I know all about how many rifles like a .270 or smaller will kill a brown bear, especially if you have a great presentation, like O'Connor apparently did in that scenario. But, sometimes, you don't. And something like a .375 H&H or even a .338 Win will give you a lot better performance on a difficult shot on a big animal at a tough angle, for example on a big bear quartering away. And you might not be able to get a better presentation on that animal. And it might be the only ONE you see during the hunting trip of a lilfetime.
If I was an Alaska resident, and successful bear hunting was getting fairly routine, I could see going a little bit undergunned. But, if you're from elsewhere, and spend a zillion dollars on, and countless hours preparing for, what's posisbly going to be the hunt of a lifetime, I would recommend bringing something a little more potent than a .30-cal. That's just my opinion, and not to imply that some .30-cal or smaller options will not work much of the time. I got the .375 Wby to hunt with and am glad I did. I didn't want to be thinking about what .300 WM bullet would do on a difficult angle. It just made me less apprehensive having a hard-hitter with me.
