Trophies testify to adventurous life

Whether it’s a herd of caribou in Alaska, a grizzly in British Columbia or a polar bear in the Arctic Circle, retired outfitter Gene Lee has hunted just about every game animal there is in North America.

At age 86 and enjoying his quiet retirement along the Flathead River north of Bigfork, Lee recently spent an afternoon talking about a lifetime of chasing the multitude of predators, ungulates and birds the continent has to offer.

“I love to hunt, and I don’t think too many people have accumulated what I have here,” he said, gesturing at the many mounts and taxidermied animals that fill his high-ceilinged trophy room.

Lee moved to Montana after serving in the military police during the Korean War. He bought the Wilderness Lodge in Spotted Bear and spent the next 18 years as an outfitter and guide, escorting other hunters into the wilderness in search of moose, elk and other big game.

Much of his hunting success has come outside Montana, however. As a pilot with more than 7,000 hours in the air, Lee spent much of his time off flying throughout the Northwest United States and points farther north.

During one trip to Alaska in 1962, Lee said he and a pair of friends ran across a fellow outfitter who offered them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“He told us polar bear hunting was going to end one of these days,” he said. “If we wanted one, we’d better get on it.”

One year before polar-bear hunting was banned in 1967, they returned to the Arctic and were flown out onto the sea ice.

“We were within 15 miles of the Russian border,” he said. “We flew west-southwest out of Point Hope and it looked like there had been a polar bear convention.”

After they landed, he followed a single set of bear tracks on his skis, and said within about five minutes he came upon the massive animal. As the bear hoisted itself over an ice heave, he shot it in the back, then finished it off with another shot at close range.

“The only other polar bear mount I’ve seen was in Anchorage,” Lee said, pausing to admire the massive white animal that serves as his trophy room’s centerpiece.

He did, however, fall short of getting the “grand slam” of North American wild sheep.

Lee’s trophy room sports a Stone sheep from British Columbia, a Dall sheep from Alaska and a bighorn from Alberta.

He once traveled all the way down to Yuma, Arizona, in search of a desert bighorn. But his guide, who then left for Mexico City to grab the requisite permits, returned empty-handed.

“He came back and told us he would take us out to hunt illegally, but we said no, we weren’t interested,” Lee said.

Still, with a trophy repertoire that includes caribou, a grizzly, wild boars, turkeys, a snowy owl, a Kodiak bear, multiple black bears, a wolverine and several moose, elk and monster bucks, the son of a North Dakota farmer knows he landed in the right spot.

“I was born and raised a hunter,” he said.

While on military leave during the war, it was a flight from Fargo to San Francisco that precipitated his move to the Treasure State.

“I was looking for elk and deer and moose and saw all those trees and snow. After that, I told the family, ‘If I live through this, I’m moving to Montana.’”