Bear are really amazingly stout, even the small ridge runners like I've shot. I've killed 9 and maybe they all piled up on the scale would balance one big whopper from Alaska. Maybe my side would slant down a bit more.

Seriously, the pepper spray thing as RIPP says is PC Bravo Sierra all the way, and I am not tossing rocks at pepper spray. It is nasty stuff.

But there is no way I'd trust my condition to spray. Both? Sure!

Truth is, a .44 Mag failed me, and still I'd rather it over the spray, tho both wouldn't be overkill IMO.

The 10mm is fine, but the .44 is a much better caliber.

As for hitting a bear in the head with a handgun during a fight, good luck.

The violence and speed of a bear attack is not going to provide the ideal scenario to stick one in the mellon. Having been there in that regard, I know it. But a good Keith-type bullet driven hard should disrupt tissue and drive deep enough to hit CNS if it is in the way.

Which it might not be, in which case you are a statistical curiousity.

I had the hounds and my 14 year old son to back me up on a fast, furious fight with a small bear.

Pistols suck.

Rifles rule for bear, and good shooting isn't icing, it's what kills and keeps rounds expended to a minimum.