Wow, what a hunt and what a story! You just can't put a price on an experience like that. For the record, I think you made the right decision on using the rifle. A .308 trumps any handgun round on the market when you've got a bear standing up while looking at you. Story may very well have ended differently if you hadn't used that rifle!
Im not to sure, At 4 yards, a 308 pointing, vs a 45 ACP with defense ammo aiming.
Either way, it obviously worked out because Im not bear poop right now, but hindsight being what it is, if I had pointed 4 inch's left or right that would have been a shoulder shot, not a center of windpipe/down through the lungs shot. I dont know what I was thinking not practicing my point shooting more.
Plus, it would be kind of cool when folks ask what I killed my bear with and I said "A glock 45"