I have never hunted, nor do I have the intention of doing it. Furthermore, I have never fired a gun, yet from time to time I find myself in out of the way, very isolated places in pursuit of trout. At these places however, you run the risk of running into some wildlife that could present some danger to your well being. I have considered ?packing? when I head out with my kids, just as a means of protection, but the thought of killing an animal, even in self defense, does not appeal to me. Once again, I have never fired a gun, and due to my inexperience, carrying and attempting to use a gun in a moment of desperation could/would more than likely be a disaster. Were I to go this route, I would take all training required, and spend countless hours at a shooting range until I was fully confident I could use a gun safely. Success would only be measured when I had to use it to defend myself and family after killing a beautiful animal. Not exactly my choice.
My question is the following. Is there a tranquilizer gun out there in the market available to the general public? I would feel much more comfortable with such a thing. All I would be after is 5 to 10 minutes head start to get the h_ll out of the way, believe me, I could cover a lot of ground if I knew there is something out there chasing me.
I have asked around (hunters) and nobody is aware of such tranquilizer gun available. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe there is a market for such product, especially among those of us who just want to experience the outdoors without being mangled/eaten in the process.
Someone said, ?think of all the criminals that would get one to commit their crimes?, my reply was simply that if a criminal were to commit a crime, he would more than likely use the real thing, am I wrong?
Also, I was told, people would buy them to ?torment? the wildlife. I disagree, if the darts were on the pricey side (which more than likely would be), say $ 20 a dart, I can?t see too many people firing these things at $20 a pop just to put an animal to sleep for a while.
I understand a tranquilizer dart does not stop a bear/cougar on its tracks, but if I knew within 5/10 minutes I would be O.K. I could run around for those minutes until the dart did its thing.
I know about bear spray, but the thought of using it when a charging bear is 10-15 ft away is a bit too close for comfort. Worse yet, if one of my kids is attacked, I may not be 10 ft away to assist. Keep in mind my daughter is mentally handicapped, and while she loves the outdoors, she is 100 dependent on the decisions I make.
I love the outdoors, camping, fishing etc. And I would feel more comfortable if I knew I could protect my family if needed.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this idea has some merit.

Your comments please,
Saltamontes