Steelhead,
Yes, brown bears do average bigger, and I have seen some VERY big ones, both on Kodiak and the Peninsula.
But we have a few bigger bears in Montana than a lot of people tend to believe. A few years ago some biologist caught a big boar that bottomed out a portable 800-pound scale--and as I recall that was in the spring. And a couple years ago another 800+ pound bear was hit and killed on a highway less than 100 miles from here.
The really big ones, however, are pretty shy. You're far more likely to run into a younger male--or a female with cubs.
The closest run-in I've had down here was in the Bob Marshall. I came around a corner in a trail one spring while hunting black bears, and found a 400-500 pound bear maybe 20 yards away, eating grass. I had a rifle in my hands (a 7mm Rem. Magnum) but he went the other way.
The only time I've been charged, though, was on Kodiak--twice on the same day by different females with cubs. Luckily they were bluffing, but it still got the blood flowing.
