August on Kodiak

[TheKid]

My father and I are planning a trip to Kodiak Island for a Blacktail hunt in early August. We were looking at the Frazer lake area and contemplating our options. This will be both of our first times hunting in AK and around Brown Bear. For added peace of mind, at least for this first hunt until we learn Kodiak, we are planning to stay in and hunt out of one of the two Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Cabins on either end of the lake (North Frazer Lake Cabin and South Frazer Lake Cabin). Does anyone have any experience hunting on/around Frazer or from one of the two cabins that could provide some info? Which end of the lake would be a better choice and what we can expect with bears based on the time of year? We also plan to do a bit of salmon fishing while we are there.

Thanks in advance,
TheKid

 

[Grant Kopplin]

You might already know this and have them rented, but those cabins rent out months in advance. I would not recommend hunting that location that time of year. I’d try to find a lake at a higher elevation and tent camp. Most of the deer will be well above brush line in the alpine and you’ll be a long ways from it. The bugs and brush you’ll have to go through getting up there will be bad. Not saying it can’t be done and you won’t be successful, but i think there are better plans for that time of year. Also, I would think that the bears will be more concentrated down there that time of year around the salmon vs if you got dropped off at a lake at a higher elevation. When I’ve hunted up high in august the only bears we ever saw were way down below us on the lake shores and rivers fishing for salmon. They were never an issue

 

[DMurphy]

My father and I are planning a trip to Kodiak Island for a Blacktail hunt in early August. We were looking at the Frazer lake area and contemplating our options. This will be both of our first times hunting in AK and around Brown Bear. For added peace of mind, at least for this first hunt until we learn Kodiak, we are planning to stay in and hunt out of one of the two Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Cabins on either end of the lake (North Frazer Lake Cabin and South Frazer Lake Cabin). Does anyone have any experience hunting on/around Frazer or from one of the two cabins that could provide some info? Which end of the lake would be a better choice and what we can expect with bears based on the time of year? We also plan to do a bit of salmon fishing while we are there.

Thanks in advance,
TheKid

How did this hunt go for you? I am in early stages of planning a deer hunt for 2025 and also have no experience in AK. Any info you can provide about what went well vs what did not would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Maxhunter]

You might already know this and have them rented, but those cabins rent out months in advance. I would not recommend hunting that location that time of year. I’d try to find a lake at a higher elevation and tent camp. Most of the deer will be well above brush line in the alpine and you’ll be a long ways from it. The bugs and brush you’ll have to go through getting up there will be bad. Not saying it can’t be done and you won’t be successful, but i think there are better plans for that time of year. Also, I would think that the bears will be more concentrated down there that time of year around the salmon vs if you got dropped off at a lake at a higher elevation. When I’ve hunted up high in august the only bears we ever saw were way down below us on the lake shores and rivers fishing for salmon. They were never an issue

I agree. I’ve hunted August but flew into an area that you can hike daily to good deer spots. Most fly in transporters have good locations so you can camp away from known bear concentrations when fish maybe spawning. We rented an electric fence from Kodiak Camps along with a sat phone. We never had any problems.

 

[DMurphy]

I agree. I’ve hunted August but flew into an area that you can hike daily to good deer spots. Most fly in transporters have good locations so you can camp away from known bear concentrations when fish maybe spawning. We rented an electric fence from Kodiak Camps along with a sat phone. We never had any problems.

Maxhunter- I am looking into an August hunt in 2025. Are you willing/able to provide any details on who you used for transport and where you camped? The set-up that you described is exactly what we are considering.

 

[Maxhunter]

We used SeaHawk air.

https://seahawkair.com/