[pct-l] How to handle a bear

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

I've seen well over a hundred bears on my outings. Only once has a bear 
entered my camp. On that occasion, he snuck up on me while I was pitching my tent. 
I had not yet had time to secure my food. He got within 10 feet of it before I 
saw him (he came up from behind). When I saw him my reaction was immediate. I 
bluff charged him cursing loudly. He stopped in his tracks and gave me a 
curious look. Then I picked up a large branch and SMASHED it on a tree trunk just 
as hard as I could, sending large chunks flying everywhere. All the while I 
was yelling at him, giving him direct eye contact, saying I was going to bust a 
branch just like that over his frigging nose if he tried to get my food.  He 
believed me and left. I had dinner, crawled into my tent and fell asleep almost 
immediately knowing beyond a doubt that he wouldn't be back. He went and 
picked on somebody else that he wasn't afraid of, probably some wussy guy who hung 
his food and thought that banging pots was the answer. Give a bully an inch 
and they'll take a mile