I'd use a 10mm in cougar country and get a .454 for griz TBH.
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Ya I was leaning to a s&w .44 initially. Generally I think there’s a school of thought of handcannon and 1-2 shots vs more rounds off and good enough load. Reports of encounters where the handgun mattered tend to vary b/t .357, .44, 10mm bear load, etc.
But, there’s a guy in an Alaska on YouTube who did a comparison of all the usual rd/weapon combos suggested, 10mm bear load + Glock 20 (what I use) did the best. I was comfortable with Glocks already so that’d wrapped it.
I'm not a gun expert by any means btw.
The round size you’d need to drop a bear quick basically implies you should hike with a rifle. So if you can’t do a single shot approach that makes sense (ie hike with a rifle), multiple shots with lower recoil and suitable bear load seemed logical. Then YouTube Alaska guy did all the ballistic pros/cons too.