mcseal2
WKR
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- 2,674
Thanks, already watching it. Great info guys looming at kodiak in 3 years and learning what I can. Caribou next year, then elk, then kodiak. Gotta plan to use points best and have great hunts each year.
Kodiak blacktail hunt info
- Thread starter Fonkie
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- #42
- Thread Starter
- #43
AK Troutbum
WKR
Much higher probability for storms in Oct./Nov.
- Thread Starter
- #45
I only have experience with early-mid September and would say if you can spare the extra days for trip, there's benefits with the added time and effort that's involved.
First, the warmer weather makes spiking out more comfortable and salmon fattened bears ignoring your presence. With what I think is more sun-filled days, better glassing of bachelor groups and trophy selection. We've had our share of nasty weather too, but as a whole, we see enough sun to dry things out. The deer are absolutely loaded with fat which adds to quality of meat, but also adds to weight of load. The salmon fishing can be awesome too, though this year we had far too many pinks clogging up the bay and creeks for the silvers to bite. Spiking out gives you more time to hike the ridges where the walking's easy, also. The longer haul back to base is the obvious downside and the better bucks are generally beyond easy hiking distance from shore.
From what I've been told I'd avoid all but last week of August as this past fall was hot & dry which made finding fresh water in the valleys more difficult and deer more hidden in alders. Someday I'd like to do a later boat hunt for that experience, but as of now September has become our routine.
First, the warmer weather makes spiking out more comfortable and salmon fattened bears ignoring your presence. With what I think is more sun-filled days, better glassing of bachelor groups and trophy selection. We've had our share of nasty weather too, but as a whole, we see enough sun to dry things out. The deer are absolutely loaded with fat which adds to quality of meat, but also adds to weight of load. The salmon fishing can be awesome too, though this year we had far too many pinks clogging up the bay and creeks for the silvers to bite. Spiking out gives you more time to hike the ridges where the walking's easy, also. The longer haul back to base is the obvious downside and the better bucks are generally beyond easy hiking distance from shore.
From what I've been told I'd avoid all but last week of August as this past fall was hot & dry which made finding fresh water in the valleys more difficult and deer more hidden in alders. Someday I'd like to do a later boat hunt for that experience, but as of now September has become our routine.
- Thread Starter
- #47
Hey thank you for that info. Those are all things that I was thinking but with no experience didn’t know for sure.
One more question regarding end of August-first 10 days of September. Are most of the bucks hard horned by then or are they still sporting velvet?
One more question regarding end of August-first 10 days of September. Are most of the bucks hard horned by then or are they still sporting velvet?
AK Troutbum
WKR
They should all be out of velvet.
I'd say the same except for the ones whose nuts haven't dropped, which I hear is ~8% in the SW area we hunted. Of the 3 trips, we took 5 very nice ones. I came across an article a couple years back of an outdoor writer who'd killed a total freak with double drops and multiple stickers right in the same area we hunted year before and year after. That was tough news for one or more of our group in 2017 hoping for a velvet stud, or Jenner as we coined them on first trip 4 yrs ago...please don't hate us for coming up with the moniker, just happened to coincide with excessive media attention round then. 
Here's the article link
www.outdoorlife.com
A Gentleman's Wager on Kodiak Island
A hunt for caribou, blacktail, fox, and ducks on Kodiak Island quickly derails into a comedy of errors, but these hunters make the most of it by placing bets.
www.outdoorlife.com
- Thread Starter
- #51
Jenner is a fitting term. How do you cache meat if your on a high country backpack hunt?
AK Troutbum
WKR
Yeah, I didn’t even think about the stags, they never loose their velvet, or antlers for that matter, never go into rut, and just keep growing their entire life.
The one on the left in this photo.
I think there were 4 or 5 in this photo.
My buddies son shot this bruiser stag.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The one on the left in this photo.
I think there were 4 or 5 in this photo.
My buddies son shot this bruiser stag.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Thread Starter
- #53
Wow, that last one had to be an old one. None of ours had that kind of mass and the velvet was still in perfect condition and pickled fine for mounts.
We hang the meat in quality game bags in alders high enough off the ground to keep foxes below and low enough to keep magpies above...doesn't always work perfectly. Also far enough away from tents to reduce risk of bear finding nearby. Always have a vantage point upon return yelling the common "hey bear" or shot from flash-bang flare gun.
Here's our batch from this last hunt. I finally got 2 nice hard-horns after Jenners on previous trips.
We hang the meat in quality game bags in alders high enough off the ground to keep foxes below and low enough to keep magpies above...doesn't always work perfectly. Also far enough away from tents to reduce risk of bear finding nearby. Always have a vantage point upon return yelling the common "hey bear" or shot from flash-bang flare gun.
Here's our batch from this last hunt. I finally got 2 nice hard-horns after Jenners on previous trips.
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- #55
2-5 miles in from beach, all but 1 shot from spike camp and 3 nights spent up a valley. It didn't seem like this trip there were as many good bucks closer in. There were a few really big forks on one of the close mountains, likely a product of being passed for 3x3 and 4x4's. At least where we hunt, on average you need to get off the beaten path a bit.
- Thread Starter
- #57
Wondering how it would would work to base camp at one of the state cabin sites so you had a spot to retreat if the weather got horrible or a place to recoup & keep meat during the hunt & spike out as far & as long as needed to find good bucks? Seems like a good idea but we’ve never been there to base a plan on.
Probably as good as any, especially if you wait til later in fall to go. No experience with the cabins or later hunt, so others will have to comment. Like I might have alluded to earlier, you can find good bucks anywhere including low in the flats, but for consistency higher and further from base produces better. I got lucky with both of mine, but we really covered ground and elevations for buddy's two. Avoid the willows, alders and deep valleys of ferns (reverse order by importance), can't stress that enough. Resist temptation to walk the valley back to tents rather than along spine. Bring beacons for tents to spot in dark on hike back. Never know when a sideways rain will catch you blinded searching out that particular knob that all look alike at dark...I'm rambling, but man does that suck.
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I was stationed on Kodiak for 3 years and hunted blacktail extensively. And counter to almost every other game animal I hunted, I was very successful. I notched 2 SCI minimum typical bucks. I hunted what they call the "road system" primarily.
I got one in velvet on opening day (August 1.) Early August is fairly easy to hunt because the landscape is lush green and the brown deer really stick out, making spot and stalk very straightforward but often physically difficult. The deer tend to hold high in the bowls and mountain meadows. Average daily chance of rainfall is about 30%.
By early September, two things have changed. The deer have dumped their velvet and the very prevalent cow parsnip. has died. When it dies, it turns blacktail brown. That means every dead plant stands out like the blacktail did a month earlier. That means lots of glassing. The deer will still be high, you'll just have to spend more time spotting than stalking. By the middle of September the average daily chance of rainfall is 40%. The deer slowly start moving down the mountain as the days get shorter and cooler. September can be very wet. Rain can set in for days on end. It doesn't rain hard by continental standards, but it can rain relentlessly.
By early October the vegetation on mountain tops is gone. The deer will be feeding lower. Early October can deliver a dusting of snow. By late October the higher mountain peaks will get snow that stays. The deer will be gravitating toward the beaches by this time. I never did the beach hunts.
You'll need a frame pack and game bags. You'll need to quarter deer to haul them out. Man, was that ever a surprise for this redneck. I was used to dragging them out or going to get them with the 4 wheeler. Get a GOOD waterproof topo map. You can look up the mountain and think, that it's a straight shot to the deer you see. The topo will show that impassable gorge. It will also give you clues about the best path to stalk deer. Buy very good rain gear and waterproof bags for your gear. You are screwed when you gear gets wet. It's not like the sun will come right out and dry it. Get a PLB. It can be the best $250 you ever spend.
Don't obsess over bears. The are there. They are big. But they are very good at avoiding people. As much time as I spent in the wilds of Kodiak, I only saw 2 bears up close. I saw several more along the roads, but I don't count those. Contrary to popular belief, they don't come running at the sound of a gun. At least not in my experience or the experience of many people I know and trust. If they did, come opening day of bear season, people would fire shots as a bear call. That doesn't happen.
Kodiak blacktail is the best game meat I have ever eaten. It is just incredible. They have a good layer of fat on them by the end of the summer. Cut it all off. Rope off some time to fish for silver salmon. They'll be bright and hungry and in the inland streams late October through September.
I am sorry I can't give you any details on outfitters or fly in/out services. It's been too long since I was there.
I got one in velvet on opening day (August 1.) Early August is fairly easy to hunt because the landscape is lush green and the brown deer really stick out, making spot and stalk very straightforward but often physically difficult. The deer tend to hold high in the bowls and mountain meadows. Average daily chance of rainfall is about 30%.
By early September, two things have changed. The deer have dumped their velvet and the very prevalent cow parsnip. has died. When it dies, it turns blacktail brown. That means every dead plant stands out like the blacktail did a month earlier. That means lots of glassing. The deer will still be high, you'll just have to spend more time spotting than stalking. By the middle of September the average daily chance of rainfall is 40%. The deer slowly start moving down the mountain as the days get shorter and cooler. September can be very wet. Rain can set in for days on end. It doesn't rain hard by continental standards, but it can rain relentlessly.
By early October the vegetation on mountain tops is gone. The deer will be feeding lower. Early October can deliver a dusting of snow. By late October the higher mountain peaks will get snow that stays. The deer will be gravitating toward the beaches by this time. I never did the beach hunts.
You'll need a frame pack and game bags. You'll need to quarter deer to haul them out. Man, was that ever a surprise for this redneck. I was used to dragging them out or going to get them with the 4 wheeler. Get a GOOD waterproof topo map. You can look up the mountain and think, that it's a straight shot to the deer you see. The topo will show that impassable gorge. It will also give you clues about the best path to stalk deer. Buy very good rain gear and waterproof bags for your gear. You are screwed when you gear gets wet. It's not like the sun will come right out and dry it. Get a PLB. It can be the best $250 you ever spend.
Don't obsess over bears. The are there. They are big. But they are very good at avoiding people. As much time as I spent in the wilds of Kodiak, I only saw 2 bears up close. I saw several more along the roads, but I don't count those. Contrary to popular belief, they don't come running at the sound of a gun. At least not in my experience or the experience of many people I know and trust. If they did, come opening day of bear season, people would fire shots as a bear call. That doesn't happen.
Kodiak blacktail is the best game meat I have ever eaten. It is just incredible. They have a good layer of fat on them by the end of the summer. Cut it all off. Rope off some time to fish for silver salmon. They'll be bright and hungry and in the inland streams late October through September.
I am sorry I can't give you any details on outfitters or fly in/out services. It's been too long since I was there.
- Thread Starter
- #60
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