No experience with brown/griz bears, even though I've hiked where they should have been.

My black bear experiences range from Arkansas, where one sat in the trail, holding up a mountain bike race. The kid at the front banged a stick on his handlebars and the bear finally moved off.

Big Bend Ntl' park...racing bears! These bears are so fast and stealthy you'll see their butts putting distance between you and them. "Electra" is a female bear there that raids the trash at the employee village and is habituated.
This is where I got sniffed at 3:00 a.m. Stank like a pig, which is what woke me up. Just laid still...bear lost interest...food/pack was in a bear box.
Sick or lost mountain lions have caused injury in Big Bend, almost every year. I've never heard of a bear/human contact there.

Just west of Toronto, wife and I came up on a bear sitting in the middle of the road, while we were on a bike ride. Thought it was a big dog. Got within 30 ft. before we figured it out. Bear took off into the woods.

Alberta...two mom bears with cubs, two different locations. Bears tolerated tourists that got within 5 feet!! We were more interested in seeing which tourist got their knees bit off. Didn't happen. Bears kept their ground, tourists got their pictures.

Yeah, black bears behave differently depending on where they are but being armed against them never seem necessary.
I've been around cattle, horses, and hogs that have tried to kill me, but still, holding my ground and shooting at one would have proved really bad...for me. They aren't much of a "panic" target, when coming head-on. A dog will do you more good around farm critters.