i know on my bear, using a hardcast on this hunt just wasn't in the cards for me so pushing an expandable pretty fast was what i felt was needed. on my shot in went throught the shoulder and the spine. i'm pretty sure one of double taps 44 mag hot barnes loads would've still got to the spine, might not have looked as neat chewing up going thru the spine and then the offside shoulder but the bear would've dropped. i'm pretty sure kyle's bear would've made it a touch further into the trees but if ya crank one thru the boiler room with a good 44 bullet that bear is dead. where the larger calibers really kept the bears from making the trees is on the shots gary and tj had over 100 yards. they were able to crumple the bears and stop them from making the trees and getting hidden from view whether they died or not. i can not tell you how nearly impossible tracking them in that mess could be. our guide was very very explicit when he told me, "i don't care what you shoot them with, we hear the bear made the trees and we just don't expect to see it again." so i took that seriously and wanted as much damage as possible with as flat a trajectory as possible but yes, i'd do it with a 44 or a 41 with the right bullets.