I recently visited with Tony Lee of Westwind Guide Service (907-373-2047; www.alaskabiggamehunting .com), who has been a registered Master Guide for over a dozen years and an outfitter in Alaska for over 30 years. Lee is also a very experienced pilot with over 35 years of flying time under his belt. In fact, I first met this outfitter over two decades ago when he flew into another outfitter’s camp where I was hunting. I “bought” him a cup of coffee, and found out that he outfitted in the Mulchatna area, which was famous at that time for producing big caribou. I booked with him and the next fall killed a monster bull that still ranks near the top of the record book. Unfortunately, with the Mulchatna herd’s well documented decline, Lee has suspended hunting caribou in that area until the herd rebounds.
With caribou on hold, Lee is specializing in bear hunting, although he outfits for a few other species too. Lee offers hunts for grizzly/brown bear, as well as tundra grizzly, sometimes also called mountain grizzly. These tundra grizzlies are considered by many sportsmen as the most handsome bear in Alaska. They are found inland, away from the coast, where there is less access to salmon streams, and they are thus smaller than coastal brown bears. Lee hunts tundra grizzly in GMU 13 out of his Bear Creek camp north of Anchorage. This area is considered a predator control area by Alaska game officials, so there is no closed season. Lee schedules these hunts during early June. The price this year is $10,000 for 1 x 1 hunting and $7,500 for 2 x 1.....
