I interact with bears constantly, oftentimes in my back yard - as Dave points out you learn to "read" them, much as someone like a delivery man learns to read a dog's intentions. Respect them and don't provoke or tempt them...few or no problems. Poke an iphone in their face, then run like a crazed ostrich....well, good luck. When you're in bear country, it is YOUR obligation to understand them. If I cut loose a volley of lead everytime a bear and I were checking each other out I could carpet the entire house in bearskin rugs. I have given ground in berry patches and once even given up a stringer of fish, but I don't begrudge them their place in the grand scheme of things.