Bears: pistol beats rifle

[HANDGUNNER]

I have some advice on this. I have owned several hunting pistols and I didn't like the groups I was getting with the 44s I owned. I ended up swapping up a couple of times, going from S&W to Ruger, to a monster Taurus. They were all fine guns. I was getting ready for a guided bear hunt in the North Country. I lost money on practise ammo and trading in guns, but the one I ended up with shot better than the others. Long story short, the first night of the hunt a bruin comes in with two minutes of hunting time left. I can barely see my sights cause it got dark in the heavy cover. I take a shot and miss, shooting down from the tree stand and high, just over the bear's back. I didn't see another bear the whole week and went home empty handed and with an empty check book. I forgot about shooting down from a stand and the effects, (you gotta aim a little low.) The locals all told me I needed a red dot sight or a scope, (don't have to shoot low with either.) They all highly recommended the red dot type system. I probably could have outfitted one of the pistols I traded in with a good red dot for under $150 and shot better groups and saved a ton of money on trading in and wasted boxes of ammo. I would have probably stayed with my old 5.5 inch Ruger Blackhawk. So my opinion is buy a used blackhawk in .44 or .45 Colt (they are cheap around here, starting at $245.00 in decent shape,) and spend the money you save on a good red dot system. Just my 2 cents.