While bears have the allure as dangerous, they really pose little threat to humans. Exception to that rule are a sow and her cubs, hunter between mom and her cubs...not a good situation to be in. When they become reliant on our food(garbage) and comfortable with human interaction, such as parks, etc..they can get aggressive and lose that fear of man. I have had many occasions of crossing paths with bears in the wild, both dark and daylight. In fact this year archery elk I was glassing a large meadow in the timbers (mid day), when I heard the rumbling of a bear, I turned and saw a small blackie(boar) coming down the ridge, he got within 20 yards of me before noticing the bush isn' t a bush and then peered at me for a few seconds then turn and ran up the same ridge from which he had come from. Later that same week while bugling I had a large boar come around to see what the fuss was all about, however he styed well out of range[:' (] and once he got a whif he was gone. Both occasion I was on ground level (eye level) with these blackie' s, I will admit the mystique of a bear does send tiny shivers up my neck, but I am not scared of them persayjust being eye level is a little over the top9something most people could only experience at a zoo). So I am not scared but I do respect them..big difference.

If confronted by a bear don' t make rash movements or run. Yelling at black bears will often be enough to deter them from advancing but not always. Carry bear spray or pepper spray is cheap insurance if your are really scared of bears or want the ability to defend yourself without weapon. By all means if you feel it him/her or you than shot the sucker, even a shot from a gun that is nowhere near them will have the run away. With the bow you better hit him and then I would try yelling and spray first. In most cases they smell or hear you they are gone...just respect them and give their space.