Personally, I’ve only ever carried bear spray in grizzly country. Here in Colorado I make a point to make noise, call out “hey bear” around thickets, keep my dog at home/leashed etc. With a few historical exceptions the bears still won’t want to deal, and they don’t have the huge and scary firepower of grizzlies. Just my opinion.

Black bears are giant raccoons. Just scare them off. Don’t fw grizzlies tho

Depends on where you are. Black bears are really just big skiddish raccoons. But ones that live near town or campsite can be aggressive but rarely. Most of the time the bear will have smelled you and is long gone. Remember we are the natural predator so they fear us. You will never see a bear on trail in Colorado.