So it's been about a week and I've seen about 7 bears in my wanderings. Only once did one manage to spot me before I spotted it. I quickly learned that outrunning the bear wasn't a good idea, and one swipe later I was KO'd.
I had forgotten at the time that bears don't attack KO'd players so I thought I was just lagging or something, so I just started mashing on my travel to hearth fire button. I actually managed to warp out during the short period after I got up from being KO'd but before the bear that was standing on top of me could reengage.
Is this something that can done reliably with bears or did I just luck out?