Hey buddy, when it comes to protection against the critters we have in our back yard i think you would be better off going with at the minimum of a .357 mag. I pack a 44 mag myself, but the minimum i recommend is .357, especially if you are going to be spending any time at all in the Cabinets or the Yaak.
Some other choices you can look into are the .45 long colt, 454 casull, or the 44 special even, but i wouldn't go any smaller then those. And make sure you add a can of bear spray to you day pack. The stuff absolutely works, don't let all the jokes about it disuade you from carrying it.
The nice thing about it is it also works real nice on cats too, had to use some on a big cat one time when i was fishing the river below the falls. It works, so pack it.