Seems to me there's a bit of a spectrum between a hunting-handgun cartridge, and one more optimal for defense. I think the big-bores shine when you have the initiative - when you're taking the shot at a time and place of your choosing. You'll still get pass-throughs well beyond 100yds on most game with them, broadside. Not sure I'd want to do that with even a 10mm from a handgun, let alone an EDC cartridge.
Defense wise though, relatively few bear attacks are absolutely out-of-the-blue ambushes measured in single-digit yards. My priority is balancing accuracy with speed - to hit an off-switch in the brain or to shred their nose/jaws/face. It's not landing just one or two deep, big, lethal hits that put a bear on a 15-45 second bleed-out death timer. I genuinely would rather have 4-10 9mm rounds out of my EDC in their face, brain, and spine than one 500 Linebaugh slug passing deep from shoulder to ass. If you've done any bill-drills with your EDC gun, you have a good idea of how many rounds you can get into an 8" circle in just a few seconds.
There's always a bit of "what-if" internet conjecture with something like this, but the one place in here where there's something of a crossover of interest, is that short-distance ambush. A situation where it might be contact-shot distances by the time I can clear the holster, or where getting mauled and slammed into the dirt and brush might make a semi-auto less optimal. Especially if one-handed shooting is necessary. That keeps bringing me back around to thinking of a 6rd 45LC Redhawk double-action as being a viable balance between all of these interests.
