OK A long time ago and far far away, I rode a motorcycle to Alaska with a girl on the back and we spent 6 weeks touring alaska. We camped out all but two nights out of 6 weeks. When we left Homer, on the southern end of the Kenai Penninsula, our friends in Homer told su to not stop until we got to Anchorage and NOT under circumstances sould we camp on the penninsula and especially not up by the copper river. So yeh anyway we dilly dallied around and around dark we were still quite a ways from Anchorage so we pull into a very large totally empty campground and set up camp. As it was august it was light very late but before turning in I decided to go check the tent stakes and stuff and be sure we were ready to crash. I WAS STOOPED BEHIND THE TENT WHEN I HEARD LOW BREATHING LIKE SOMETHING WITH 55 GALLON DRUM SIZED LUNGS. The hair on all of my body stood straight out - yes it can - And I lept over the tent towards my rilfe which leaning against the picnic table. Luckily it didn't follow. BTW we're talking about maybe 1,500 pounds of coastal brown bear and it seems we were camped on the Copper River. Two nights later we're in a bar half way to the ferry boat landing and the peolpe at the bar were talking about the recent knews of a bear expert being eaten 2 nights before on the Copper river. I remember that night a Winnabego pulled in, well it seems a large bear grabbed one "bear expert" and ate him and it may have been the one behind our tent and it may have happened while we were there.
Jim - this is why I mentioned claymores around a camp site