Me and a buddy got lucky and drew a party tag for this years spring season. We got back a few weeks ago and had an amazing hunt. We went with Ed Kiokun and couldn't be happier that we chose him as our transporter. The tiny house we stayed in was awesome and his equipment was in great shape. The weather gods were also on our side as all of our travel and gear made it to the island with us and we had 0 weather delays.
Our first day of hunting couldn't have been better. Little to no wind, sunny, 20 mile visibility, and just a perfect day. We found a group of 9 bulls and my buddy took his later in the afternoon. A little too late to take a 2nd but within an hour of processing the animal the herd came back and hung out on top of the hill we were on for the rest of the day. We also got some fox coming in and I got my first red fox.
The next day it was cold, windy, and a freezing fog. We headed out when normally we wouldn't have gone but we were confident the herd we had left wouldn't be far from where we last saw them. We went right to the spot they were the night before and cut their tracks heading off the back side of the hill. We headed back the way we came and around to the back side and cut their tracks again. This time we followed them for 5 miles until we caught up with them. It didn't take long for me to find one I liked and just like that our hunt was over.
We spent the next couple of days processing the animals in Ed's shed. In the evening we were able to go out to the reindeer pens and hunt fox as they had a slaughter a few weeks before we arrived. We ended up taking 7 red fox between the 2 of us and could of had more if we wanted. We made the call to Grant to get off the island early and the day we left the weather gods were in our favor and we got all of our meat and gear off in one trip.
Here's what worked well for us:
-bunny boots
-.17HMR and .338RUM
-2 8x10 tarps
-Outdoor edge knife with plenty of the long blades
-3 18 gallon rubbermade rough neck totes. I had 207lbs of de-boned meat but one of my front quarters was blood shot so I did lose some good meat unfortunately.
-non scented contractors bags
-plenty of duck tape and twine/paracord
-few Peak meals for when we wanted a quick bite to eat and hit the sack
-thermos for hot water or chocolate while out hunting
-Grant air as there was no charges for getting meat back to Bethel and they are more dependable than the other carrier to the island
Our first day of hunting couldn't have been better. Little to no wind, sunny, 20 mile visibility, and just a perfect day. We found a group of 9 bulls and my buddy took his later in the afternoon. A little too late to take a 2nd but within an hour of processing the animal the herd came back and hung out on top of the hill we were on for the rest of the day. We also got some fox coming in and I got my first red fox.
The next day it was cold, windy, and a freezing fog. We headed out when normally we wouldn't have gone but we were confident the herd we had left wouldn't be far from where we last saw them. We went right to the spot they were the night before and cut their tracks heading off the back side of the hill. We headed back the way we came and around to the back side and cut their tracks again. This time we followed them for 5 miles until we caught up with them. It didn't take long for me to find one I liked and just like that our hunt was over.
We spent the next couple of days processing the animals in Ed's shed. In the evening we were able to go out to the reindeer pens and hunt fox as they had a slaughter a few weeks before we arrived. We ended up taking 7 red fox between the 2 of us and could of had more if we wanted. We made the call to Grant to get off the island early and the day we left the weather gods were in our favor and we got all of our meat and gear off in one trip.
Here's what worked well for us:
-bunny boots
-.17HMR and .338RUM
-2 8x10 tarps
-Outdoor edge knife with plenty of the long blades
-3 18 gallon rubbermade rough neck totes. I had 207lbs of de-boned meat but one of my front quarters was blood shot so I did lose some good meat unfortunately.
-non scented contractors bags
-plenty of duck tape and twine/paracord
-few Peak meals for when we wanted a quick bite to eat and hit the sack
-thermos for hot water or chocolate while out hunting
-Grant air as there was no charges for getting meat back to Bethel and they are more dependable than the other carrier to the island
