cj,and omaha your right a .22 is gonado nothing more than irritate the bear I know this from experience but it normaly will intimidate them if you don't hit them and scare them away like sunil said it's better than nothing. plus if i do meet a drunk or high tresspaser witch i have met before you never know what they will do. i might of mentioned this before but we also have bad snake problems this summer while digging the pond i killed 5 copperheads. and i did have them confirmed as copperheads. thanks for the advice maby i do need to invest in a bigger gun.
