my cousin actually had an encounter with a bear last summer, he was up in PA hunting at a camp my grand father belongs to, he did not have his gun with him, just a wrench or something i believe. He ended up getting inbetween a mother, and its 2 cubs, not a good idea. He basically said he stood as tall as he could, spread his arms up, and walked backwards away from the bear. The bear followed him for a while, but then gave up. He never turned his back on it, as the bear could have made a sudden move and he would have had time to realize it. I guess he got lucky. he was also yelling as loud as he could to tell his father to watch out, but i guess his father never heard him as he was on the other side of the hill. No one got hurt, but my cousin got damn lucky.
MIKE