Gov. Mike Dunleavy was not on a “charity” bear hunt near Cordova, contrary to the description provided by the governor’s office.

Dunleavy, named “Governor of the Year” by the Safari Club in February, was adding his title and presence to support a club fundraising hunt near Cordova.

Dunleavy joined a 10-day bear trophy hunt that was an auction item at the Safari Club annual convention in Nashville. The hunt was valued at $29,500 and sold for $25,000.

“Sam Fejes has invited one hunter to the Sam Fejes Tsiu River Lodge for this 10-day, 1x1 guided rifle hunt for Alaskan Brown Bear and Black Bear with special guest Alaska’s Governor Mike Dunleavy,” the auction catalog said.

“When you hunt with Sam, you are assured that you will have a safe, enjoyable and memorable trip and the trophy hunt of a lifetime.”

Fejes’s website says that, “Once your trophy is taken, it is tagged, skinned, peeled and then packed out to the extraction point. Once Brown Bear hide and skull are back at the lodge, it is fleshed, ears and lips are turned, along with knuckles and tail out, it is than salted. Trophies are normally shipped from lodge to my expeditor in Anchorage, at the end of my spring season."

The Safari Club “is not a qualified charitable organization,” the club says, but a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.

Dunleavy is a regular at Safari Club events. The Alaska chapter recently signed up Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom as a lifetime member of the Safari Club.