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A couple of points.
First, it doesn't matter what kind of patterns you get at 25+ yards, because if you are shooting that far away you're hunting, not defending yourself from a bear. It's only TV and movie bears that stand up at long range and roar before charging (there's probably rare exceptions to that...). Most real bear attack occurs when you enter the bears safety envelope of 15 or 20 FEET and the bear busts out of his bed or away from the gamey elk he's dining on and charges without warning.
Secondly, because (ideally), you want to make a brain shot, it's far more important that your shot charge shoots to point of aim than what kind of pattern it makes. I did some experiments with close range shooting (5-10 yards) with various buck shot loads and slugs, and for some reason (recoil?) most loads went several inches high. I was surprised because standard field loads shoot right under the bead. It would be bad news if one simply scored the top of a bears head and back instead of making a big ragged hole in the center of its face.
I do think that heavy buckshot (at the very close ranges we're talking about) would be sufficient for big bears. I carry a .45/70 GG, but that's just a personal preference. I think a shotgun makes a lot of sense for many people, after all, a shotgun is designed for quick, instinctive point shooting and this is what we're talking about here. If I was using a shotgun, I would just hinge the decision to use slugs or buckshot on what lands directly under that front bead at under ten yards. None of us are going to remember to hold "low" or "high" when a bear busts out of the brush and charges. You'll only get one chance.
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Keith
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