I've been lucky not to encounter any angry deer.
Bear- black bear here- come in three shapes and sizes.
Smaller bear- which flop around and run like fuzzy stuffed animals. I've had several run into the road on bike rides right in front of me ( I was on the bike- not them), and I've found myself chasing them down as they flee, and they eventually veer off the road- much like deer.
Papa bear- which don't flinch and will stand ground
Mama bear- No encounters so far.
I've had two large male bear encounters. In both cases, they weren't like timid deer at all. One walked right in front of a cold fall night bike ride I was on. We climbed a hill at about 5 mph, with no lights, as the harvest moon was so bright no lights were necessary. Ahead, a dark blob was
*lurking* in front of us. The dark blob slowly crossed our path, within 20 feet out, went across the road, then, stopped. There was no sound, but there was a silent and heavy presence. Three of us were there. We had our lights on our helmets and turned them on so see what it was. Ablaze, we lit up the bear, but he turned back towards us walked straight in our direction with not a care in the world. He was not scared of our 15 zillion "lumens" of light one bit. You could slice the frost on his breath
with whatever you'd slice frost on a breath of a bear with. On bikes, we were essentially trapped. No way to speed up the mountain. No way to unclip and turn around and gain speed. I yelled out a guttural roar (as much as I could). No response from the bear, he continued towards us. I might have well been using my inner voice. Foul language didn't persuade him either. At about 15 feet, my colleagues became concerned, chimed in, and also yelled. The bear continued right at us. Finally, at about 10 feet, he stopped, and eventually slowly turned and lumbered off into the night.
10 feet away makes any bear look damn big.
This is also what I've encountered with large bear in my yard. They simply don't give a s#$%. They are doing their thing, and aren't timid like deer that run and flee at the first opportunity.
Also, I've bear sprayed a bunch of dogs. Dogs generally don't stop when sprayed the way you'd think. They slow down, and stop, eventually, but seem more confused than anything. Then sometimes they get their senses and recharge their attack. Much like a terminator that has been shot full of 12 gauge. It slows them, but not always stops them. More than anything, it just buys time for Sarah Connor to GTFO of town.
I would not want to trust bear spray on a bear, seeing the slow reaction time of dogs.
JMHO...
*lurking* inspired by Seahawk's mention of the word.