Which is one reason that many people in bear country carry both a handgun AND pepper spray--if for some reason they can't carry a long gun.
One of the more interesting stories from here in Montana took place maybe 10 years ago. A couple of guys were out bowhunting in notorious grizzly country. One guy had a handgun (I believe a .45 Auto) and the other had a big can of pepper spray.
They chanced upon a mama grizzly with cubs and she started acting aggressive. Apparently she didnt actually charge but the guy with the .45 got nervous anyway and started blasting away. He hit her once or twice, neither fatally, and then she did charge, and got him down and started chewing on him.
The other guy ran up with his pepper and sprayed her in the face until she left. Then he got his partner semi-patched up and out to the vehicle and to a hospital.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
