Carrying a 9mm here for bears is ill-advised. You are right regarding a determined griz but a 10mm CAN put a a griz down (happens several times a year here) whereas 9 just can’t penetrate, especially late in year when they’re in hyperphagia (getting fat) and can be super aggressive. If the noise doesn’t break the charge you F’d…. A 10mm can actually stop them (mag dumps). My EDC is a 9mm, but not for the backcountry and don’t know anyone of us who carry less than 10mm. Ideally I’d walk around with 12 gauge slugs but that’s not realistic for what I’m doing out there.
Going fishing on the Gallatin later today… let’s change the convo 😂😂
A friend worked for the Forest service years ago, crawling around in the Alaska brush where the Brown Bears would leave half a salmon with the blood still squirting out and my friend having no idea where the bear was. They were required to carry 375 H&H Magnums suspended at waist level. Qualification was hitting a pie plate at 15 feet while shooting from the hip.