Kodiak Deer limit change

[Rich M]

The severe lack of knowledge on this thread aside from a few is astonishing. I’m not surprised and it’s ok. Many have no idea and I guess that’s fine too.

C’mon down and hunt FL with me and know everything you need to know if you never been. We dont have trouble w nr, just too many res and poor hunting overall.

Only 1 way to learn. Watch it on youtube!

I never woulda thunk that kodiak deer would be a popular nr hunt. Got big bears. Small deer w little antlers. Just something to do i guess.

 

[Coveyleader]

What surprises me most, is they didn't vote in outfitter allocations i.e. go by yourself, you shoot one deer, go with an outfitter, status quo, you can shoot 3.

 

[z987k]

What surprises me most, is they didn't vote in outfitter allocations i.e. go by yourself, you shoot one deer, go with an outfitter, status quo, you can shoot 3.

We don't have outfitter allocations anywhere. It's not a thing. And never will be a thing.

 

[Oregon]

Oh well, having 3 tags and going to Kodiak was once considered by myself to be the funnest deer hunt in the US. Having one deer tag and going to Kodiak would still be fun, but not the funnest hunt for 4-5k. It guarantees I will never go back for deer.
No one will miss me.

 

[bowuntr]

This changes things (a little) for me... the ability to keep hunting on multiple tags was an attraction. I still have a few more Kodiak hunts left in me... the adventure is worth it for one deer... but, it won't be an easy and spontaneous decision anymore.

I saw what was happening when I was there in August. We flew out the afternoon before opening day and my #1, #2 and #4 spots already had camps at them. This had never happened to me before. The "I'm going to Kodiak" threads on Rokslide have increased 10 fold...

I'm heading to 40 Mile this September for my last (probably) Caribou hunt. This will be my 16th Alaskan DIY hunt. Good Moose hunts are very hard to get spots on and good DIY hunts are in the 10k range... I'm biting the bullet for one more.

I don't think for a second this decision has anything to do with management. Mother Nature plays a part in this but the deer on Kodiak have proven to be a resilient resourse. There is a trend happening right now in quite a few states... non-residents are not as welcome as they once were.

I've been very fortunate... I'm feeling disappointed for those who are in their hunting prime and will not have the opportunities... they are disappearing. My 2 cents... Ed F

 

[Htm84]

We don't have outfitter allocations anywhere. It's not a thing. And never will be a thing.

You should look at last years draw supplement. The DCUA in particular. Like 72 tags total for for residents 6-7 for NR going guided and 1 for NR no guide. I’d consider that an outfitter allocation. Funniest part of it only 1 guy applied for the guided tag and he’s in the sheep forum looking for a different guide. Any NR wanting to go can hire a guide and hunt if this fall.

 

[LoggerDan]

 

[z987k]

You should look at last years draw supplement. The DCUA in particular. Like 72 tags total for for residents 6-7 for NR going guided and 1 for NR no guide. I’d consider that an outfitter allocation. Funniest part of it only 1 guy applied for the guided tag and he’s in the sheep forum looking for a different guide. Any NR wanting to go can hire a guide and hunt if this fall.

That is more or less a guide allocation. And disappointing. They should not have made the next of kin and commercial guide separate.

 

[MattB]

I don’t believe that anyone could say with a straight face that they aren’t guiding.

Having been on 5 boat-based hunt on Kodiak with 2 different outfits, I am curious as to why you say that?

 

[kodiak725]

having been on 5 boat-based hunt on Kodiak with 2 different outfits, I am curious as to why you say that?

Mostly because there is no regulation and there are so many it would be almost impossible to actually catch someone doing it. Transporting is supposed to be the hunter calling all the shots on where to go and I don’t believe that it is that way. Some outfits I’m sure are respectable and play by all the rules but I know there are plenty that do not. It might be a bit of a stretch or gray area but I’d argue that the outfit picking what bay to hunt in to some extent is guiding. Many outfits are not picking folks up in Kodiak they are having them flown out to whatever bay they are parked in.


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[MattB]

Mostly because there is no regulation and there are so many it would be almost impossible to actually catch someone doing it. Transporting is supposed to be the hunter calling all the shots on where to go and I don’t believe that it is that way. Some outfits I’m sure are respectable and play by all the rules but I know there are plenty that do not. It might be a bit of a stretch or gray area but I’d argue that the outfit picking what bay to hunt in to some extent is guiding. Many outfits are not picking folks up in Kodiak they are having them flown out to whatever bay they are parked in.


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No regulation? There is a section on transporters on p. 10 of the 2022-2023 Alaska Hunting Regulations that outlines what Transporters may and may not do. If what you mean is that there is no enforcement, one of the outfits I hunted with was randomly inspected by AF&G 2x in a one-week period on Kodiak so that isn't true either.

Picking the bay in no way constitutes guiding (see exert below from the regs). On boat-based hunts, the safety of the hunters is the primary responsibility of the boat crew. The weather (primarily current/forecast wind direction and resulting wave action) often dictates where hunters can be safely dropped off or picked up - both float plane to boat and skiff to shore. It also often dictates where the boat needs to be parked overnight. The boat crew dictating those locations even withing a given bay isn't guiding, it's just them being prudent.

"Transporters and individuals cannot legally be compensated for vehicles, fuel, bait, camping, hunting, bear baiting, or game processing equipment, or any hunting services such as cleaning of game, glassing, packing, etc. from a permanent, or nonpermanent structure in the field, or on a boat on saltwater."

 

[kodiak725]

Sorry, I did mean enforcement and I am not saying that there are not good outfits. Just because you got checked twice in one week doesn't mean they are checking everyone, nor does it mean they are enforcing anything. I am surprised it was ADF&G who checked you since it is typically AST who enforces our game laws. I am well aware of what the regulations say constitutes guiding, however that's why I said that part was my opinion. When you go with a guide they pick the location and I don't know of guide that would pick a poor area. If the client asks to get dropped off on beach that is unreachable that's understandable. Also thanks for the info on the weather, I live here so I am well aware of the challenges and limitations due to weather. I think using weather/safety as a guise for where they are taking clients is a bit of a scapegoat, obviously they aren't going to park in the Shelikof and have clients dropped off there. Maybe I am just jaded because I have had run ins with clients from some of these outfits and had outfits drop clients right on top of us, not illegal but not very ethical. I think that some of the transport laws need amending, just my opinion though.

 

[fisherman983]

I commercially fished alaska for awhile, spent a bunch of time on Kodak, sport fished and hunted.
Killed a couple deer, and always planned on going back with the intention of getting 3 tags and filling all of them.
This decision sucks!!!
With the expense/time/logistics it takes, the number of animals only a moron would choose to shoot just 1 deer instead of 2 or 3. If I'm willing to spend $5-6k+ i want as much meat as possible. Couple extra sets of horns is also a bonus
Tags are dirt cheep as a NR compared to every other state in the west.

I probably won't be going back at this point.

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[Greyinggrayling]

My husband and I will be on the island bear hunting in October.
We are AK residents.
We will be self-guided.
The costs so far for this hunt are high. Nothing to do with the bear at this point…it’s all the logistics, which would be the same if we were only deer hunting.
Just the initial lodging and transportation getting to Kodiak from Anc and going in/out of the field is in the thousands already.

For a NR hunting deer only, and paying $300 per tag, it would quickly become unaffordable for many people. But at 3 tags, at least the hunt will be days vs minutes. Now, NRs will pay all the logistics for just one deer and potentially just one legal day in the field. Unless you have thousands of dollars to burn, it’s just not worth it.

If boat-based transporters were the problem, they threw the baby out with the bath water by making hunting deer in the interior of Kodiak limited to one deer as well. They could have easily instituted a rule that a hunter must be a certain distance from the coastline for taking of deer.
It would be more sporting and weed out a lot of the fly-by-night transporters that are pushing cast and blast without the hunter ever leaving the salt.

 

[SDHNTR]

Why do we allow Social Media to have this impact on us? We need a boycott! The only way to turn the tide is to stop watching, stop clicking and for heavens sake stop liking, following and subscribing. If you do these things you are a contributor to the problem. It’s time to get harsh about it.

 

[MattB]

Sorry, I did mean enforcement and I am not saying that there are not good outfits. Just because you got checked twice in one week doesn't mean they are checking everyone, nor does it mean they are enforcing anything. I am surprised it was ADF&G who checked you since it is typically AST who enforces our game laws. I am well aware of what the regulations say constitutes guiding, however that's why I said that part was my opinion. When you go with a guide they pick the location and I don't know of guide that would pick a poor area. If the client asks to get dropped off on beach that is unreachable that's understandable. Also thanks for the info on the weather, I live here so I am well aware of the challenges and limitations due to weather. I think using weather/safety as a guise for where they are taking clients is a bit of a scapegoat, obviously they aren't going to park in the Shelikof and have clients dropped off there. Maybe I am just jaded because I have had run ins with clients from some of these outfits and had outfits drop clients right on top of us, not illegal but not very ethical. I think that some of the transport laws need amending, just my opinion though.

I may be mistaken by which organization checked the boat as I was not onboard at the time, but the point is that there is enforcement. Sometimes excessive enforcement.

As for the weather - on one trip the boat's anchor cable snapped in the middle of the night due to high wind. We were tucked in on the lee of a hill and in as shallow water as we could safely moor but still had an issue. Another time I had to wade out to the skiff in waist deep water with 1-2' waves because the wind shifted unexpectedly during the day. On more than 1 trip we've had to hunt the same area for multiple days in a row because the wind direction/intensity wouldn't allow us to safely access any other areas. Just providing examples of the weather dictating hunt location - no scapegoating.

I don't disagree on updating the transporter regulations to some degree, as ethics and common courtesy do not seem to be adequate to control the behavior of some. On my last trip we had another transporter (new to the area) essentially trail us for a couple of days and one morning dropped gun hunters off on the same beach as some bowhunters from our group just 20-30 minutes later (they had seen our guys being dropped off and still did it). That just sets the scene for run in's and potential conflict in the field.

 

[Homer]

For everyone bummed about the limit being reduced Alabama is still a 3 buck state. The deer have larger racks and no brown bears to deal with. On a serious note I do feel bad for the folks who have booked a hunt already for 2023 or 2024. It’s a long way to go for one deer. There is still fishing and duck hunting but harlequin don’t taste very good and whatever fishing is offered pales in comparison compared to what could be experienced during the summer.

 

[Coveyleader]

We don't have outfitter allocations anywhere. It's not a thing. And never will be a thing.

Well maybe I didn’t use the correct wording but AK does have Outfitter welfare I.e use a guide no draw needed, go DIY stand in line for the draw.


Any your “never” is laughable at best with all the changes going on up there.

 

[Coveyleader]

All of these once great hunts that are disappearing in front of our eyes is due to posting on the net. I can name 10 off the top of my hat that just posting on places like Bowsite etc ultimately brought on the pressure. These YouTubers are just putting the final nail in the coffin.


There is one hunt I currently do that is still off the radar, but it’s only a matter of time.

 

[bowuntr]

Why do we allow Social Media to have this impact on us? We need a boycott! The only way to turn the tide is to stop watching, stop clicking and for heavens sake stop liking, following and subscribing. If you do these things you are a contributor to the problem. It’s time to get harsh about it.

You are posting this on an internet site that has the most info on hunting Sitka Blacktail deer... by far. Boycott Rokslide too... Ed F