[RWebb]

44 is ineffective against a grizzly/brown bear

no pistol is -- unless you are lucky

to scare yourself really well, read Stephen Herrero, Bear Attacks

he is a prof. at U. Calgary who studies bears

otoh, a friend of mine [a museum prof. no less - often stereotyped as nerds] came down from climbing one time and found a grizzly in his tent eating up his food -- he got pissed, yelled at it and started wailing on it with his ice axe -- exit one scared bear

later, he said he thought it was a young one [2-3 years maybe] so it would have been easier to educate...

also the recent story of the guy who killed a mother bear with a big stick -- apparently a brown bear

maybe the bears swap stories about don't F with those primates...