I rarely carry a handgun because I almost always have a rifle on me.
I do put a handgun on to clean a moose or such, but only if by myself.
Wife carries a glock 20 these days. Because she doesn't hunt, no rifle, but accompanies me all the time.
I wouldn't be to worried about it. MOstly using your head and having a rifle is going to be more important than the handgun.
That being said, i suspect if one was on top of you munching, a handgun if you could reach it at that poitn, couldn't really hurt antyhing.
And when we are not hunting, we both either carry Glock 20s or a 329PD in 44mag.
But as noted, better to carry something you can handle. It took Carolyn a while to get used to full power 10mm rounds and she shoots a bit now to stay proficient. Thankfully she just made the 20 her 24/7 carry gun down here, so will be even more familiar with it.
The other thing she will be carrying at times is a 50 beowulf AR15 with 400 grain hard cast if I can get them where I want them... shorty AR.
