His friend WILL NOT be "walking around the wilds of Alaska." He'll be doing assorted construction tasks on site......
And that is the reason I interjected moose into the conversation. They CAN AND WILL be hanging around his construction site.... bears too, but moose will be more common.
Not only "the wilds", more people have been attacked in their yards, bike trails, city parks, etc then the "wilds".
I spent many of time setting at a school bus stop guarding kids waiting for a bus, do to a moose or bear being in the area.
In the "wilds" the animals will hear you long before you hear or spot them and more then likely, they will leave.
But in urban areas, back yards, "construction sites" there is constant noise which they seem to ignore.
As you mentioned, your hands will be busy, carrying what ever you carry in your daily lives, including tools, making a long gun totally impractical.
SD against dangerous animals is not a whole lot different the SD against two legged bandits. You can walk around in your daily lives with your gun in your hand, but you can carry it in a manner where its instantly available if needed.
As an example, in this picture, I wasn't hunting moose, I was sorting out a weather related traffic problem. This guy (who was causing the problem) decided to charge my police car. I was able to instantly draw my service revolver and stop him.
In urban areas of Alaska, moose vehicle encounters are quite common. The vehicles will most likely be disabled. The moose will be injured and MAD. The worse case is when the vehicle hits a calf, his momma isn't going to be happy. One should stay in there vehicle if possible, because if you get out to examine the damage, you most likely will have to do with an irate mother.