Finally made it up to Kodiak this August, and it was definitely one to remember. We got there right before a record breaking heat wave that lasted the whole trip, which made a lot of aspects of what we did pretty tough. Conversely, we did an entire 8 day trip on Kodiak without putting our rain gear on one time. Not sure, but that too has to be some kind of record. On the hunting side of the house, we did a drop camp towards the middle of the island. Even at 2000', it was hot. Nevertheless, we both managed to harvest pretty decent bucks- interestingly, mine was a completely hard-horned 3x3 taken on August 12th. Not a record breaking specimen, but definitely a good representative animal and interesting to see the beautiful chocolate-colored antlers that early. My watch's barometer read 3250' where I pulled the trigger. I was also fortunate to fill my second tag from the road system... which was another hard horned animal, interestingly. Note on that- road system hunting early season is tough. Be prepared to put a lot of miles in to get away from hikers enjoying the nice weather, and also for lower population densities of deer that are much spookier and than those in the backcountry. Some pics:
Definitely brought some good takeaways from this trip.
1. Blacktail hunting on Kodiak is a really cool experience. They're not huge trophies and don't provide a ton of meat, but hunting deer in an alpine environment is a great time if you're willing to put in the effort.
2. The island's terrain is deceptive. What looks like a golf course from the air can, in actuality, be 6-8' tall alders and salmonberries.
3. In that vein, use game trails religiously. If you lose or elect not to use them, which was not hard to do while we were there, you can end up in some of the aforementioned jungles. Not a grand time.
4. Be prepared for a very physical hunt if targeting early season Blacktail. We had the most success on days we hunted high, and getting to good glassing points involved a solid regimen of "Kodiak cardio."
5. I'm not a paid Vortex spokesman, but I'm running out of reasons to use any other optics. All of their stuff from rangefinders to binos to riflescopes performed beautifully for both myself and my partner, including items from across the entire price range of their products.
Overall, it was a great hunt. We also did some good Halibut and Salmon fishing, although the latter was in between runs for most of our time. If you're looking for a completely unique deer hunt that will test you physically and holistically as a hunter, an early season Kodiak hunt may fit the bill. However, they're not cheap. Commercial flights to Kodiak are over a grand from most of the East Coast, and the two NR deer tags were $800. Then, if you fly in, you're looking at $700 more per person... so $2500 per person for a deer hunt before you even consider lodging, meals, gear and transporting meat. Things to consider. Either way, I'm glad to have gotten a hunt in before school starts here next week, and am thankful for the opportunity to have challenged and improved myself as a hunter. Thanks for reading!
Definitely brought some good takeaways from this trip.
1. Blacktail hunting on Kodiak is a really cool experience. They're not huge trophies and don't provide a ton of meat, but hunting deer in an alpine environment is a great time if you're willing to put in the effort.
2. The island's terrain is deceptive. What looks like a golf course from the air can, in actuality, be 6-8' tall alders and salmonberries.
3. In that vein, use game trails religiously. If you lose or elect not to use them, which was not hard to do while we were there, you can end up in some of the aforementioned jungles. Not a grand time.
4. Be prepared for a very physical hunt if targeting early season Blacktail. We had the most success on days we hunted high, and getting to good glassing points involved a solid regimen of "Kodiak cardio."
5. I'm not a paid Vortex spokesman, but I'm running out of reasons to use any other optics. All of their stuff from rangefinders to binos to riflescopes performed beautifully for both myself and my partner, including items from across the entire price range of their products.
Overall, it was a great hunt. We also did some good Halibut and Salmon fishing, although the latter was in between runs for most of our time. If you're looking for a completely unique deer hunt that will test you physically and holistically as a hunter, an early season Kodiak hunt may fit the bill. However, they're not cheap. Commercial flights to Kodiak are over a grand from most of the East Coast, and the two NR deer tags were $800. Then, if you fly in, you're looking at $700 more per person... so $2500 per person for a deer hunt before you even consider lodging, meals, gear and transporting meat. Things to consider. Either way, I'm glad to have gotten a hunt in before school starts here next week, and am thankful for the opportunity to have challenged and improved myself as a hunter. Thanks for reading!
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