How do you deal with going alone innawoods without a gun?

I feel so defenseless against all the shit that one could encounter like dangerous animals or dangerous people. The pepper spray and knife is obligatory but it's low distance defense only.

It doesn't really help that my first outoorsy adventures were in the army.
That one time we heard something in the bushes and thought it was a boar. I was sooo glad to have a rifle on me at that time, even though it was just loaded with blanks. This experience really imprinted the necessity of a rifle in my mind.

Should I just go with a bow even though carrying it around is probably illegal as well?