Partly my fault....I was in a ground deer blind, and I was directly in his route..........I whistled, waved arms, talked softly, when I SHOULD have stood up when he was still aways away........at about 10 feet I decided he was too close and shouldered the rifle.....the click of the safety going off stopped him in his tracks. "Now F### Off" I told him in a loud voice, and he paused, then turned and casually walked back the way he had come.
THEN it occured to me I should have stood up. lol
Afterwards it occured to me he was way too unafraid, and I should have fired one over his head as he left.
My hindsight is a perfect 20/20.
I understand your situation now.
To respond to a few things others have written...
I shouldn't be surprised that there are people who put bears on the same level as people (or people on the same level as bears). That's as ridiculous as anything I've ever heard, and I chalk it up to people who know a lot less about wildlife than they think they do. They attribute human qualities to animals, and they see a strange sort of equivalency.
The meat from spring bears is fine. You cut away all the bone, fat, connective tissue and muscle membranes, and fast-fry thin slices of it on high heat, and it tastes just fine. Anyone who has eaten poor quality bear meat has likely eaten meat that was not properly butchered or prepared. The time of year has little to do with it.
Black bear populations are different; bears from different regions do not necessarily behave the same way.