I'd have to agree with you on the types of attacks. A large majority of the bear attacks I hear about that resemble the one that I posted the link to tend to leave the person wounded but not dead. This guy was able to walk 3-4 miles it said back to the trailhead. That sow could have put and end to that hiker at any point during the attack but didn't. I've heard a lot of accounts that started just like this hiker's but ended in some nasty scars and a greater respect for bears. The bears seem to more or less want to ensure an opportunity for them to leave safely and leave a message. Look at sows that chase off bores that get too close to them and their cubs. They pursure the bores to either what they feel is a far more desired distance or the bore gets the chance to go in the other direction.

I think of stalking instances with hungry bears and think of that Timothy Treadwell fellow who was a little too comfortable with the bears up there in Katmai. That bear made a point of killing the two victims because apparently food wasn't as avaliable at that point in the year when the bears were looking to put a lot of weight on for winter.

In my own experiences with bears, both brown and black, they tend to be as weary of us as we are of them. Every bear I've ever come within fairly close proximity to(less than 100 yards) headed in the other direction. Granted, all the bears I've ever encountered are pretty wild and aren't "dumpster divers," nor have I ever come into close proximity of a sow with cubs, so I've been lucky thus far in my outdoor escapades.