Have never had the opportunity to hunt or fish in the Griz's backyard... soon I hope if I can still afford gas! I love 45's for general self defense and carry either a 1911 or a 9mm 365 depending on what I am wearing but when it comes to thinking of if it were protection for something like a bear I would have my Glock 29... compact 10mm. It is very shootable and has a 10 round magazine... I don't imagine there is a bunch of time elapsing in a charge so 10 rounds would give me about as much of a chance as any.. Granted, anything that propels a bullet is going to be better than grabbing a stick, but I believe in dressing for the occasion and if I knew I would be somewhere that I could encounter a Grizzly, I would want to have the best option possible... in this case the 29 is what I currently have and I am confident in it.
I also have a few rifles and of course a shotgun or two that would be my choice if I was able to carry a rifle... the closet practical experience I have would be helping track wounded deer or hogs... usually with a pup that can blood trail and in these cases my preferred rifle is a Remington 7600 30-06 with an 18" barrel loaded with 220 grain soft points... it is about the best combination of power, accuracy, speed, and handling of anything I have ever had the chance to shoot at point blank type range... I guess what they call snap shooting which would be what I imagine we are talking about except with the added caveat of being the prey being hunted in a bear attack.
Havnt really heard any real hand experience regarding the 7600 being used though so it might not be a viable choice... just my two cents about what I have now that may fit the bill.
Don't recall who posted the actual report that documented some handgun stats in actual bear encounters... was an interesting read. Thanks for posting it.
If I was stranded in AK with just an air weight 22 kit gun I would feel blessed to have something, but I sure would "want" a little more horsepower!