Cold Bay Alaska Waterfowl (Emperor Goose)

colonel00

WKR
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
4,776
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Lost
Alright, I know Rokslide isn't necessarily the mecca for waterfowl info but we have a good number of Alaska folks and others that don't just chase furry creatures. So, anyone have any info to contribute about Cold Bay in general and hunting there?

Ideally, I'd love to do a DIY hunt. I can get there for virtually free with Alaska Air miles and I'm pretty sure I could find my way into a goose. However, if I'm going to take the time and go, I might as well try for some other birds as well just to keep my taxidermist busy.

Also, if I have to, I'll go solo but I'd like to get some buddies to go along for some hunting too. However, just looking quickly online, guided prices leave a little sticker shock. I realize Cold Bay is remote and setting up a business there isn't easy or cheap. But, $4-5K for some duck and goose hunting is tough to swallow. Especially for my buddies when we could do a sea duck hunt elsewhere for quite a bit cheaper. Also, a $500 trophy fee on a emperor goose stings a bit too.

Anyway, hoping some of you guys have some info to share or people/places to contact or avoid.

Thanks!

Edit: One other thing, unless I can talk some buddies from AK that have dogs (looking at BJ and Dex :D), we won't have a dog to retrieve. I was curious if a packraft might be suitable for shagging birds if we were hunting from shore.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
3,996
Location
Alaska
Fly to Cold Bay in early October (be damn sure to buy a return ticket or you won't get out of there), rent a vehicle (should come with a fishing rod, plenty of fresh silvers to catch), rent a room at the local "hotel" (comes with a full kitchen and a grocery store next door, a bar as well, open every other day). Use the vehicle to traverse the road system out towards any number of the bays nearby, then hike in from the road and shoot ducks, geese, etc. You can glass a few of the bays from the road and you'll see more waterfowl than you can imagine.

I've never seen so many damn birds anywhere in my life... This would be a very easy DIY hunt (the guided price is ridiculous) and we saw others hiking in to do it with decoys on their back.
 

Cledus

WKR
Joined
Jan 30, 2016
Messages
467
Location
STL, MO
Fly to Cold Bay in early October (be damn sure to buy a return ticket or you won't get out of there), rent a vehicle (should come with a fishing rod, plenty of fresh silvers to catch), rent a room at the local "hotel" (comes with a full kitchen and a grocery store next door, a bar as well, open every other day). Use the vehicle to traverse the road system out towards any number of the bays nearby, then hike in from the road and shoot ducks, geese, etc. You can glass a few of the bays from the road and you'll see more waterfowl than you can imagine.

I've never seen so many damn birds anywhere in my life... This would be a very easy DIY hunt (the guided price is ridiculous) and we saw others hiking in to do it with decoys on their back.

This would be awesome! Colonel, I'll bring the dog and some dekes!
 
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