Other cases may vary. Back when I rappelled out of helicoptors for the gubmint, one of my crewmates was scouting our hike out and got eyeballed by a cat. He had a shovel and a radio. He was out of radio range. That cat stalked him for the hour and a half it took him to get back walking backwards. If he made eye contact and waved the shovel and yelled, the cat either moved back or stayed put. As soon as he had to break eye contact and not present such a threat, the cat moved on him. He finally got into radio range freaking out and I rolled over down into that draw with a Stihl O44 screaming at full throttle (didn't have a gun, best I could think of). That cat didn't bail until I got 10' away from him, and even then, reluctantly.
He also lurked us our entire hikeout, about 7 slow miles thru slide alder. Given the option, I'd have shot that fucker between the eyes.