Kodiak blacktail hunt info

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Hey thanks a million for all the information guys. Some really valuable tips there. Is there plenty of water up high late August-early september?

Yes. Often in the form of very small rainwater runoff streams, but it is there.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I’ve never had a problem finding fresh water on Kodiak. In fact, I have never once experienced a lack of freshwater on Kodiak, but man, that sure does sound like a nice problem to have.


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[blacktail sniper]

Hunting Sitka Blacktail on Kodiak has been on my realistic bucket list for years & we’ve decided to make it happen in ‘22. I am hoping to get a bunch of questions answered by the numerous guys here that have been there.

1) We want to do a fly in hunt either in a cabin or tent camp. A cabin with heat sounds appealing if the weather is foul but am wondering how the hunting from a cabin will be compared to a tent camp rental scenario? We don’t mind covering ground & would consider bringing spike camps to overnight out away from the cabin to locate bigger & more bucks. A electric fence rental might be required for this?

2) Approximately how much per person does the plane trip from Kodiak into a cabin or backcountry location cost? We were wondering if we could do a diy hunt for $3000 a guy coming from Washington?

3) We’re thinking late October-early November to hunt the rut. How many days should we allow ourselves to hunt with 3 or 4 people & 2 tags each?

4) Anybody have experience with the f&g cabins or any private rentals? How difficult is it to secure reservations & was it a good experience?

5) How much extra cost is there getting a couple deer home to Wa on the airlines?

Any other tips & details would be welcome & appreciated

we did a DIY kind of. We booked a boat with Ninalik (cant ever get spelling right) four of us were able to take over the smaller boat food was great nothing fancy but awesome. They couldt help at all with the deer as we paid for the transport only but it included fishing as we wanted to. three archery hunters tagged out on good bucks and another buddy shot two bucks with a rifle. Id go back again in a heart beat.

 

[GrabRack]

Literally speaking, you don't want to spike up high unless you don't mind tent and gear resembling a broken kite when the winds rip out of control. We had one evening that was very turbulent even though we'd a great spot. My tarp set up as vestibule let loose and whipped stakes all about the place until I crawled out to save from ripping holes in tent. Give yourself a reasonable block to winds out of south and most mid level valleys will have water low enough to filter to fill bladders with for the day. Once September rolls in, rains will get the high ravines flowing fresh water again that can be drunk unfiltered. Weather forecasts are a bit inaccurate and having a weather radio available can give you a little more real-time expectations.

 

[Fonkie]

Excellent, good to know.

 

[GrabRack]

Just read this article on a whitetail buck with Cryptorchidism, the scientific name for 'Jenner' bucks.

Cryptorchid Buck: Tennessee Hunter Shoots Whitetail With Cryptorchidism | OutdoorHub

A Tennessee man capped off his 2019/2020 deer hunting season by harvesting a cryptorchid buck he won't soon forget

www.outdoorhub.com

 

[Fonkie]

Interesting, I wonder why it’s so prevalent on Kodiak?

 

[AK Troutbum]

Interesting, I wonder why it’s so prevalent on Kodiak?

If you’re really interested, check this out. From Josh Leavitt (Ruta Locura), It’s a super interesting read.

kodiak - Western Wildlife Ecology

Since the early to mid 1990s, and increasing since that time, Sitka black-tailed deer on Kodiak island Alaska have exhibited abnormal antlers, and were mono and cryptorchid(1). Many of the abnormal antlers also had retained velvet, some of these deer did not shed their antlers annually as is...

westernwildlifeecology.org

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[alexanderg23]

PMsent

 

[Fonkie]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting

 

[GrabRack]

Hmm, herbicides. That is interesting, there definitely is cow parsnip around where we hunt, all dried by then. Would surprise me that it would be managed, but anything is possible.

 

[MattB]

I've read research suggesting that the Kodiak deer can eat a lot of seaweed, which has some hormone/similar in it that can influence fawns en vitro such that they do not develop normally post-birth.

 

[GrabRack]

That would make more sense. Looks like cow parsnip is actually a native plant. It sure is a pain to hike thru, it'll grab hold and rain seeds when fighting thru it.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I find this to be a better explanation for the abnormally large population of cryptorchid black-tailed deer on the south end of Kodiak.

Based on lesions and the before mentioned abnormalities observed in the testes of affected deer, the most likely cause of the observed antler and testicular dysgenesis was determined to be an estrogenic environmental agent. This could include a number of chemicals including many endocrine disruptors. It was hypothosized that this might involve the consumption of contaminated seaweed because these deer frequent low lying areas and are known to eat seaweed, but this was not investigated further.


From a 2010 Environmental Assessment of The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Integrated Pest Management plan(2) we find that there are known endocrine disrupting agents used on Kodiak island. It is documented that deer have been observed and are known to consume these agents and use areas treated with them.


From this management plan: “Elk, goat, marten, red squirrel, muskrat, and beaver do not occur in any areas known to support invasive plants. On the other hand, field observations indicated that deer and hare have used areas that support invasive plants for foraging and, in some cases cover, including sites subjected to active management.” The “active management” referred to is the use of several herbicides, many of these are know endocrine disruptors.


Like with the prevalence of abnormal deer, the presence of weeds and use of herbicides has been mostly restricted to low land areas on the island. “Since the current distribution of non-native plants is restricted to lower altitudes (less than 1,000 ft. elevation), our summary of vegetation is restricted to that zone.”(2)


Two herbicides have been, and were being proposed to be used further on Kodiak Island, these are Aminopyralid and Glyphosate(2) Glyphosate has been shown to target sertoli cells in rats, and affect leydig cells.(3) In Kodiak black-tailed deer we see “hyperplastic Sertoli cells, often arranged in rosettes and sometimes with neoplastic changes, in several abdominal testes“.(1) It has also been shown that Glyphosate and its co-factors have a known and measurable endocrine disrupting ability beyond the targeting of sertoli cells(4)

 

[GrabRack]

So makes me wonder why more on south end? Don't all of the shores surrounding island have kelp or is it more prevalent there as part of the coastal deer diet? I was of the belief the winters are normally milder to the Pacific and western Shelikof sides with lower mountain elevations, which would lead me to believe on average they'd eat less kelp. The other question in mind is what effect the ocean currents have in bringing BPA plastics to the SW shores, also know as endocrine disrupting? Might that too, be causal?

I'd say I'll just shoot hard-horns from now on but doubt that would make a difference if there is any concern of contamination levels high enough to be harmful to humans in the first place.

 

[ebhunter96]

Andrews air with a beaver is about $3200 round trip to south side of the island. 1500#.

there is a lodge on zachar bay that seems reasonable. Word is that the backside hill is pretty steep, but looked like a viable option. Weather is super unpredictable that time of year.

 

[MichHunter]

We did a trip about a year ago to Kodiak and checked empty Colman coolers the whole way from Michigan lol Get on amazon about three days before you arrive and have one prime shipped for half the cost of flying with it. Guys who didn't shoot deer gave their coolers away to other guys at camp.

 

[Gmurray70]

Hunting Sitka Blacktail on Kodiak has been on my realistic bucket list for years & we’ve decided to make it happen in ‘22. I am hoping to get a bunch of questions answered by the numerous guys here that have been there.

1) We want to do a fly in hunt either in a cabin or tent camp. A cabin with heat sounds appealing if the weather is foul but am wondering how the hunting from a cabin will be compared to a tent camp rental scenario? We don’t mind covering ground & would consider bringing spike camps to overnight out away from the cabin to locate bigger & more bucks. A electric fence rental might be required for this?

2) Approximately how much per person does the plane trip from Kodiak into a cabin or backcountry location cost? We were wondering if we could do a diy hunt for $3000 a guy coming from Washington?

3) We’re thinking late October-early November to hunt the rut. How many days should we allow ourselves to hunt with 3 or 4 people & 2 tags each?

4) Anybody have experience with the f&g cabins or any private rentals? How difficult is it to secure reservations & was it a good experience?

5) How much extra cost is there getting a couple deer home to Wa on the airlines?

Any other tips & details would be welcome & appreciated

I’m going the last week of November to Kodiak for a hunt! Super excited as it’s been a hunt I’ve always wanted to do! I love Alaska and sure I will love hunting blacktail and sea ducks!

 

[Beendare]

Hmm, herbicides. ......

Yeah, I agree with AK Trout....so many other possible explanations. Sometimes the tendency is to blame these pesticides but Roundup has no residual soil effect so to ingest a significant amount the animal would literally have to eat a plant right after its sprayed.

Roundup is broad spectrum.......so what, they drop someone in there to selectively spray individual plants? Not very efficient or effective.

I have seen a mule guy in the backcountry of Colorado with a tank system setup on his mules spraying a mixture of pesticides to control noxious weeds on the trail system. Kodiak is a whole different animal in that regard.

....

 

[grahambiel]

Slightly off topic but question for you guys on weapon choice in Kodiak - does anyone hunt with a AR-10 platform?

I've had an AR-10 lower sitting around since the last election and have been thinking about doing a build.

My thought process is as follows:

1) given the country I'd expect most shots will probably be at 300 yards or less so as long as I can get something that'll shoot ~1.5MOA I'd be ok out to those ranges
2) We're planning on hunting from a forest service cabin with maybe the occasional spike out so weight isnt as concerning
3) For bear protection a .308 carried in a gunbearer will be almost as quick to deploy as a pistol carried in a chest holster but with much more energy and quicker/more accurate follow up shots (i have offset iron sights on my AR-15 which I would probably do on the AR-10 for close range shooting)

Obviously an AR platform is never going to be as accurate as a bolt gun so if I get a 400 yard opportunity I'm probably gonna have to sneak closer or pass but besides that, curious what folks who have hunted Kodiak before think of the above. Good idea? Bad idea?