Well said, Robert McCall. Most folks I know that have spent their entire lives in Montana or Idaho that spend a lot of time in the woods have had a run in or encounter with a bear or lion. A buddy of mine worked for the forest service for just three or four years yet still had several close encounters. As you say, the fall and spring can be especially interesting as bears are coming of or preparing to hibernate.

I don't want to exaggerate the risk but you make a great point. Heart disease is a risk 24/7/365. Most folks spend hundreds or even thousands of hours per years their vehicle driving so that risk is obvious. You can only be at risk of a bear attack while you're on their turf...at least most of the time. In Missoula a 900 lb Grizz was tranked in the garage of an urban home. While I lived in Coeur d'Alene, ID a mountain lion was treed in a park downtown and had to be tranked (after which it fell out of the tree and died, much to the angst of the local tree huggers).

It feels to me like present management practices are bringing bears and humans into contact a lot more than in the past. Part of this is politics so I won't go there but it's something to aware of. Especially in Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Idaho and CO.