I usually carry a S&W 329 PD whenever I'm out in the woods. It's a scanadium framed .44 mag thats BRUTAL to shoot with my max-power reloads. BUT, with .44 special rounds, it's really quite a pussycat.

My daily carry gun around town is a Glock 23 (40 S&W caliber). Great gun, one I definitely trust my life with. IMHO the 9mm just isn't enough of a stopper. I've got a suppressed Glock 19 (9 mm) that I've shot a pile of pigs with and most of them just keep right on running like I didn't even hit 'em. I find them dead at the bottom of my property, 1000 ft away. Not what I'd want on an angry cat. On the other hand, all the animals I've shot on my buddy's farm with a .44 mag haven't gone more than a few feet before expiring. Haven't tried the .40 on anything. I suspect it's performance would be right between the two extremes, though.