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yea gun selection depends heavily on what you expect to encounter. no bears in illinois, and near the family place in WI bears are so rare that i don't ever expect to see one and would _never_ bother putting in for a tag. so what i'd be worried about is coyote and maybe the occasional cat. for that purpose 9mm is plenty. i don't often carry into my own woods but when i do i go with a 40. any premium defense round would comfortably dispatch the most likely thing i'd run into, a coyote. i'm still on good terms with my old girlfriend and want to get up to hunt bears with her brother well north in WI one of these years, so if i was going to spend some time up there i'd probably cave in and spend the money to go for the .44 mag sidearm, along with whatever rifle i'm actually doing the hunting with. wolves are making a pretty strong comeback up there too. ammunition selection's as important as firearm selection, if bears are what you're worried about you want to stay away from JHPs/JSPs from what i'm told and just go with the heaviest, slowest-expanding chunk of metal you can throw at them. and of course we should make the obligatory "shot placement is the most important thing" remark - once i get one of those chew suits they use to train attack dogs i'll try and bring a polar bear down with my .17 pump airgun to beat out mister long-rifle :P
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