Troopers search by air and ground for missing hunter near Halibut Cove

A solo hunter has not been heard from since Monday evening, Aug. 31, and Alaska State Troopers are searching for him by air and ground near Halibut Cove.

The hunter had been messaging his wife and sending his GPS location through a satellite communication device during the hunt, troopers said in dispatch AK26086465. That contact stopped at 7 p.m. Monday. Troopers received a missing person report the following evening at 7:30 p.m. and tried to reach the hunter through the device. No response came.

Troopers flew an aerial search in a Super Cub, a small single-engine plane, and did not find the hunter or his camp. The Garmin Response Center provided his most recent device coordinates. "The location provided by Garmin matched the last known location provided by the man's wife," troopers said. A helicopter searched that area at 7:35 p.m. Tuesday without result.

Search efforts by air and ground are continuing Wednesday, according to the dispatch, which troopers posted at 10:41 a.m. The dispatch places the hunt near Halibut Cove and lists the incident location as Anchor Point, in A Detachment. Halibut Cove Lagoon lies inside Kachemak Bay State Park, which has no road access. The park is reached by boat or plane, with air charters and water taxis available in Homer.

The dispatch does not include an appeal for information.