UPDATED: Advise for Hunting Sitka Blacktail Deer on Kodiak Island

[djnoodle]

I'll be hunting Sitkas on Kodiak Island two weeks before Thanksgiving. What advise can someone who has been there and hunted in the rut offer me? Would you advise Montana decoys, estrus scent wicks, etc, or will that just bring in the bear?

I'll be rifle hunting. I'd love to do it archery, but my hunting partners on the trip are all rifle hunters.

The number one thing that I think will help me is someone who can point out to me the differences between this and western WA blacktail hunting in the cascades. I spent my entire life hunting blacktail in Gifford Pinchot NF, some high hunts, mostly 2000-3000 ft elevation.

Any advise from those who have been there?

UPDATE: Just got back to civilization

We slayed the big bucks! Didn't seem to matter what the elevation was. It was all about the feedin and the breedin! Find the soft, thin grass, find the does, find the 3 and 4 point bucks.

My dad killed a 108" green score monster.


Mine is smaller than that, but a nice 4x3 non-typical with lots of character. I got him at 1000' elevation. Worth the hike for certain.


All in all, we killed four 4 points and four 3 points and a red fox amongst 6 hunters. It was a great trip but I am happy to be headed back home. Every stitch of clothing I brought with me is soaked, including two sets of dry-plus gear. That rain/sleet/snow was unrelenting.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. We saw two brown bear walking the beach (from the boat, safest way to see them!) No bear trouble at all.


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[Shooting Stix]

My brother used to live in POW and he said they would call them in with a deer call and come in running in November or try using a light rattling with horns

[Born2late]

I just got back from hunting there in september. Your in for a great time. Which part of the the island are you hunting. Only reason i ask is from my experience the north end has a lot more trees and cover so many times your shots are closer if your down low. If your up a above the tree line then long range it is.
The south end of the island is more open and in a lot of spots there are no trees so longer shots unless the deer are grouped up more.You can also use the rolls in the hill as cover to sneak but it seems the does bust you from quite a ways away.
I wouldn't pack any decoys or scent. Just be ready to cover ground ( be in great shape for climbing up and down steep hills is a must!)
Bring great glass.I had small zeiss binos and a vortex 24 power scope on my sons gun and it was still difficult to judge the deer because
the tines blended in to the grass surrounding. So next year i will pack a good spotting scope.
Bring great rain gear and be prepared to shoot in wind. Our hunt it blew 30 to 45 for 4 days straight!
Also bring a camera,we brought a sony video camera with a 60x zoom and video the hunts and that was really fun.( useless for being able to judge deer with.)
Oh did i mention to bring rain gear and its windy.
I think the hunt style varys depending on where you hunt and who you hunt with. Some guy even just cruise around with a boat and spot them then beach and sneak from there.
Our hunt First day we hiked 6 miles, second we did ten miles killed two deer and i packed 5 of that with boned out deer on my back,
third day hike to bird hunt and did 5 miles.
It really depend on what you want to put into it.
Ask away if you have any questions i didn't answer.
Our deer we would glass the hillside that were out of the wind and the sunny side and they would congregate there. But it should be quite different now that weather and the ruts getting closer.

[Fl0und3rz]

Tag.

[WAnoob]

Shoot me a PM for any questions, I've hunted there about 6 times.  I hunted the more central part of the island, bears are everywhere but there is no reason to be fearful.  Just make sure you hang your meat fairly high after you get it back to camp.  You should be able to cover a lot of ground, but that is not always the best way to hunt them.  We shot one of the biggest ones of all our trips a little bit in back of camp, snow will be your best friend at Kodiak.  Do a lot of glassing and hunt very quiet along the way. The southern part of the island is warmer and will hold a lot more bears, but there are on average bigger deer down there.  The deer do not like to move around in bad weather unless it has been a few days, and be prepared to stay hunkered down as 50-60 mph winds are not uncommon on the island. 

That's all I can think of for now, I have a lot of experience hunting Kodiak.  Also if you're flying out of Kodiak be sure to look at Seahawk air with Roland as a pilot, he is a great guy and highly recommended among 99% of the hunters that go there.

P.S. a folding saw will be your best friend if you're hunting around alders, just because you watch a bear plow through them doesn't mean you can make it through

Like the person said above me, the terrain greatly varies, but you do not have to go to high elevations all the time to shoot a nice deer.  The rut is a great time to hunt them but it can vary up there.  Also do not bring scent, decoy or calls we don't use those things for deer back home in Alaska and they'll will not be needed.



Randy

[CNELK]

You will have the time of your life! I was there that time last year and we had a blast! Pray for cold snowy weather. We had warm and very windy and rainy weather which made for tuff hunting. We had that bad weather due to a giant typhoon in the Gulf of Alaska  and the Bering sea. With your question about the bears on the island don't be complacent and have your guard down they are truly a big animal. Just a few days before we got there a guy from Camas washington got mauled by a Brown bear while dragging his buck out. You shouldn't have any problem finding bucks lots to choose from! Who are you flying with on the Island and what area you going to? Are you staying inland or on a boat with a charter?


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[CNELK]

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[CNELK]

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[CNELK]

Have lots of fun! I hope someday to make it back! Enjoy your trip and embrace the memories for a lifetime! If you can please post pictures of your trip when you get back would love to see them!

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[Cerakoter]

I used to hunt them around Larson Bay.  We would go out in a skiff just before low tide and spot them on the beaches and around smaller islands.  Spot and stalk style.  Lots of fun hunting those tiny black tails. 

[kodiak 907]

Here's one from last week.

[kodiak 907]

DJ. Did you get my last pm?

[Cerakoter]

Nice, looks like he's rutting hard.

[kodiak 907]

No just fat and happy. Some of these deer have never seen a person so they are not afraid at all.

[djnoodle]

You will have the time of your life! I was there that time last year and we had a blast! Pray for cold snowy weather. We had warm and very windy and rainy weather which made for tuff hunting. We had that bad weather due to a giant typhoon in the Gulf of Alaska  and the Bering sea. With your question about the bears on the island don't be complacent and have your guard down they are truly a big animal. Just a few days before we got there a guy from Camas washington got mauled by a Brown bear while dragging his buck out. You shouldn't have any problem finding bucks lots to choose from! Who are you flying with on the Island and what area you going to? Are you staying inland or on a boat with a charter?

We are sleeping on a boat chartered with Ninilchuck Charters and that is out of Larsen Bay. Can't remember the name of the plane. We take Alaska Air to Kodiak City, and then a small plane to Larsen, something like 'Service Air'.


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[djnoodle]

DJ. Did you get my last pm?

Sure did. You got me all pumped up and excited.. I had to spend an entire day in the air yesterday. Had to fly to Montreal for work for the week. So I have been off the grid.

Everyone here is so helpful. And now I feel so much more prepared for what to expect when I step off of the skiff and onto 'The Rock'. If one can ever really be prepared for such an adventure.


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[djnoodle]

UPDATE: Just got back to civilization

We slayed the big bucks! Didn't seem to matter what the elevation was. It was all about the feedin and the breedin! Find the soft, thin grass, find the does, find the 3 and 4 point bucks.

My dad killed a 108" green score monster.


Mine is smaller than that, but a nice 4x3 non-typical with lots of character. I got him at 1000' elevation. Worth the hike for certain.


All in all, we killed four 4 points and four 3 points and a red fox amongst 6 hunters. It was a great trip but I am happy to be headed back home. Every stitch of clothing I brought with me is soaked, including two sets of dry-plus gear. That rain/sleet/snow was unrelenting.

Thanks to everyone for your advice. We saw two brown bear walking the beach (from the boat, safest way to see them!) No bear trouble at all.

[djnoodle]

My cousin's 4x3:


Some brown bear:


Dad and our friend killed two in 20 minutes of each other:



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[kodiak 907]

Nice work! It was a good year to go up and hunt. Hopefully this winter is mild again and a lot of the Bucks make it to 5-6 years.

Your dads deer is probably in that 5-6 year old range. Stud buck

[WAnoob]

Outstanding, great job!  Makes me miss Kodiak even more.  Very nice bucks for Kodiak.  Glad you had a good time and were successful.

[CNELK]

Well done you guys! Awesome bucks! Kodiak is an awesome place and dream of going back!

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[Jimmy33]

Thats a dream hunt if mine...did you guys self guide?


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[djnoodle]

Thats a dream hunt if mine...did you guys self guide?


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Sort of. We didn't hire a guide but my dad's best friend is a brown bear guide and has hinted sitkas on Kodiak about 12 times before.


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[deerhunter_98520]

looks like a great hunt! what does somthing like this cost? my group was talking about planning a trip up there in the next few years.

[djnoodle]

It was like $2400 per person for the chartered boat. The tags were $400 for a 7-day fishing license and two deer tags. Then you have flights and a few other small expenses.


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