabbed my rifle.
That's why I now carry a .454 Casull period. On my person, or a rifle in my hand, never again will I be caught with out one. When riding the 4 wheeler I carry the pistol in a shoulder holster, cause the rifle is in a case and I can't get to it fast.