I have run into more bears in PA than I can remember. Most are around 200# but there are plenty of 500# bears in PA and to truly appreciate how big that is you need one to walk past you in the wild. I was only charged once, and I will share that at the end of this post. The best chance to not see a PA black bear is to walk with the wind to your back. They can smell you probably 100 yards away and want nothing to do with you. An old timer might circle around downwind of you just to keep tabs on where you are going, you’ll never see this, its amazing how softly a 500# bear can move through the woods.
I have been in deer camp partaking of the evening beverage when they have walked into camp with the smell of food. Once while slightly intoxicated I chased one up a tree, they moved fast. This was stupid but I did learn how fast they can come down a tree.
I was charged by a bear once while working on a few game cameras during pre-archery. This bear had set up in some laurels 60 yards from my bait site and while I was bent over it must have mistaken me for another animal trying to steal his goodie pile. The minute I stood up the bear flipped around like a cartoon and ran away. The point is this bear covered half the distance in about 5 seconds.
Respect the bears and they will respect you. Keep your campsite clean of food and they will avoid you. This is for PA bears and have read that bears say in Alaska are completely different and nasty.
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