I lived in the Alaska bush for several years. We had a pickup truck with a cover over the back and I would use it to take my trash to the dump. I remember the first morning I came out and saw bear paw and nose prints in the dirt on the back of the pickup because I had taken trash to the dump the night before and the smell still lingered, at least enough to attract a bear's attention.
We would have bears come through the yard. It wasn't an every day occurrence but it was also not rare in the summer. One neighbor had chickens and they frequently had bears in their yard. She had a shotgun and would shoot them with rubber shotgun slugs. She said the hard part was making sure that they were facing away when she pulled the trigger because when the slugs would hit, they'd start running so you want to make sure they ran away from you.
One year we had a bear that came by just about every day for about a week. It always came at night but we could see places where it had dug holes or it had crapped in the yard. This was particularly concerning because my kids at the time were very young, both under 5 y/o. We lived on a lake and I fished a lot, which I'm sure created scent that piqued their interest. One night I came home late because I had a trial the next day. That bear was in our yard yet again. When my headlights flashed on it, it went down by the lake. It was dark at this time because fall was coming.* I went inside and grabbed my rifle and a flashlight and went down by the lake/dock. About 10-15 yards away, the bear was sitting in my boat, either because of fish scent from the weekend or because it smelled 2 cycle engine oil in my boat bucket or some other reason, I don't know.**
I was holding the rifle grip with my right hand and the stock fore end and flashlight with my left. The bear was just looking at me. And bear season at that time started on 9/15, so I couldn't shoot it. But we were remote enough that I could and did fire a shot over its head without worrying about hitting anybody. At the sound, the bear took off running. We never saw that bear again.
But there were bears at the dump and bears would come through because of the fish in the lake. You just got used to living with bears. I was not local so I knew I would never get away with shooting a bear and dumping its carcass in the lake, so I never did. And DLP (Defense of life and/or property) bears are a pain. You can shoot a bear in defense of life and property but you have to skin it and take the hide, claws, and skull to the troopers. They are auctioned off early in the year but that's a lot of work. Theoretically you could bid on the hide of the bear you shot but who knows how well it's been treated and you might or might not get it so I have never shot a DLP bear. I've floated several rivers and fished SW Alaska a lot. I would estimate I've seen > 300 bears in the wild, sometimes far too close for comfort. Had to fire a gun over other curious bears. The sound usually gets them running. They are truly magnificent animals, their culinary habits aside.
* The date was actually Monday, September 10, 2001. You can see why I remember the date.
** Bears were notorious for eating 2 cycle engine oil. It left a giant, stinking mess of shit when they did. Actually, bears eat just about anything. They are walking garbage cans.
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