Don't ever run from a bear!

Let me guess, that one time a bear charged you, you "acted big", and it left you alone, huh?

~I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong~

Easier said than done, lol.

This is only true if the bear is guarding its territory or otherwise startled. If the bear is in predator mode like the one in the movie, standing your ground will only make the job easier for the bear. Starving bears do not scare easily.

That's generally true. I've been on fishing trips in western Alaska, and the guides tell you not to run if you see a bear eating salmon on a river bank. You should mosey along slowly though, give the bear its space. They also gave us bottle rockets to shoot at the bears if they came too close to camp.

One time we had a massive brown charge a man in our party. It broke off the charge about 10 yards shy of the man, and just before the guides lit it up with high powered rifles.

Are you nuts?? That bear was hungry. I'll take my chances running for a tree that's climbable. Show no fear? That predator will smell the urine in your pants and pounce. Bears kill things and eat them...that's what bears do..

It really is easier said than done.

I have family in Alaska and I've visited a lot. When my brother and I fish at the river we take "bear horns." The only problem is the last time a bear got really close (it was sort of a smaller one even though it was a brown bear), it started approaching us curiously on our side of the river.

I totally freaked out, called out to my brother, we both started scrambling up to the car, trying not to run. I was screaming at my brother, "don't run!!!" Meanwhile I was scrambling up rocks to get up on top of a bridge that went over the river. Scariest moment of my life!! The bear came by and started going through our tackle boxes, sniffing around, and then moved on. We both forgot we had bear horns completely. That's how scary it is!!

If it's a sow with a cub all bets are off. No bluff charging. They will attack ferociously. At that point, standing still and acting big will probably just get you hurt or killed.

She's just interested in scaring you off -- or killing you -- and she won't run far from the cub.

Of course, in the bush, you might only have seconds to figure out the scenario.

Some friends and I once had an encounter with a mom and her cub at our local dump where the bears liked to come and forage through the garbage for food. Did we run? Bet your ass we ran... fortunately she didn't come after us.

It's probably easier said than done for most people. The main issue is that most people simply have never seen a bear upclose and just panic the first time it happens. A year or so ago, something like that happened in NJ when some Rutgers students went hiking. They encountered a bear and all stupidly fled in different directions and one of their friends was chased down and killed. Instinct kicked in for both the humans and the bear. When the moment of truth arrives, it is either fight or flight and without training, it can hard to do the smart thing.

The only thing I'd for sure recommend, aside from the advice given, is have your bear spray quickly accessible and practice to know how to use it and that it works! I had a friend that hiked with it deep inside her pack with the zip tie still on the trigger...

Living in WNC now, I see black bears all the time. Have to keep my trash cans locked and you'd laugh if you saw my bear-resistant bird feeder setup. They are generally curious and rather shy and my leaf blower sound is enough to send them running. They can certainly be destructive if you are careless or do not take basic precautions. I watch them from my deck all the time and they are beautiful animals. If they drag off your bird feeder or trash or anything that isn't your child, best to just let them have their way. Not a smart idea to get between a bear and its food. Thankfully, of all the (black) bears I've encountered, I've never come across a hungry stalker (and hope I never do!). If they were actually in this area of the country, I'd honestly be more realistically worried about a cougar/mountain lion attack.