If you have passed up 20+ bears, you must be in a target-rich environment. I'm sure it's easier to pass up a bear when you see so many. For a lot of guys, 30 seasons go by without them ever seeing one. For bucks, lots of people have already got one.....or at least a deer. And deer season stretches out from October through January. Even a bunch of Saturdays in there. So many more opportunities to look over deer than bear.
I still contend that any bear in PA (and probably NJ) is a once-in-a-lifetime for most hunters. The stats say that, for 97% of hunters, a bear is a never-in-a-lifetime.