Don't Be Overconfident

It doesn't matter if you have guns and ammo. Eventually you'll run out of ammo, depending on how you use it and desperate people who have two options -- starve or get shot -- will prefer the latter. When there's nothing to live for, no one fears death and if people know you have food or something else they may want, they'll keep coming until they get it. Or at the very least they'll die trying.

Learn instead to be stealthy. Stay out of sight. And when you have to be outside make sure you no one sees you. It's the way to survive longer.

 

Standard practice is to keep a low profile, no sight, no smell, no shape, no noise, no trace!
At my first retreat in the bush regular PA access was to be two steel ziplines high in the trees!
With the cables over 20ft up in dense bush they were almost undetectable!
Just climb the right tree, and use the runner you carried with you or an emergency hidden one, hook up and cruise!
There was one line for in and one for out! plan was to rip up the regular access road and use the zipline for access!
keeping an emergency vehicle access if needed!
Tested it for fun sometimes !

 

Bravery is the worst survival tactic. There's a reason why wild animals are fearful and jumpy around other animals. It's because it keeps them alive.
So, yeah, guile and stealth are the best tools to keep oneself alive. Stuff that our society would shrugg off as paranoia are crucial in wild situations.

 

As @Correy said, "Bravery is the worst survival tactic." Being rational in some situations has nothing to do with cowardice. The ambitious will make stupid attempts and get shot down because of it. Rather, it's better to sit back and observe. Look at the samurai, for example. Bravery often got them nowhere. Or dead. If you want to survive, you need to be realistic in your endeavors.

 

I agree. Keep a low profile. Don't brag about what you have. If it's time to go, slip away quietly. Don't try to constantly be making contact with the world. Go about your business like any other day, as much as possible. Whatever is on the to do list, do it. Whether you are staying put or leaving, go about your business quietly.

 

I agree. You have to be smart and tread carefully knowing you're so vulnerable under these situations, you have to stay on the down low but be vigilant and prepared at all times. Overconfidence will no doubt be your downfall.

 

I have this scenario on my mind - in the mountain with a gun and with some food supplies that would tide us for at least a week. Yeah, we have to be stealth, hidden all the time. But before anything else, the supplies should be stored in an inconspicuous place so that when strangers come, they will not know. And the spiel would be that we are hungry and haven't eaten for a day so the strangers would not suspect that we have something. Also, the gun should not be seen unless the strangers would be acting in a threatening manner. And for the safety cap, the conversation should be positive and never turn to negative. In other words, I will try my best to be friendly with the strangers and even ask help from them.

 

Trust is necessary in any situation of risk, but the excess of it can be detrimental to making decisions, you must rely on oneself in such situations but do not abuse that confidence to thus have a sad end, many have been those who have been entrusted and many have been those who have perished for that reason.