I thnk it would be 'okay' as an emergency back-up as long as it was of 6-shot variety so you can shoot 5 at teh bear and save one for 'just before teh final crunch'!!

In Texas the hog hunting rule for the .357 is that it will kill a hog, but he might not know he's dead. Watch out for that. I saw a 400 pounder take one very poor glancing shot from a 30-06 after killing 2 dogs, chase me and a friend back to the truck, pop both passenger side tires, absorb 6 .357 soft points fired from standing inside the pickup bed, then run about 30 yards towards the brush before expiring. I've also seen one .357 hydra shock knock a 315lb boars brain out threw his chin. It just depends on what you mean by backup. In the last 10 years I have had to defend myself from wounded hogs twice. Once in the incident above and once the year before last while turkey hunting(.41 mag). Most of the time I carry a 9mm auto or .22mag revolver as a backup specifically for finishing a crippled animal. Its a pretty safe bet that's all a man will ever need. But if you are talking about defending yourself in the brush from an angry porker, I would say as long as you are confident what you are packing will break massive bones use it.

Well if the long gun didn't do it, there's a big problem that most handguns won't be any better at. Personally, in a sef defense scenarion, I am going to use my .45 to fight my way to my AR!! Sort of like not taking a knife to gun fight. I still don't think a heavy loaded .44 or 45LC in a big Ruger is too bad for a back-up. My 300lb'er in Tennessee fell to a 350gr cast semi wadcutter from a 15" Encore 45-70 at ~65 yards---squealed and died on the spot. It is not moving any faster than my 285's from my 8 3/8 Smith.

Whitworth, did the piggy get the hair to stand up on the back of your neck? Hehe

Where in NC?