Karelian bear dogs make an effective line of defense as well and never fall into a false sense of hope that wildlife is cute and friendly.
.
Having been the proud owner of a Karelian bear dog he served well both for bears and cougars,living in California cougars are more of a threat/danger than bears but dogs are a great determent
and a better early warning system to both as predators choose "low hanging fruit" and will tend to move on to the next camp rather than argue with a determined dog,and if they choose a confrontation
THEN you can use the Mossberg to "help" convince them to move on or use deadly force. If I camped where grizzlies/brown bears lived I would being more than one dog,for the dogs safety.
We NEVER venture into the wilderness without our dogs.
As an afterthought I fear human predators more than animal predators when I am in the boonies,but that being said the dog/Mossberg system works well for both.