During the frenzy over banning handguns when liberals were using the argument that "you can't hunt using a handgun" a friend of mine who is an avid sportsman explained this to me. If you fire a shotgun or rifle at a buck (or a bear) and don't take him down, you may well find yourself facing a charging, wounded wild animal coming at you, and there's no time to reload. So you better have a sidearm at the ready.
That sounded like sound advise to me.