The following article was written by my hunter Dr. Dave Gandee of Buckhannon, WV. He took his beautiful brown bear in the spring of 1994 and his story was printed in The Alaska Professional Hunter Magazine in the spring of 1997. It was one of the many 10’ plus bears that AAA harvested in our Cold Bay area. This bear was taken within one-half mile of where three other 10’ plus bears had been shot. That included our first bear, a 10’10” taken by George Caswell in 1984 and the 11’3” that Dan had guided Randy Cain to in ’92. George was guided by Brent. Randy’s brown bear was the largest bear killed in 26 years and was tied for the SCI World Record with a skull size of 30 5/16”.
For those of you familiar with the saga of the road from King Cove to Cold Bay through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge they have already constructed part of it. The area where the photos in the story were taken where Dave shot his bear and where Dave and Dan were spotting from is now a parking area for the heavy equipment used in the road construction. The road goes right over our camp site. King Cove is no different than any other small village in Alaska without an all-weather airport. They are doing this in the name of medical emergencies, spending millions of dollars. It’s been a political hot potato for at least the last twenty years. We tried to stay out of it because we were paying the King Cove Native Corporation to hunt on their land. I personally think it is a waste of tax payers’ money.
I hope you enjoy Dave’s memories of his brown bear hunt.
Dave Gandee with his 10'3" brownie taken with AAA Alaskan Outfitters, Inc.
Sorting gear after the clients arrived at our main camp at Cold Bay.
Dave and my partner Dan spotting on one of our better weather days.
Dave shot his bear on this mountain somewhere around center left.
