I'll play troublemaker;
I've carried a .22 for many miles. Well, MANY.
All the stuff about not needing a gun at all is absolutely true.
Unless you need one...
And then, the power level of that gun is never going to be "too much".
I fall into a small number of people that have had to use a pistol for defense of myself tho admittedly it was not an unaggravated incident that caused the need {a hunted bear}. NEVER during the incident did I once wish for less power in my gun...
The point I'm making is this; With current land management practices in Washington State where the OP lives, the future appears that bear, lion and wolves MAY become more habituated in some areas and less skittish around people. IF that pans out to be the case and IF he goes down to an attack similar to what occured to the woman jogger in AK, more bullets, not less, and more power, not less, is going to be working in his advantage.
The likelihood of his need is small, admittedly, but if he continues to do the things he is doing, his chances of needing that pistol will be much higher than the need one might have who lives in, say, New Jersey, Connecticut, downtown Spokane or Minneapolis, and who rarely if ever gets into the woods.
A friend of mine stopped a lion attack with his old S&W M28. These things occur to those who LIVE here. They go unreported and never reach the level of significance to those who are members of the industrial legislative class or are members of industrial academia.
As with crime, it is easy to cite when guns were used to CAUSE a crime. But how many are used to stop it?
Stuff happens in the woods that many urbanites only think happens in fairy tales and Hollywood movies.
OP, be careful, and do your homework on the gun you choose, and best to you for being an example of physical fitness for those who can ues the encouragement to get out and DO IT.
