I'd carry a G20 in brown bear territory. Easier to carry and shoot fast and accurately. That being said, in the UP when I hike, my first line of defense is bear spray and I have a J "just because".
I have both a Desert Eagle and a Toklat.
The Desert Eagle is a MKVII, a slightly smaller and lighter predecessor to the current model available in .50. It is intolerant of limp wristing, but in .44 the recoil isn’t severe. Much like a 1911 with a hot 10mm. After I found a cartridge it liked, I haven’t had any malfunctions in the 500-700 rounds I’ve put through it since. Even with single hand/ off hand shooting.
The thing that sells me on the DE over the Toklat is that I can get off 2 rounds of .44 for every 1 round of .454 (accurately). Having 9 rounds of hot .44 behind a SA trigger isn’t a bad plus either. The DE in .44 is a very controllable magnum pistol, but one that requires matched ammo and a shooter that understands the gun. Each DE I’ve owned has been an individual.
A Toklat will always go bang, and will eat everything.
I do trust both with my life. In northern Michigan I typically have the DE in a shoulder rig (the weight doesn’t bother me). Out west, where there’s Brown bear to worry about, it’s the Toklat. Even with the bulkier gun with less capacity, the .454 is a sledgehammer.
Meh, .22LR will save you against the bear.
Assuming you shoot the guide in the leg allowing you to outrun him. Or your hunting buddy. Or soon-to-be ex-wife. Whatever floats your goat.
Trustee
one of my old grad advisers had a story about taking his revolver on one of his alaskan fishing trips, and having new yuppies make fun of him for carrying a gun.
then one of the yuppies had his fish stolen right in front of him by a hungry bear
suddenly all the new yuppies wanted to be his fishing buddy.
not really helpful to the thread, but still a funny story (i think).
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