Dennis Confer

Background

Dennis Confer was born on January 13, 1941, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States; the son of John W. and Pearl H. Confer, a homemaker.

Education

Confer finished the Syracuse University with Bachelor of Science degree at 1967 and Michigan State University with Master of Business Administration in 1974.

Career

Confer was an owner and manager from 1981 till 1994. After this big period of time he worked at Wily Ventures Inc., Anchorage, AK, at the position of owner, publisher, hunting and business consultant from 1995 till 1997. In "Alyeska Pipeline Service Company" Dennis Confer was a budget analyst from 1981 to 1982. That same year he became a controller, management analyst, and executive in Municipality of Anchorage, he was working there during 1982-1988.

Achievements

• Dennis had six general medals, Alaska Sport Fish Trophy Certificates and Safari Club big game records.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Adventures of an Alaskan-You Can Do

    (This book is about adventures in hunting, fishing, campin...)

    2003
  • Hunt Alaska Now: Self-Guiding For Trophy Moose & Caribou 2006

Views

Quotations: "I did not particularly want to be an accountant, but I always loved counting game and fish and secretly dreamed of being an outfitter. The Air Force sent me to college and, through the Air Force, I was able to extend my hunting to the Far East northern California, Minnesota and Saskatchewan, other midwestern states, eastern states, and finally Alaska. I had always wanted to live in Alaska to hunt and fish; it took us fifteen years before we made it."

"I retired from the Air Force in 1980, but went on to work for the Municipality of Anchorage until 1988. In 1981, I began outfitting big game hunters in Alaska. In fourteen years, I assisted more than eight-hundred happy (and a few not so happy) do-it-yourself hunters. The hunters thought these were once-in-a-lifetime hunts but, because I made them extremely affordable, sixty percent repeated, with many completing three to seven hunts. They had a very high success rate on trophy animals. My intent in this was to share my hunting with others in order to collect more stories through my hunters than I could by myself alone, because I had another secret goal: to write hunting stories."

"So, I’ve been a hunter and fisherman for over forty years. I have accounted for more time in the outdoors than most people, but less than some. I love hunting, hunters, and helping others. I combined thirty years of experience in research, finance, statistics, and organization with my forty years of hunting experience to formulate a method of helping hunters to share Alaska with me. I developed the do’s and don’ts, the how to’s and where to’s, the mechanisms and cost savings for getting to and from, and a training program encompassing everything needed to be known for an Alaskan hunt. I converted hunts from ninety- five percent hard work and five percent fun to ninety- five percent fun and five percent moderate work that anyone could do. I started my outfitting business with no money down, and financed most everything from hunters’ deposits. I was able to keep hunter costs low and make a good profit with no incremental cost to the hunters. Advertising was mainly by word of mouth from happy hunters."

"I could not have done much of anything without the encouragement and assistance of my wife Marlene. Fortunately, she loves most hunters. Every man needs a wife like her; she always encouraged me to do what I liked best, and she even bought most of my guns for me as presents. She did all of the cooking for the hunters; they stayed in our house two or three days during the course of their hunts. Most days there were four-to-eight hunters with us, but sometimes there were sixteen (not by my plans). She received a few marriage proposals and a lot of invites to the lower forty-eight (states). We never charged more than thirty dollars a day for all meals, accommodations, and snacks, and we made money at it. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing our lives and home with most of the guests."

"Marlene and I were getting older and tired and needed a change. It was good that we transferred the hunting operation when we did, as I had a heart attack in 1995. I resigned my guide license and restricted myself to personal hunting only, along with writing and consulting. We have hunted in Africa, Mongolia, Mexico, and Canada, and traveled elsewhere. We’ve had good lives, great memories, and few regrets. We didn’t postpone doing things; we did them. We blamed no one for not doing anything, and we have a lot to look forward to. We hope to be able to inspire others to experience some of what we have shared."

Membership

Confer was a member of National Rifle Association, Retired Officers Association, American Association of Retired People, Safari Club International, North American Hunting Club, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

• Dennis was a member of board of directors.

  Alaska Professional Sportsmen’s Association

  1986 - 1989

Interests

• Hunting, fishing, travel, collecting guns, consulting

Connections

Confer married Marlene W. Haddock, a company vice-president, on March 3, 1962, they had 2 children: Mark W. and Keith A.

Father:

John W. Confer

Mother:

Pearl H. Confer

child:

Mark W. Confer

child:

Keith A. Confer

Wife:

Marlene W. Haddock