I have seen dozens of bears in the last 10 years on the East coast of Nc,I have been in my stand and yelled at them, they are very curious creatures and sometimes the yelling worked, sometimes it didn't Only once in the 10 years was a bear after me- I gotten between a sow and a cub , spooked the cub and here came mama, ran like a scalded snake, jumped on the 4 wheeler busted the boys in the process and hauled tail, needless to say no stand went in the oak flat my buddy was saying is great.. I also still have a climber seat I left in the woods overnight, bad move, the bears stole my fanny pack, chewed the seat bar, and ripped the seat to shreds - that will make the hair on your neck raise at 5am everytime