44 Magnum load for dangerous animals?

The best precautions to take while traveling in bear country are to carry pepper spray to repel the animal and attach a small bell somewhere on you person such that when you are moving the bell will ring. This will keep you from walking up on a bear by suprise and allow it to hear you from a distance and move off. Since back bears and grizzlies have such different agression levels it's also useful to know what kind of bears are in the area you are traveling through. This can best be assertained by observing any bear scat you may come across. Black bear scat usually consist of seed hulls, vegetable matter, and rodent fur, while grizzly poop is usually full of little bells and smells like pepper.
 
I have a S & W Trail Boss w/3" barrel and my friend has a Mountain Gun. We chronographed the 320 gr. Cor Bon load out of both. Factory rating was 1250 fps (6" barrel, I assume). Trail Boss averaged 1075 fps and the Mountain Gun 1150 fps. Lots of recoil, but they hit the steel plates with some serious energy. On paper, within a few inches of point of aim (guns previously sighted with hot 240 gr loads). No extraction problems or other signs of stress. This is what I carried in Alaska on two trips a few years ago. However, it was merely backup for pepper spray (www.guardalaska.com) and a Mossberg 590 with 3" magnum Brennekes.
 
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