I've seen many black bears, some that were not afraid of me. I remember one time I was camping solo in NC and on the way to my campspot I saw a mother with a cub in someone else's camp going through their stuff. The people had carried folding camp chairs with them and a small cooler so they obviously didn't know good backcountry practices when it comes to food, and they obviously haven't done much backcountry stuff. About 2 hours later after I had finished eating dinner, I heard something behind me at about 5 o'clock. It was an adult female blackbear no more than 15 feet from me on the opposite side of a shrub. I stood up and it wasn't afraid, it just looked at me. I raised my voice and threw a rock at the ground (near me for the noise) and it went away. Just after that I broke down camp and hiked the 3 hours out to my car. When a bear exhibits behavior like that it's best to be cautious, even with black bears.
Several other times I had seen more skittish black bears that weren't a problem.
Another time I was abroad and hiking the the Slovak woods with a buddy and everything was normal, but about 10 yards away in the tall grass we saw this large brown object move quickly away from us. We quickly saw it was a brown bear when it stopped at the treeline and stood up on it's hind legs. It was a female with two cubs. We slowly backed away and after 5 seconds or so it started nervously walking in to the forest with its cubs. It would stop here and there to look at us, but we just turned around. I don't think I've ever come closer to shitting my pants.
>>1221694Bears can be scary, but you shouldn't have a problem with them if you are smart about camping. Cook and store food overnight at least 200 ft, or 60 paces, from where you're sleeping, and make sure the wind doesn't carry the smell past your camp. Also where there are more casual campers it is often more dangerous because these people practice bad etiquette.
Just be smart.
