This story has certainly made the rounds in the hunting world. It's been beaten to death in those circles. At the end of the day, it was what he had on him at the time. His success is absolutely in no way an endorsement of the 9mm as an effective "bear gun". The only reason this story has gained so much notoriety is because he prevailed with such an unlikely weapon. "Kids, do not try this at home..."
Some are, but they really don't have to be. "Hunting" revolvers, wherein one is carrying with the intent of shooting game, afford us the luxury of more weight, because we don't mind lugging one around while hunting. Out berry picking, or just general "woods bumming", most of us don't like to carry a really big gun that gets in the way of why we are out there, which isn't hunting. For that duty, such as berry picking, I carry what is actually a pretty lightweight, smallish revolver. I have several to choose from. They are still stuffed with pretty darn heavy loads, so recoil is definitely a problem. That is, of course, until one needs to fire it. At that point, recoil hardly matters in the grand scheme of things.
A few of my "bear country" revolvers. Carried not for hunting, but for berry picking, mushroom hunting, day hiking, back packing, and the like. Super Blackhawk and Model 29 in .44 mag, and a Blackhawk in .45 Colt. Not small by any means, but not all that intrusive to carry while doing other things. Plenty of power, each launching 300 grain cast bullets at over 1,200 fps when loaded with my "bear country" loads:
