Has anyone here ever encountered a cougar or a bear? On the weekend a friend and myself are going out to my grandparents' cabin to go hiking, deep in the forest in central Alberta. We've seen bears once before at the cabin, and there are prints every once in a while, but they're pretty timid and usually keep to themselves. But cougars concern us a little more, as we had our first sighting of one last year. So what I want to know is if any of you have had any encounters, and if so, how did you handle them? I don't want to go hiking and end up getting my face ripped off.