Ironmerganser
WKR
Other than the technical clothes I was wearing and the fancy gear I had in my pack, you would never know what year it is stepping onto the beach on Kodiak Island. That’s what I really love about hunting new and remote places. Standing there and looking up at the towering mountains, it could just as easily be 1819 as it is 2019.
It’s talked about all the time, but heading to Alaska, and especially Kodiak Island, is on a lot of hunters dream hunt lists. My 3 buddies and I had been talking about doing something new and exciting and once we did a little research into a Sitka Blacktail hunt on Kodiak Island, we knew that would be just the thing to cut our teeth on an Alaska adventure.
I did some research on line and then hit the forums. I asked around and it seemed as though Mr Jeff Peterson of Kodiak Combos Adventures would be our outfitter of choice (Thanks TX crew). He offered a great combo “cast and blast”, if you will, of deer hunting, fishing and sea duck hunting. Coming from the Midwest (Nebraska and Iowa) it seemed like a great way for 4 flatlanders to experience a little bit of what Kodiak Island has to offer. We put the deposits down with Kodiak Combos and it was done...we were going to Kodiak Island!!
Now, all if you know how the next 8-10 months goes. Emails, texts, calls, gear buying and upgrading, getting in shape, teasing each other about getting in shape, etc, etc. The excitement builds with every months passing. Before you know it, you are driving to the airport wondering if you brought enough gear. More than likely, you brought WAY too much as we did (more on that later).
Anyone that has done a trip to Kodiak knows to hope for the best but expect the worst. The planes get progressively smaller the closer you get to Kodiak. Because of that, your hunt is not determined by the calendar, but by the weather. We fell victim to the dreaded “wasted day sickness” and had to spend the night on some lovely benches in the Anchorage airport as they could not get into Kodiak City.
Once we did fly out, with the weather cooperating, getting into Kodiak City was fairly easy. Kodiak airport is small, but we expected that. When you get inside to get your bags, there are gun cases, waterproof duffels and meat boxes built up like muskrat huts in a sea of Kuiu, Firstlite, Sitka and Kifaru. Hunters are lined up to get home....usually reluctantly.
Get your gear and shuffle it across the parking lot to Island Air. I HIGHLY recommend them. The friendliest and most helpful people in the airline industry I have ever had the pleasure to deal with. If you ever get there, and she is still working there, ask for Krizel. Tease her a bit to get her smiling. She will help you with all your needs and get you where you need to go to the best of her ability.
Did I mention the planes get smaller as you get closer to Kodiak? This was an experience for me. I wasn't scared, far from it, but rather VERY excited to finally experience what I had seen on so many hunting shows and videos, the bush plane experience. The views and perspective you get from a small plane are breathtaking.
Our pilot ,Steve, took us on a fantastic ride. Since we were in a charter, and because of a little weather, we took the long way from Kodiak City to Old Harbor and to say I was a “window licker” for the entire flight was an understatement. The views and sites from the plane are something I will never forget.
We were met at the Old Harbor airstrip by Mr Jeff. To say he is a character is a gross understatement. We figured out pretty quick that the first thing to come out of Jeff’s mouth is sarcasm, the second is usually a smart ass remark, and the third is usually instruction or an order. He made the week in Old Harbor entertaining. We laughed more on this hunting trip than I think any of us ever had before.
His wife Lianna is the true boss though. She takes care of the paperwork, lodge, food....basically all of the amenities. If Jeff started getting too smart with us, we would just say we would talk to the “boss” about it later and that would usually calm his sarcasm a bit...never entirely though.
Lianna made sure we never went hungry. With the meals she was feeding us, I am pretty sure we may have gained weight.
We would definitely do a few things different next time, but all in all, it was a FANTASTIC adventure.
Below are a few images to entertain your ocular cavities. We got the normal “grip and grin” photos, but you could take a million photos and still not capture all the beautiful sites of Kodiak. We all had a blast. I will touch on some of the hunting and gear next in this post.
It’s talked about all the time, but heading to Alaska, and especially Kodiak Island, is on a lot of hunters dream hunt lists. My 3 buddies and I had been talking about doing something new and exciting and once we did a little research into a Sitka Blacktail hunt on Kodiak Island, we knew that would be just the thing to cut our teeth on an Alaska adventure.
I did some research on line and then hit the forums. I asked around and it seemed as though Mr Jeff Peterson of Kodiak Combos Adventures would be our outfitter of choice (Thanks TX crew). He offered a great combo “cast and blast”, if you will, of deer hunting, fishing and sea duck hunting. Coming from the Midwest (Nebraska and Iowa) it seemed like a great way for 4 flatlanders to experience a little bit of what Kodiak Island has to offer. We put the deposits down with Kodiak Combos and it was done...we were going to Kodiak Island!!
Now, all if you know how the next 8-10 months goes. Emails, texts, calls, gear buying and upgrading, getting in shape, teasing each other about getting in shape, etc, etc. The excitement builds with every months passing. Before you know it, you are driving to the airport wondering if you brought enough gear. More than likely, you brought WAY too much as we did (more on that later).
Anyone that has done a trip to Kodiak knows to hope for the best but expect the worst. The planes get progressively smaller the closer you get to Kodiak. Because of that, your hunt is not determined by the calendar, but by the weather. We fell victim to the dreaded “wasted day sickness” and had to spend the night on some lovely benches in the Anchorage airport as they could not get into Kodiak City.
Once we did fly out, with the weather cooperating, getting into Kodiak City was fairly easy. Kodiak airport is small, but we expected that. When you get inside to get your bags, there are gun cases, waterproof duffels and meat boxes built up like muskrat huts in a sea of Kuiu, Firstlite, Sitka and Kifaru. Hunters are lined up to get home....usually reluctantly.
Get your gear and shuffle it across the parking lot to Island Air. I HIGHLY recommend them. The friendliest and most helpful people in the airline industry I have ever had the pleasure to deal with. If you ever get there, and she is still working there, ask for Krizel. Tease her a bit to get her smiling. She will help you with all your needs and get you where you need to go to the best of her ability.
Did I mention the planes get smaller as you get closer to Kodiak? This was an experience for me. I wasn't scared, far from it, but rather VERY excited to finally experience what I had seen on so many hunting shows and videos, the bush plane experience. The views and perspective you get from a small plane are breathtaking.
Our pilot ,Steve, took us on a fantastic ride. Since we were in a charter, and because of a little weather, we took the long way from Kodiak City to Old Harbor and to say I was a “window licker” for the entire flight was an understatement. The views and sites from the plane are something I will never forget.
We were met at the Old Harbor airstrip by Mr Jeff. To say he is a character is a gross understatement. We figured out pretty quick that the first thing to come out of Jeff’s mouth is sarcasm, the second is usually a smart ass remark, and the third is usually instruction or an order. He made the week in Old Harbor entertaining. We laughed more on this hunting trip than I think any of us ever had before.
His wife Lianna is the true boss though. She takes care of the paperwork, lodge, food....basically all of the amenities. If Jeff started getting too smart with us, we would just say we would talk to the “boss” about it later and that would usually calm his sarcasm a bit...never entirely though.
Lianna made sure we never went hungry. With the meals she was feeding us, I am pretty sure we may have gained weight.
We would definitely do a few things different next time, but all in all, it was a FANTASTIC adventure.
Below are a few images to entertain your ocular cavities. We got the normal “grip and grin” photos, but you could take a million photos and still not capture all the beautiful sites of Kodiak. We all had a blast. I will touch on some of the hunting and gear next in this post.
