First off, forget about sidearm training, you are
NOT allowed to carry a pistol anywhere in canada, restricted firearms are locked down. You can take the gun from the gun safe to a range in a locked box with a trigger lock and the ammo in another locked box and fire it after faxing a permission slip back and forth to Nanny central. Getting caught with a pistol, even on your own ranch, can result in a lifetime weapons ban. Don't do it friends.
There should be some local in your area running the standard non restricted course. Restricted weapons are only for target shooters in Canada and you will not get one unless you intend to buy a range membership and only intend to get restricted weapons for putting holes in paper. That's ok though because most restricted weapons will just piss off a grizzly bear. To cope with grizzlies, elk and the most dangerous, a bull moose on the rut (look it up, they're much more dangerous than anything but a polar bear) you need something that's really frekin powerful.
Get either a 12 gauge shotgun with slugs (about 400 grain), which is way more powerful than a rifle at short distances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_slug or the good old fashioned Canadian gun, the Lee Enfield (.303 brit), which is a 177 grain bullet. I cannot recommend the .303 brit enough. You are allowed to use 10 round magazines in Canada because it is a bolt action rifle, ammo is common (even up north) and it'll kill a polar bear. It has an iron sight range of 1200 yards, and can push that to a mile with a trained sniper using it. This rifle, well a variant of it, was used by NATO as their primary sniper's rifle until the mid 80's. Mine was made in 44 and is indestructible. It is one of very few real Canadian cultural icons.
Personally if it was a gun for self defense and not for hunting i'd get a remmington 870 and always have slugs in it. But practice with it, the iron sights on the typical shotgun are factory set at about 100 yards, so yeah, practice with it.
Don't expect that you can just climb your way out of any trouble in the bush. Cougars can climb trees and take pleasure in murder. Furthermore, a Grizzly bear isn't your worst enemy in the bush, it's a moose. A bull moose on the rut will charge you.
I don't mean to scare anyone or to portray that i'm some sort of poacher or senseless critter murderer; I have never had to shoot an animal. I make lots of noise when I move through the bush, and make hooting calls a lot to make sure I don't spook anything. I am a steward of a large natural area and seek to have minimal impact on the land, to keep it pristine for future generations. But my right to self defense stems from the responsibility I have to protect myself and my loved ones, and thus I legally and lawfully carry firearms whenever I can. I encourage everyone else to do the same so that some city slicker from toronto can't take all our guns away. Use it or lose it.
