It's been 20+ years since I hunted bears but the guys I used to hunt with pretty much all carried a handgun of some sort when they were drivers and switched to a rifle when they were standers. That was back before the short/lite/compact rifles (other than the 94 and 336) became readily available.
For those on Facebook, the Falls Creek Fire Company is a check station, they have a bunch of photos on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Falls-Creek-Volunteer-Fire-Department-108068245910488/Dale
