I think the 2nd time the sow attacked him he did reach for the handgun but it wasn't there and he saw it laying on the ground out of reach. He eventually was able to get it after she left after the second attack, which was too late. I can't believe he stopped and took pictures of himself and sent them off to his friends before he got in the truck to go to the hospital. They said afterwards he had 3 more bear encounters but nothing became of them.
2nd attack was hundreds of yards away IIRC. Why would the gun have been on the ground? But you never know.
As I recall, he lost the gun on the first attack but didn't realize it. I can see how that would happen after going through something like that. When you see the bear coming again, and reached for the gun, that's when the panic is going to hit. He was a tough dude for sure, to go through all that and still walk back to the truck.
