Anyone ever shot a bear?
I won't bore you with the details, we had a bear in camp at Rubicon Springs on the Rubicon Trail a few years back. It actually came up and rubbed it's nose on the wall of the pup tent that Machelle and I were in. Scared the bejeezus out of me, Machelle slept through it. At the time, all I had was a 3D cell Mag Lite in the tent, if it came to a wrestling match with the bear...I figured I could knock Machelle out with the flashlight and run like hell!
Since then, we carry a 4" .357 wheel gun. Neither Machelle nor I are real gun people, I figured a wheel gun was as stupid proof as you could get. We've gone to the range and put a few hundred rounds through it. Not what you'd call a marksman, but we can both hit the target. I've been told that a .357 is just going to piss a bear off. In my head, 6 rounds at point blank (or within 10 feet) ought to at least slow the damn thing down...that would give Machelle a chance, she's got a little hitch in her giddy-up since she broke her leg last year, so I think my fat ass can still out run her!
I'm not going hunting with the pistol, so I'm not worried about taking a bear at 50 paces with it or anything, just a last resort defense.