my neighbor came by yesterday and said he saw 4 black bears crossing the road between my property and his the day before. I'm thinking I ought to have the 35 Whelen or 444 marlin at the ready in case they want to try and eat my dog. I never shot a black bear before but he said the big ones were at least as big as his 300lb hog. we have been hearing stories about bears in the neighborhood the past couple years but this is the fist credible sighting. its probably a 1/2 mile between our houses..