I’ve owned them both. The Ruger’s not the most accurate weapon out there - it’s a design flaw. AR carbines are cheap enough to warrant ditching the Ruger and going to one of those. But you can’t go wrong with anything designed by John Moses Browning. The .45’s right at the top of the list. If you’re good with yours, then that’s the ticket.
Frankly i dont know how accurate it is, never did anything more than plink with it, but it can hit a can at 100 yards over iron sites, thats probably all you need for the scenarios your envisioning. plus with a 30 round mag you get a couple chances. i guess in a pinch uyou cold use it to take small game, or even deer for food. as for ammo, been using the nato surplus green tip. what do you think of that? in any of these discussions, the issue of shotgun always comes up because of versatility. with different ammo you can do almost anything from self defense to birds to big game. problem there is weight of gun and the ammo makes it kind of prohibitive for a long hike. but if i had to grab and run, i'd take it. you can always ditch it later. also, what about the dog? take him along?