mcseal2
WKR
- Joined
- May 8, 2014
- Messages
- 2,726
We are planning to hunt mid-November 2022 to fit everyone’s schedules. The four of us will fly with a transporter and camp for our hunt. The decision of where we hunt will have to wait until we see how the winter’s go between now and then. Which transporter we use is another decision we are still debating. I’ve talked to several air transporters and all have been very helpful. I don’t really think any would be a bad option.
None of us are to worried about fishing or sea ducks this trip, although I’d like to go to Kodiak fishing sometime in the future. My wife hears my stories about Alaska and wants to go once the kids get a bit older so we can make it a family event. She likes to hunt and fish but not in bad weather.
Some of the things we are starting to plan include our camping arrangement. At this point we are thinking of taking a fairly heavy and comfortable camp. I don’t anticipate moving at least our base camp to far from the drop off point. Nothing to crazy, but some 2lb camp chairs, 4.5lb cots, and sturdier, heavier shelters. Other than the shelters it will be very similar to our moose and caribou hunts. We have a 6 man Cabelas Alaskan Guide Instinct tent, plus a couple smaller Kuiu Storm Star tents. We will sleep 2 guys in the big Cabelas tent (about 10’x10’) and also use it as a place for the group to hang out during bad weather. We will all keep our waterproof duffles in that tent and use it to get dressed out of the weather also. In bad weather the camp chairs can go inside it to hang out, and the standing room is nice to have. The other 2 of us will sleep in the smaller tents. My snoring can be pretty impressive, I’ll take one of the small tents for sleeping.
We also have a Seek Outside 8 man tipi with a stove we could bring, either in addition to these options or in place of one of them. It has a liner on one side for condensation, stove jack on the other. Having never been to Kodiak I don’t know if there will be enough wood to burn for it to be worth bringing the stove. If we can’t count on gathering wood we will have the weight allowance to haul some in if firewood can be purchased in Kodiak, but again that is an unknown. These are questions I plan to ask on these forums, plus ask our transporter once we get one chosen and are booked.
I’m wanting to experiment at home with a UCO Candelier lantern I bought. It is basically an aluminum and glass lantern housing that burns 3 large candles inside. The candles claim a 9-12 hour burn time. They also say the lantern will put out 5000 btu of heat. I saw several videos of people heating small RV’s and tents with them. I want to see how much difference it makes in temperature and condensation in our Cabelas tent this fall during some cold rains. If it is just enough to help dry the air and let our gear dry a little more on bad weather days or evenings in the tent, it might be worth taking.
As of now we are thinking of two bear fences. One for our sleeping tents, one for our meat and possibly cook tarp or tipi also. We will have a 10x13 tarp for meat, and hopefully can find stout enough brush to build a meat rack with. If not we will try to build pallets of brush to get airflow under the meat.
For cooking I have an MSR Windburner set with a 4.5 liter and 2.5 liter pot, plus a skillet. It has a separate burner with legs for more stability. I also have a Windburner 1 liter personal stove. I like taking both, we have 2 burners that all the same things fit on that way. Sometimes we use both burners at the same time, and it’s redundancy if something fails. This trip we may do more real food since we will have the weight allowance to do so and days will be shorter. We will have a couple small stoves and some freeze dried meals to take during the day. Lots of instant coffee and hot chocolate too.
For tools at camp I’m planning on a small Russian military titanium shovel, GB small forest axe, a Wyoming saw, and a Leatherman. That’s all other than our knives.
We all have good gear from previous hunts. I am wondering if stouter waders than our Wiggy’s waders will be needed this hunt or not? I plan to use my Crispi Hiland Pro boots that are waterproof almost to my knee and have the Wiggys waders in the pack for now. I have Simms G3 chest waders and boots, plus some Ridgeline Supply rubber boots with Yoder chaps (basically hip boots) if either is needed. Right now I don’t plan to take them. I will use my synthetic Kifaru 20 degree slick bag and probably take my HPG mountain serape as an over blanket if I need it. I’ve used that combo down to 0 degrees and been good, it has saved me the cost of buying a 0 degree bag. The serape is great for sitting around camp in the evening or glassing also. We all have quality packs capable of carrying meat, I have a Kifaru Nomad 2 I can loan to one guy and everyone else has Exo or Seek Outside packs with dry bags.
We all have rifles of 270 win or larger to take. One guy has a 7 mag and is considering getting a 300 win mag, two of us already shoot 300’s. We both use 180gr Nosler E tips in our 300’s which should be a decent bullet for deer or bear defense I think. Our fourth guy has an inexpensive but accurate Savage Axis 270 and may or may not change rifles. We will all have 10mm handguns with 200gr hardcast bear loads. I tried a S&W 69 44 mag before settling on 10mm. I used to have a flinch I worked hard to overcome shooting, and the recoil of the light 44 was enough I just did not shoot it well. I have no issue with the recoil of the 10mm’s and shoot them well. We are not planning to take bear spray. Between the wind on Kodiak, and the stories I’ve heard of people accidentally discharging it in brush it just seems like the wrong choice to me. I like to shoot and will practice several times a week with a handgun, bear spray I would not practice with. I know chances of a bear encounter are low, but taking a 10mm with a light on the rail along when leaving the tent to take a leak at night makes me feel safer.
I’m assuming that the winter months will be a good time to get as many of my transporter questions asked as possible. I’m making a list of them as they come up. I like to ask questions of transporters during their slow times rather than try to ask right before a hunt during their busy season. I think I get better and more thoughtful answers that way, plus I’m not inconveniencing them. It works well for everyone. I’ve now been on two Alaskan trips with transporters and am friends with a few guides and outfitters in the lower 48. I have become a firm believer that if I do everything I can to make their life easier, they will do everything they can to make my hunt better.
Anyway, just figured I’d share where my mind has been going the last several days while checking cows on the UTV. This is all subject to change as I learn more about the specifics of the hunt, and get advice from both more experienced hunters and our transporter.
Thanks everyone for the help. Maybe my brainstorming can help others considering a similar trip.
None of us are to worried about fishing or sea ducks this trip, although I’d like to go to Kodiak fishing sometime in the future. My wife hears my stories about Alaska and wants to go once the kids get a bit older so we can make it a family event. She likes to hunt and fish but not in bad weather.
Some of the things we are starting to plan include our camping arrangement. At this point we are thinking of taking a fairly heavy and comfortable camp. I don’t anticipate moving at least our base camp to far from the drop off point. Nothing to crazy, but some 2lb camp chairs, 4.5lb cots, and sturdier, heavier shelters. Other than the shelters it will be very similar to our moose and caribou hunts. We have a 6 man Cabelas Alaskan Guide Instinct tent, plus a couple smaller Kuiu Storm Star tents. We will sleep 2 guys in the big Cabelas tent (about 10’x10’) and also use it as a place for the group to hang out during bad weather. We will all keep our waterproof duffles in that tent and use it to get dressed out of the weather also. In bad weather the camp chairs can go inside it to hang out, and the standing room is nice to have. The other 2 of us will sleep in the smaller tents. My snoring can be pretty impressive, I’ll take one of the small tents for sleeping.
We also have a Seek Outside 8 man tipi with a stove we could bring, either in addition to these options or in place of one of them. It has a liner on one side for condensation, stove jack on the other. Having never been to Kodiak I don’t know if there will be enough wood to burn for it to be worth bringing the stove. If we can’t count on gathering wood we will have the weight allowance to haul some in if firewood can be purchased in Kodiak, but again that is an unknown. These are questions I plan to ask on these forums, plus ask our transporter once we get one chosen and are booked.
I’m wanting to experiment at home with a UCO Candelier lantern I bought. It is basically an aluminum and glass lantern housing that burns 3 large candles inside. The candles claim a 9-12 hour burn time. They also say the lantern will put out 5000 btu of heat. I saw several videos of people heating small RV’s and tents with them. I want to see how much difference it makes in temperature and condensation in our Cabelas tent this fall during some cold rains. If it is just enough to help dry the air and let our gear dry a little more on bad weather days or evenings in the tent, it might be worth taking.
As of now we are thinking of two bear fences. One for our sleeping tents, one for our meat and possibly cook tarp or tipi also. We will have a 10x13 tarp for meat, and hopefully can find stout enough brush to build a meat rack with. If not we will try to build pallets of brush to get airflow under the meat.
For cooking I have an MSR Windburner set with a 4.5 liter and 2.5 liter pot, plus a skillet. It has a separate burner with legs for more stability. I also have a Windburner 1 liter personal stove. I like taking both, we have 2 burners that all the same things fit on that way. Sometimes we use both burners at the same time, and it’s redundancy if something fails. This trip we may do more real food since we will have the weight allowance to do so and days will be shorter. We will have a couple small stoves and some freeze dried meals to take during the day. Lots of instant coffee and hot chocolate too.
For tools at camp I’m planning on a small Russian military titanium shovel, GB small forest axe, a Wyoming saw, and a Leatherman. That’s all other than our knives.
We all have good gear from previous hunts. I am wondering if stouter waders than our Wiggy’s waders will be needed this hunt or not? I plan to use my Crispi Hiland Pro boots that are waterproof almost to my knee and have the Wiggys waders in the pack for now. I have Simms G3 chest waders and boots, plus some Ridgeline Supply rubber boots with Yoder chaps (basically hip boots) if either is needed. Right now I don’t plan to take them. I will use my synthetic Kifaru 20 degree slick bag and probably take my HPG mountain serape as an over blanket if I need it. I’ve used that combo down to 0 degrees and been good, it has saved me the cost of buying a 0 degree bag. The serape is great for sitting around camp in the evening or glassing also. We all have quality packs capable of carrying meat, I have a Kifaru Nomad 2 I can loan to one guy and everyone else has Exo or Seek Outside packs with dry bags.
We all have rifles of 270 win or larger to take. One guy has a 7 mag and is considering getting a 300 win mag, two of us already shoot 300’s. We both use 180gr Nosler E tips in our 300’s which should be a decent bullet for deer or bear defense I think. Our fourth guy has an inexpensive but accurate Savage Axis 270 and may or may not change rifles. We will all have 10mm handguns with 200gr hardcast bear loads. I tried a S&W 69 44 mag before settling on 10mm. I used to have a flinch I worked hard to overcome shooting, and the recoil of the light 44 was enough I just did not shoot it well. I have no issue with the recoil of the 10mm’s and shoot them well. We are not planning to take bear spray. Between the wind on Kodiak, and the stories I’ve heard of people accidentally discharging it in brush it just seems like the wrong choice to me. I like to shoot and will practice several times a week with a handgun, bear spray I would not practice with. I know chances of a bear encounter are low, but taking a 10mm with a light on the rail along when leaving the tent to take a leak at night makes me feel safer.
I’m assuming that the winter months will be a good time to get as many of my transporter questions asked as possible. I’m making a list of them as they come up. I like to ask questions of transporters during their slow times rather than try to ask right before a hunt during their busy season. I think I get better and more thoughtful answers that way, plus I’m not inconveniencing them. It works well for everyone. I’ve now been on two Alaskan trips with transporters and am friends with a few guides and outfitters in the lower 48. I have become a firm believer that if I do everything I can to make their life easier, they will do everything they can to make my hunt better.
Anyway, just figured I’d share where my mind has been going the last several days while checking cows on the UTV. This is all subject to change as I learn more about the specifics of the hunt, and get advice from both more experienced hunters and our transporter.
Thanks everyone for the help. Maybe my brainstorming can help others considering a similar trip.
