I live in the mountains and have interactions with lots of big predators, bears during the summer months and coyotes, wolves and Mt.Lions the rest of the year. I also have horses that I am quite fond of, and so have a pretty low tolerance of the afore mentioned predators in my pastures. Any time I leave my house I am armed. It much more convenient to carry a handgun of some sort than a rifle.
Over the 60+ years I have been a handgun hunter my choice of side arms has "evolved", the usual choices, .357, .44 magnum, and then in the late 70s the heavy loads in the Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt. I lived in Alaska for 22 years and the only bear I had to shoot I killed with a Series 70 Colt .45ACP .
This brings to mind just how much is enough for a trail gun. Most of the people who venture forth into the "wild" places do so only rarely and for a few days at a time, unlike those of us who live in the forest.
I believe that we have been conditioned to believe that bigger is better, which in reality may not be the case. Currently there are handguns that produce kinetic energy levels that approach those of many centrefire rifles. This comes at the expense of some pretty significant recoil and muzzle blast, that in real life instances may preclude any quick accurate follow up shots.
Handguns rank far below the effectiveness of rifles,but if that is all you have then shot placement and penetration is far more significant than kinetic energy and bullet diameter.
Here are some links to reference material.. http://www.marksmanshipmatters.com/d...with-handguns/
https://www.ammoland.com/2018/02/def...#axzz5UftzpLc2
What makes a good trail gun? Anything you are comfortable with, and that you shoot well. These days I find myself out on the trail, which is every day, carrying one of my 9mms loaded with upper end cast bullet loads.
The bottom line is that you do not need one of the "wrist breaker" magnums, any of the traditional self defence carry guns will suffice.