President of Bear Bottom Lodge hunted in luxury

DAVE Zimmerman and I shared only one phone conversation. For me, it was unforgettable.
In late November, I was working on a column series about hunting traditions when a hunter suggested that I interview Zimmerman.
I called him, and before long I was gripped by his every word. His voice quaked with enthusiasm as he talked about his cabin, Bear Bottom Lodge. Located in rural McKean County, it is a cabin only by name. "It's not your ordinary hunting cabin," he said.
Some hunters love roughing it in crude tin shanties with no running water. Not Zimmerman. No outhouses for him.
He explained that when he was a teenager, he and his father once hunted out of a station wagon. "I spent 26 years in the Boy Scouts, and I vowed I wouldn't sleep on the ground again," he said with a laugh.
Zimmerman wanted comfort. So 30 years ago he built a hunter's palace.
He described Bear Bottom Lodge in detail. First he gave me a virtual tour of the basement.
"It has a pool table, a bar with a tapper, washer and dryer and a full bathroom. It has a card room with a pinball machine," he said. "I have as many beer signs as they have in most bars."
Remember, that's just the basement.
The first floor features a kitchen, large dining room, bedroom, living room, bathroom and satellite television. On the second floor are two large bedrooms. The back door opens to a 12-foot by 32-foot party deck.
There's no antiquated, wood-burning stove either. "When it's cold," he said, "I turn a switch on the thermostat and the heat comes on."
"It doesn't sound like a cabin to me," I said.
"It's not," he said. "It's a house. You and your family could move right in."
Bear Bottom Lodge is missing only one modern luxury. "There's no phone," he said. "I don't want anybody calling and saying, 'Hey, you have to come home.' "
During buck season the cabin swells with hunters. It rocks with the sounds of wild card games, pool tournaments and endless hunting stories. The beer flows, and so does the B.S.
Zimmerman said the bedrooms are customized for his two daughters and two sons. The girls' room has "feminine pictures," and the boys' room has a "wall urinal and drinking fountain."
He talked with pride about the grandchildren's playhouse and the hayrides he gave with his tractor.
As he spoke, it became apparent why Zimmerman enjoyed Bear Bottom Lodge so much.
"I decided when I did build, I was going to have something my children and grandchildren would want to visit," he said. He wanted a cabin his family and hunting buddies couldn't resist.

Dave Zimmerman died at age 60 last week due to complications from a heart attack and stroke. He left behind a wife of 39 years, Bunnie; four grown children, Andrew, Allan, Amy and Anne; nine grandchildren and countless friends.

Next month, family and friends will gather at Bear Bottom Lodge to pay tribute to Dave Zimmerman, the husband, father, grandfather, hunting buddy and proud cabin owner. They will talk about the special memories he brought to their lives. They will offer a toast or two. They might even play another card game in his honor.
When Zimmerman's obituary appeared in the Times-News, there was one sentence that caught my eye.
"He served as president of the Bear Bottom Lodge Rod and Gun Club."
"We had to sneak that in there," Bunnie said.
He wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

JEFF KIRIK, sports editor, can be reached at 870-1679 or by e-mail at jeff.kirik@timesnews.com.