OK... Thanks for all the responses guys. Some comical stuff too.
For the animal lovers and anti-shoot the bear guys, calm down some. So far, the bear has only been around three times, all during night-time hours when we (myself, wife and two dogs) have been in the house.
I guess the bear likes the suet feeder on the back porch (small size about 5" square intened for the birds) We've been taking the bird feeders in at night to discourage the bear from coming back.
Any case, the bear was at the house the other morning at 6:30 AM when we let the dogs out and my wife goes out to put the feeders on their hangers again. The bear was on the ground at the base of the back deck, and we didn't know it until the dogs went crazy running down the deck stairs after it.
Fortunately, the bear saw fit to run instead of tangle with the dogs (one 6yo black lab @65 lbs and one 5yo black lab mut @63 lbs - small for labs anyway)
As far as I'm concerned, the bear can hang out all it wants and do what it wants as long as it doesn't threaten life and limb of anyone. Because it doesn't come around during the day and runs off as soon as the dogs are in the yard, animal control hasn't done anything with it yet.
I have no intention of firing unless I have to in an emergency situation. However, if I have to, I want to make sure I shoot with something that will be effective even in a panic situation (where I may not have the best aim I might usually have) - I can also shoot almost any direction from my back yard without risk of hitting anything but trees. I've got 7.5 acres, and after that its all woods for at least another 2000 yards.