I lived and hunted deer and elk on Kodiak Island of 14 years. Over the years I had several encounters with brown bears, one at smelling distance. I can tell you that an instant fear of a prehistoric type sets your entire system to some sort of automatic response. A bear will just scare the holy crap right out of you, the only critter I ca come close to is a fully coiled rattle snake at less than striking distance.
The lad noted in the story did well and got a lifetime story as well!