I have killed deer, grouse, snakes, and porcupines with 45 ACP, 38 Special, and .22 Rimfire revolvers on the trail during my 35 years of hiking and woods rambling.
I killed a mountain lion with a 300 Weatherby once, and was glad to have such a powerful arm, but I have tried to stalk them since then carrying a 220 Swift, and would do it with a 22 Magnum lever action rifle, but not a 38 Revolver.
My experience has me carrying a light rifle more often these days. T/C Carbines can be built as light as 44 ounces in 35 Remington, a serious cartridge for any of the mentioned purposes.
Most of my hiking is in the Siskiyous Mountains, and the nearby Marbles and Trinitys.
On long hikes I often carry my Taurus Ultra light Model 85 38 Special. The reason is because weight becomes burdensome on long hikes.
For day hikes I like my Model 625 in 460 Rowland, I loaded a pile of Speer shot capsules up with number 12 shot years ago, and one of them travels in the number one position. Number 12 is the bomb on snakes.
I think the next trail gun I buy will be a Kel-Tec PMR-30 in 22 Magnum. Then I wouldn't have to carry any extra ammo.
