I suppose the moral of the story then, bronko, is there's no good reason to go into insanely thick cover in bear country without one's handgun, or big-bore lever rifle, or shotgun with slugs at the ready. Even if you're on a rifle hunt and see an elk or deer you're after in such cover, chances are you're at a close enough range that you're best off using the handgun, instead.
I understand of course that bear loads are generally hard cast bullets not designed to expand, but is punching a well-placed .44 or .45 wound channel through the body of a deer or elk so unjustifiably worse than using a more hunting-suitable .30 cal bullet, especially when the hard cast round is dependable in case you run into a bear? That's a genuine question.