Couple of things:
1. Lost Lake, bad news for you, there is not a .380 made that will penetrate a bear skull. Or get through all that muscle/fat to the spine.
2. The good news, a .380 WILL stop just about any 2 legged varmint, you just need a central nervous system hit. That is what I train for with flat point 100 gr loads. A CNS or a pelvic cradle hit with one of those will drop anyone-but you must TRAIN to do that.
I carry a Sig 232 or a Walther PPK/S off duty because those are the mandated .380 autos by my agency. My preference is my BHP whenever possible and/or my 940. I have my fathers 100 year old 1908 Colt in 380 and it is as deadly as the day he bought it in 1913, put in a much stiffer recoil spring for the newer hotter loads.
For the .380 I do not trust an HP load, even the really expensive loads. A 100 gr FMJ flat point will do the job if you do your part-bullet placement is king, penetration is queen, everything else is angels dancing on the head of a pin. Not my original, but suffices.
My prefderences for hit areas:
1. Throat right through to the spine
2. Head above the eyes or though one or both eyes.
3. Pelvic cradle-no one can move after a hit there-but they may still be able to shoot. This presumes that the hit shatters something, and my .380 loads will.