There is a point that needs to be made...there is a difference between hunting a large animal and defending oneself against the large animal.
Hunting is an offensive tactic...and an ethical endeavor. A hunter wants to kill an animal quickly and with minimal rounds...preferably only one. A good hunter waits or stalks, knows their capacity and the capacity of their firearm, and chooses shots with care.
Defending ones life and limb against an aggressive animal is a whole different manner. You want to treat a deadly aggressor, be it 2 or 4 legged, with a response to counter the attack and stop it. Period. And assume that, while a muzzle blast may deter an attack, the reality is that only hits count. And it does not matter how many hits it takes.
So in the end, the individual who chooses to go armed in the woods, much like the individual in the town or city, needs to have a firearm that can effectively deliver the needed “dose” of resistance to the attack.
I KNOW that in training (maybe not while off guard walking in brush), I can draw from concealment and deliver 6 rounds of 255 grain hard cast from my Glock 21 .45 ACP to an 8 inch plate at 10 yards in under 6 seconds. Not Taran Butler or Jerry Miculek level, and likely not near as well as many here can shoot, but If I had to use a .44, forget that performance.
I shoot Glocks a lot...mostly...and I’m familiar with them. I shoot them at the range, and I shoot IDPA and steel matches with them (mostly 9MM but I shoot the .40 and .45 enough to stay good with them) at least twice a month.
Paraphrasing on the credit card commercial...”what’s in your EDC holster”?
You carry and shoot an XD or a 1911 a lot? Probably makes sense to carry that gun in a larger caliber, as opposed to the hand cannon you break out once or twice a year and shoot a box or two a year through.
Shoot what you know. Ballistics only mean so much, as proven by Phil Shoemaker and his 7 round 9MM in the Alaskan woods...