Hunting bear is different than defending from a bear attack. You can hunt bear with a bow.... but it would be a different story trying defend your self from a bear attack with a bow. When an animal is hurt or cornered... they fight hard!
Yes I know what is coming next.... How many bear attacks have there been in MA in the last 20 yrs? Not many (not any?). I don't know if that means we are due for one or what? I will tell you this. I have been a wilderness guide (and hunter) for the last 15 years and have seen the number of people in the backcountry drastically increase in the last few years. Many of them break all the rules of the backcountry (food in their tents, lack experience, and are not hanging a food bag) couple that with urban sprawl, and you have a recipe for trouble. I went the better part of ten years only having bear encounters out west or deep in the woods of ME and NH. In all those encounters the bears were at a distance and showed either fear of us or a lack of interest. In the last two years in western MA on the AT I have had four encounters with black bear that not only showed no fear of a large group (10 people) but became insistant on engaging us or hanging around.
Now I am a fan of big bore hand guns, but the most effective tool in our arsenal is air horns storm whistles and fire crackers. Sudden loud, unnatural noises send black bears running. we also carry "bear spray" as a last resort. If you talk to any of the wildlife biologists who work in bear country they will all tell you that the pepper spray works every time, but the bear returns a short time later and in some cases rolls around in the sprayed area! Personally I am not sticking around to verify this fact!
You can count on the fact that I am going to be prepared to protect my family, my staff or my clients (in that order LOL) against anything that may cause harm.