We have recently hiked in Slovakian mountains where bears live. I’m not too concerned about the bears during the day, as we make enough noise to avoid an encounter. But I am not sure about sleeping there.
We slept in bivy sacks in the open, I hung our food on a tree somewhat distant from our sleeping place and generally followed all the usual suggested precautions. But when we could hear the bear grumbling in the woods in the night, we were pretty scared anyway. I feared that the bear might get quite close without us noticing, and I’d hate that.
How safe is sleeping in the open in a bear country, then? Is the general idea that the bear will simply not notice? That the area is large enough to make the encounter improbable unless we do something wrong, like cook in the camp?