2C/1H,
Scoff as you will but a co-worker of mine saved his own like with a "pea-shooter" 357 mag on a caribou hunt in Alaska. Everyone gave him a hard time because he carried his pistol along with his 375H&H. Unfortunately the 4 of them (plus a guide) walked up on a sleeping griz, who stood up in a depression, popping his jaws and looking at the 5 of them (they were walking in sort of a horse shoe, with my co-worker in the middle). My friend slowy unlimbered his rifle and took a single step backwards. The bear instantly dropped all fours and went straight for him. He fired the rifle from the hip then, realizing he didn't have time to work the bolt, dropped the rifle, turned around and ran. He was a long legged guy but knew he couldn't out run a bear. When he didn't hear any shots from his buddies and could hear the bear grunting as it caught up to him, he pulled the .357 and just stuck it out behind him and started shooting. The bear was so close he hit it all 6 times. The last round hit the bear right between the eyes and drove his head into the ground. The bear never got up after that. Turns out he'd hit it in the shoulder, tearing things up pretty good. It was likely the reason he was able to stay ahead of the bear as long as he did. None of the .357 hits helped to kill the bear, they were all superficial wounds, including the head shot. He started carrying a .44 mag after that.
As an aside, he asked everyone why they didn't shoot the bear. They all said fhey were afraid of hitting him! He said, "Great, so you were all going to let the bear maul me?" At least no one gave him any ca-ca about carrying a pistol after that.
Also keep in mind that sometimes everyone on a hike or hunt *doesn't* come home.
Cheers,
crkckr