>>338901Yes.
I once heard someone say that hitting a charging bear in vital spot (in this case, brains) is like hitting a bouncing tennis ball because it moves up and down and comes at you very fast and the usual target, the heart and lungs, are behind lots of other stuff from that direction.
And all this can happen in a blink of an eye when you're not expecting it. Can you react fast enough? Can you hit a bouncing tennis ball when someone throws it at you from behind and yells "yo dude" without any warning?
So why vital organs? Because if you just wound it and wound it in a way that still lets it move, it is going to kill you NOT for food but because it sees you as a threat. Wounded animals are worse than healthy ones.
And how is this all related to pistols? If you only have time to shoot ONCE, you better have a round that penetrates a lot and does maximum damage even if it doesn't hit any critical area. Pistols are simply not powerful enough for this.
A large revolver might be useful though, especially as an emergency weapon in a situation where the bear pushes you to the ground and you can't reach your rifle or get it into good firing position when you're lying there. You can always grab the revolver from your belt, even if you're on the ground.
