I know what you mean. Around here,, steep ravines are quite common. I could relate MANY, MANY hunting stories of deer recovery that were serious WORK! And yes, around here,, a bear is even harder. Bears like the extreme places all too often. Last year, a friend killed a bear that dressed 585. It took 6 men, 2 days to get that bear out. Johnny told me that if his son ever killed one in that area again,, he'd take him to the woodshed, no matter how big it was. I've seen many bear hunters tree a bear in a place that they knew it'd be very hard to get one out,, so they left it alone, calling it a successful hunt, w/o killing it.
Two seasons ago, I arrived at a spot where the dogs were following a bear, and I just missed seeing the bear. But watching the dogs, who were on the bears trail, and not too far behind him, amazed me at the cliff the bear took to run from the dogs. They ran to a spot, hung up, because they couldn't climb the way the bear had. Only 3 dogs out of the pack figured out a way around the cliff to strike the bear again. We had to catch 4 other dogs at the bottom of the cliff.
So, yes,, even i f I had shot that bear,, I knew I'd have a job getting him out. My helper & I discussed it a bit, and I said; "I don't know if I have a long enough rope to use to pull him back up that ravine." I would have tried to use my truck for recovery in that spot. Still,, it is a point of discussion among hunters here.