I never saw any either. With that being said, I had two uncles in northern Michigan and along with their sons, they were big time bear hunters who used to hunt the U.P.......Frequently buying and trading their bear dogs. Fortunately, Uncle Hylon was a veterinarian and he was able to patch up any of the dogs that got injured.
In my lifetime bear have always been in the UP, but the LP had very few.
When I was four years old we took a two week camping trip. Took the car ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc, WI then through the UP and then over the Bridge to home. Camping one night in the UP and heard a lot of noise outside the tent. There was a bear wandering through our campsite.