I lived in Alaska for four years, was an assistant guide for a while and guided fishermen and a few hunters. I carried a .44 most of the time until two Alaska game wardens showed up at Tommy Ray’s taxidermy shop with a brown bear killed in a self-defense shooting. that bear’s face, but particularly his chest, looked like he’d been in close proximity to a grenade blast. When I asked them, “What the hell did the guy shoot him with?”, they responded, “A shotgun” and proceeded to tell me that a shotgun, at close range is a great defense against bears. I added a stainless Remington 870 Marine to my arsenal and carried it religiously after that.
As an interesting aside, although I saw more than my fair share of browns while guiding or fishing in Alaska, I never had what I would call a dangerous encounter. I can’t, however, say the same thing about black bears. They tended to be very, very curious and got way too close on too many occasions.
My impression is the “Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up” system is used in Alaska for too curious black bears. But no shovel.