Bears are often very quiet.You look like you have a mature bear there and the rut is probably on.Sometimes they do what some call a "cowboy stomp".It is rut thing for big bears,around rub trees,springs and other important places.They put a good bit of force into each step and often make deep dents with each step,around that spot.It isn't meant to be quiet.They will rub trees shortly out of hibernation,through the rut.Cedars are much preferred here.

A couple years ago, on the 4th day of bear hunting over bait In a ground blind here in Wisconsin, I had a similar situation that will be with me my whole life. In the evening, after no seeing a bear, I saw a big, black shape moving through the brush toward the bait. Said to myself, "Here we go!". A really nice bear stepped into the open broadside looking at the bait at about 35 yds. and I said "That's a shooter." and had the sights on it. Then I remembered that the guy doing the baiting had seen a sow with 3 cubs in the area so I held off just in case. Sure as could be, 3 black bowling balls came rolling out of the brush to the bait. The sow was already nervous, shuffling around with her nose in the air. 2 of the cubs started heading toward my blind, and with the sow being so nervous I said "Let's not do this.", and they headed back to the bait. They all started heading into the brush but the last cub stood up on his hind feet and scratched his back on a tree...like a big boy...then moved off with the others.

Really a neat experience and surely worth the price of admission...No bear that year but the memories will last a lifetime.

Moosetrot

They will make alot of noise breaking limbs,etc. When they want to let other bear know not to come into their territory.

Thats a fall shooter

Thanks for all the feedback so far. Yes, it was quite the experience. A little too close for comfort, but I was glad I snapped a picture.
I was thinking it might be a territorial thing.
Hopefully I don't see it in the dark!
It's the 1st bear I've ever seen other than on a trail cam or from a vehicle. Every year it seems like I'm seeing more on trail cam though. The way it stared at me and didn't wanna back off made me realize I was I glad I had bear spray ready in 1 hand & a shotgun with turkey loads in the other. Luckily it did back off, but only far enough to put on a show dancing against that jack pine. It sure wasn't in a hurry. The noise those feet made walking in the grass is something I'll never forget.
I don't know if I mentioned it but the night b4 it was on my trail cam with its face right in the camera (the camera is pretty high off the ground). All I could see in the pic was 1 ear & part of its face. Luckily it didn't swat or bite the camera.
I saw a collared wolf in this same exact location a few years ago. 1 thing about the wild...you never know what you might see.

If you have a choice between the bear spray and the shotgun............................No question which one to use !

Now that is one long-winded bear.

I hate the thought of meeting this beast while bow hunting.

I guess that depends on the range. I would sure want a handgun at the ready !

Seeing a sow with cubs might have been spookier, I'm not sure

Yep that is a red flag. BUT.........if ursus gets aggressive you have every right to defend yourself.

Might be best to scare off that sow and cubs before she becomes habituated to the bait

You can trust me on this, "black bears are only heard if they want you to hear them". Our fall bait hunters in Maine have killed many hundreds of them and most just appear at the bait with no noise. They also like to mark to scare away the smaller bears.

I agree most bears are quieter than a popcorn fart !!

The scary part is if it come in from behind me.

All the bears Ive Shot here in Minnesota came in silent as Smoke ...I'm glad I hunt them from 18 to 20 feet up!

Hopefully you don't call 1 in while turkey hunter, 330. I'll be just fine if that was a ONCE in a lifetime experience for me.

Ha! Not so bad that it made a racket !!!

I've only ever saw one bear in the wild. It was when I lived in NY, and I was sixteen. It was on my very first shotgun deer hunting trip to the southern tier with my grandfather and the small group of guys he hunted with. We didn't have bears where we lived a few hours north of where we were hunting. I'd shot a doe in the morning but still had a buck tag so in the afternoon I went and sat on a ridge line where a evergreen and hardwood forest met. I was sitting on the ground in the hardwood forest with my back to a big tree. An hour or so went by and I'd not even seen a bird, lol. Then all of a sudden I hear a deer coming up behind me at a trot. I'm ever so slowly trying to turn my head to see what was coming and when I finally did I was sure in for a shock!

It was a black bear running straight at me. I jumped up and yelled. He skidded to a stop then stood up on 2 feet. He was maybe 30 yards from me, facing me, bear season was open and my license allowed me to shoot a bear. But not once did it even enter my mind to shoot the thing. I was frozen. Hopefully I would have snapped out of it had it came towards me again, but I think my yelling scared him almost as much as he scared me. He dropped to all fours again and turned and ran. I think that experience was way cooler than shooting a buck would have been.

If you heard that bear walkin, He knew you were there.

Bears are funny. You can spend all day looking for one and then turn around to find one watching you.
I spent a summer doing trail rides in Glacier Park before I got to old and broke down to do it.
Disclaimer was that we never guaranteed weather or wildlife.
One day while returning from a 2 hour ride we were about 15 minutes from being back to the corral. A German photographer behind me on the lead horse was bummed because we hadn't seen a bear. Just then my horse got all bouncy like riding a coiled spring and then snorted and stopped.
About 30 yards in front of us a huge silver tip grizzly entered the trail from the low side and turned and studied this approaching circus act. Maybe a minute or so, then made a couple steps toward us before turning into the uphill side and vanished.
I spun around to see if my friend had gotten a picture, but he was just sitting there with the camera still around his neck and eyes and mouth wide open both hands gripping the saddle horn !