After a few days of wilderness camping, I camped at an established campsite and had my first close encounter with a (black) bear over the weekend. The bear came into our campground and sniffed around our tents, which was a little nerve racking, for about 20 minutes then moved on. I figure it was there out of habit, looking for anything that may have been left out. My camping partner did not hear the bear and never woke up. I remained quiet in my tent, holding my bear mace. Like I said, the bear eventually moved on.

The question I have is should I have made a noise (a loving whisper, throat clearing, yelling, air horn) to alert the bear to our presence? I know the rules when encoutering a bear in the open, but I was in my one person tent and not very mobile in the unlikely event I would need to defend myself.

Should I have done something differently? Thanks guys! Sonny.....