Understood.

We used to have bears show up at the campsites when we'd go camping. We'd just yell at them and make a lot of noise by banging pots and pans together, and they'd amble off. I think they'd rather not interact with people if they don't have to.

I wouldn't want to get too close to one's food or cub, though. I've seen the damage one can do when it gets ticked off, and they're nothing to mess with. They might look slow, but they aren't, and they are very powerful. I used to want to do some bear hunting until I did some studying about it. If you shoot one, you'd better hit him just right with something of sufficient power. If you just wound one, you can be in a lot of trouble. After dark, the hunter becomes the hunted. I am a very good shot, but the thought of being gnawed on by Gentle Ben doesn't interest me in the least. I'll stick with rabbits, squirrels and deer, thank you.

You asked about my favorite shelter. I will assume that we're talking about me finding myself in a situation where I have to rough it, and I have no control over the time of year, the weather, etc, and all I have is my emergency equipment. If a cave is available, and it is sound, I might consider that rather than bother with putting up a shelter of my own. I might also consider a culvert or under a bridge, if either were available. Otherwise, if the weather was warm enough, I'd pitch a lean-to. If there wasn't going to be much dew in the morning, I might just sleep under the stars. If the weather was colder, I would probably fashion a pup tent of some kind or something like a willow shelter with plastic sheeting laid over the top and fastened to the ground, and it would be facing away from the prevailing winds. The ideal location of a warm weather shelter is different from that of a cold weather shelter. If we're talking about a bitterly cold winter situation, and there is sufficient snow, I might consider a snow cave. If the materials were available, and there wasn't time to put up one of these shelters, something like a log shelter (not the same as a log cabin) would do for a night or two. It's not a good permanent shelter, though.