I had a brother-in-law, hunting elk with bow, bring down a charging bear with his bow...arrow entered just below the bears head. He had a bear skin rug made, and it was without blemish.
Fred Bear, of archery fame, carried a hidden .44 mag under his jacket while bow hunting, just in case. For his filmed hunts, he had a man with a rifle off screen, just in case.
I didn’t believe it until I read it from his own articles.