Honestly if I ever find myself face to face with a bear I'm going to feel undergunned with anything less than a 7mm Mag ... and probably going to wish I had a Ma Duce.


That said, .357mag should be fine for 99.9% of your backwoods needs (frankly the limit of 6 or so shots will be a bit of a determent if you find some "free range weed farmers" which are a greater threat than bears or cougars.)

I have a S&W 29-2 that I keep telling myself I need to prep for backwoods, but honestly unless I'm going way deep into the woods where I feel the chances of meeting a bear are greater I'll probably stick with my .40 in the woods.

For cougars, feral dogs or feral humans it'll do the trick.