If you visit Yellowstone National Park now, you'll find feeding bears solidly in the "don't" column. But, there was an era many years ago when people were not only allowed to feed bears in Yellowstone, the practice was sort of encouraged.
I've always been scared out of my mind of encountering a bear and I'm not afraid to admit it. Montana back country and bears go hand in hand. My safety is more important to be than sounding like a badass on Monday morning about how gnarly my hiking/camping trip was.