Soloing instances

okay so I have a hunter and want to start soloing. what is the best and/or recommended spec for soloing instances and what is the best and/or recommended pet for soloing instances???
Did most of my soloing with my fox. But that was personal pref. Experiment a little, find what works for you.
did most of my solo'ing with my pet,KRUNCH. He is a Spider ;) He is a Spider named KRUNCH. I mean i got his name a long time ago from a spider in my home, i had murdered him. But I learned from him. I murdered him and i heard a KRUNCH noise. So.... it was his exoskeleton speaking to me as he was dieing. It was saying to me - KRUNCH. So i started soloing instances with him after I revived him in game. Like i killed him in real life but brought him back to life in game so its not that big of a deal..... like i didnt mean to sin and kill but dude.... its a spider... in my room! like wut were i to do ! leave him there for me to eat while i sleep? c'mon man! So thats why i revived him in game and named him KRUNCH. I'm a justified hunta. heh ;) Back to work.

Cpt cruncho ;)
my solo spec is MM and down to spirit bond for the extra health. i use my boar as a tank cuz..well ive used a boar since BC
Spec MM. If you're not in raid or high-quality pvp gear, take a few points out of Survival or MM and put them into BM for Spirit Bond. Use a turtle. Misdirection Glyph and Glyph of Mend Pet.

A good place to start is Stonecore. You can do a quick youtube search for videos of how to do it, but it'll give you a good feel for how to manage your pet/threat/cooldowns for solo'ing.

Anything before level 80 is almost entirely a pushover, and nearly all encounters in level 80 heroics are solo-able with some practice.
The need for the extra points BM gives you is pretty redudant right now, so mirroring everyone else just stay MM. I haven't yet encountered a fight where I needed anything outside of my normal PvE spec TBH so I wouldn't go out of your way. I use either my beetle Pinsir or my Turtle Morts but it really just comes down to my mood as they both have the same abilities.

Pet spec: http://www.wowhead.com/petcalc#MMzG0rMzbo0o

My stonecore solo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPCylH-usZg
MM atm works for more fights than BM. There are a couple fights where BM is better, overall though MM spec'd down to spirit bond healing is the best soloing spec atm. If it hasn't already been mentioned, you should get the glyph of misdirection so that way agro is no longer a threat to you (use as needed). In addition, you should also use glyph of mending for increased heals to your pet.

Turtle/beetle is typically considered the best pet for soloing as well considering the extra 50% damage reduction CD they have.

Check out my youtube channel if you want to get a better idea of how to play the spec effectively as well as look at strats for some bosses (lazypeon100 is the channel). Anyways, hope you have fun GL!
I'm a survival Hunter, so that's what I prefer and really enjoy.
Sticky traps help out a great deal and toxicology does a good job taking down mobs.

As far as pets, it's hard not to love a wolf, tho' sometimes I will use a bear for the thunder stomp, lot of folks will disagree but wolves can be pretty tough and can also do some amazing damage (furious howl is a great buff as well)
Pop an ice trap before you shoot, or a freezing trap half the distance between you and the mob to slow em' down if your pet loses aggro.
Things go real bad, disengage and feign death, your pet will get over it, I promise.