In the 1970s I spent some time living and working in Alaska. I did field work on scientific instruments in remote areas. We carried a 375 H&H for bear protection and I also carried a .44 mag pistol. When we were working the 375 was generally leaned up against a tree but the 44 was always on my person. Thankfully I never had a close encounter with a bear as we made a lot of noise as we landed the helicopter. There was one large bear on the Alaska Peninsula that stood up and waved at us as we flew about 100 feet off the deck. I think he was just inviting us to dinner. The pilot told me he did not want to develop engine trouble anywhere around that bear.
My brother lives in Juneau and his deer rifle is a .416 Remington Magnum. He hunted Brown bear once with a 300 Win Magnum. He told me that when he saw how big they were he backed off and bought a 375. We hunted Dall Sheep 11 years ago north of Tok and my sheep rifle was a .338 Win Magnum. My sheep loads were 200 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and they did a fine job on the ram I shot. I also had a few 250 grain Nosler partitions on hand just in case. The one bear we saw left the area when she winded us.
