The conversation is straying into bears. I've had a lot of conversation with son who spends time in Alaska. I finally got him to carry his 870. But the problem is, you tend to leave the long gun in the truck. I got reamed by an old Sergeant in VN in Thanksgiving 1966 for leaving my M-16 leaning against a tree 20 yards away while I took a dump.
A pistol is always on you - But no pistol will stop a Grizzly or Brown bear, or Polar bear unless lucky. The big caliber revolvers are so cumbersome and so recoil heavy that they won't help much even if you can get off one shot and their stopping power is really marginal no matter what the press says. I convinced son to carry a Glock 19 9mm with deep penetrating rounds. If he can get it out of the holster, at least he could fire 15 shots in 3 seconds with minimal recoil at 1 foot range and something might hit a vital.
All likely, and even pistols are taken off and stray away from someone on breaks and other chores, when out in the woods. There are though, many official fish and game department reports of defensively killing large bear with pistols and revolvers. It's easy to search, Greenland issues Glock 10mm to specialized frozen country patrols, specifically for polar bear defense. Practice, practice, practice, and hope for the best.
