shooting experience???"s

[my_old_glock]

I guess its back to hiking in my tennis shoes...

Or with a Slower and Larger friend. Maybe take them to lunch at a BBQ place and "accidentally" spill BBQ sauce on their shirt.



.

[sqlbullet]

A 22 or even 17 caliber pellet gun is fine if you are hiking with a friend.  Just shoot them in the knee.

[Mr. AR50]

If I were limited to either an AR rifle platform in 5.56, or a handgun chambered in 44 Magnum, I'd go with the handgun. My regular carry for scratchy-bitey things in the mountains here in Colorado is a 4" barrel Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag with some 300gr. hard cast hand loads. That's enough to reliably anchor anything that I may encounter. A friend of mine who guides for hunters/fishermen in Alaska carries a lever-action Marlin Guide Gun 45/70 as his primary bear gun, and a Freedom Arms SA
revolver in 475 Linebaugh as back up.

[4949shooter]

My contacts in law enforcement tell me the Troopers in Alaska use 12 gauges with slugs.