First off , I personally have verry little bear expereince. i do hike and fish in a few palces in sc,nc tn mountains with dence populations. i always try to be bear aware and use safe practices.

But often when im hikeing alone. I remeber my grandmother once told me. son it not the bears that you can see you need to be worried about.its the ones you dont. And latter in life we were having a conversation about camping food and i mentiond bearbagging and she went on to say that its not the bear that wants your food you have to worry about its the one that sees you as food. My grandmother was a decendent of cherokee and blackfoot indian tribes that were native to alot of the same areas in which i still hike and fish. And as a child her and her family activly hunted anything that they could eat or trade.

so alot of times i find myself more worried about the bears that are not familar with humans. because i would agree that out of all the different animals. i have harvested as a hunter. a hiker like myself struggleing under a weeks food and gear is going to make for a pretty easy meal to stalk and take down.

i just wish i could figure out a way to get the local turkeys to start carrying packs and hikeing