Some of my most enjoyable flying hours were during our spring brown bear hunts in Western Alaska.  Flying on skis during those beautiful cool bluebird days with smooth air and with the spring snow conditions made the entire area our runway.  Of course we had storms but they moved in and out pretty fast not like those three or four day storms we have in the fall.  We had to deal with overflow on some of the larger lakes but only once did we have to deal with overflow on Otter Lake itself and only for a few days.  Dan and I did most of the flying in AAA’s two “super cubs.”  We hunted this area in the spring of the odd numbered years mainly because there wasn’t a brown bear season on the Alaska Peninsula during those springs.  Business wise this allowed us to offer hunts at a lower price for clients that may not have been able to afford the price for the larger Peninsula brown bears.  I have always felt it was a great choice for a brown bear hunt because of price and the quality of the bears we harvested.  Those bears were generally smaller.  We harvested a good number of 9 ½ footers in the spring but never a 10 footer.  I personally never thought it was worth the extra 5K we charged on the Peninsula for maybe an opportunity at a bear six inches larger.  But if you were looking for a 10 footer the Peninsula was where you needed to go.