I've been up on the north slope chasing arctic fox parts of the last two seasons. In 2022, while I was out scouting, I looked down and saw polar bear tracks. I immediately looked all around for a pair of black eyes and a black nose. Luckily, our paths didn't cross. (Although I did see a couple polar bears from a respectable distance on that same trip). Fast forward to 2023. A couple natives were killed by a polar bear in the western part of Alaska. After reading about the incident, I made dang sure that I brought along a 44 mag loaded with Montana bear loads for the trip. I would have preferred my old duty riot shotgun loaded with slugs. Unfortunately, I was limited on how much I could fly in with, so I opted for the handgun. Never saw a bear track or bear on this year's trip.
They are magnificent animals.