deer_shooter
Well-known member
My wife and I just got back from a great trip to Kodiak last Sunday. What an amazing place! We flew out of Pittsburgh on Thursday morning two weeks ago and landed in Anchorage late afternoon. I had gone in to this with a little trepidation over flying with a rifle but that was about as easy as it gets, no issues at all. My best friend and wife live near Fairbanks and they were in town for the weekend so they came down a day early and met us at the airport. We had dinner at the Moose’s’ Tooth (great pizza by the way) and enjoyed many beers. Next morning, we took the short fight to Kodiak and stayed there that night. We explored a little and sampled some of Kodiak Brewing’s finest. Saturday morning we caught the float plane for the ~half hour flight to the lodge. The scenery was spectacular.
I booked this trip two years ago and after a fair amount or research settled on Kodiak Adventures Lodge.
Not many places I talked to were enthusiastic about solo hunters and I definitely wanted an unguided hunt. The lodge owner was ok with me going alone and is transporter only so it worked for me.
Once we got to the lodge and got out stuff stored away I checked the zero on my 30-06 and all was good. I don’t think I slept much that night. After breakfast that Sunday, the owner dropped me off at the location I had picked and was soon out of sight. I had about a 2 mile hike up a drainage to a glassing spot and once there, in between the rain, sleet, snow mix, I glassed for a few hours with no game spotted.
While doing so, an area off in the distance looked more and more promising. I finally decided to hike over that direction and see if I could find any deer. I was not expecting the brush to be as thick as it was! I was exhausting getting through that stuff while gaining elevation. Once I got above the brush, it didn’t take long to spot a deer and after working a bit closer, I could see it was a buck. More elevation to gain and more brush to navigate worked my way around an outcropping and I spotted the buck and his doe sneaking through the brush.
The buck was about 3/4 way to the top in this picture on the backside.
They stopped and offered a broadside shot at 60 yards so a quick shot and I saw him go down. Then the fun began. It was extremely steep and thick. So much so that it took me almost a half hour to find the deer. Turns out he slid down the steepest part and landed in a small depression. It didn’t help that the grass, brush and deer were all the same color.
An hour later I had the buck broken down and in my pack ready for the hike out. I hadn’t really thought about it but by the time I shot, I was a little over 4 miles in and by now it was about 4pm. I took about 10 steps and stepped to a small hole and rolled my ankle. Down I went. After the pain subsided and an experimental toe wiggle suggested no break I continued on. With the brush, tender ankle and eventual darkness, it took me till around 8pm to get to the pick-up point. That was a thoroughly unpleasant hike out.
A few pics to give an idea of the terrain.
I took the next two day off to rest and get my buck all cleaned and packed. The remaining days we better weather but only saw does and a spike. We did go out in the bay fishing and caught a bunch of rock fish and a small halibut. It was a fun trip and quite an adventure. I can’t say enough about the lodge and the owners. Nice accommodations and great food. If anyone wants more details shoot me a PM.
A couple shots of the bay the lodge sits on.
I booked this trip two years ago and after a fair amount or research settled on Kodiak Adventures Lodge.
Not many places I talked to were enthusiastic about solo hunters and I definitely wanted an unguided hunt. The lodge owner was ok with me going alone and is transporter only so it worked for me.
Once we got to the lodge and got out stuff stored away I checked the zero on my 30-06 and all was good. I don’t think I slept much that night. After breakfast that Sunday, the owner dropped me off at the location I had picked and was soon out of sight. I had about a 2 mile hike up a drainage to a glassing spot and once there, in between the rain, sleet, snow mix, I glassed for a few hours with no game spotted.
While doing so, an area off in the distance looked more and more promising. I finally decided to hike over that direction and see if I could find any deer. I was not expecting the brush to be as thick as it was! I was exhausting getting through that stuff while gaining elevation. Once I got above the brush, it didn’t take long to spot a deer and after working a bit closer, I could see it was a buck. More elevation to gain and more brush to navigate worked my way around an outcropping and I spotted the buck and his doe sneaking through the brush. The buck was about 3/4 way to the top in this picture on the backside.
They stopped and offered a broadside shot at 60 yards so a quick shot and I saw him go down. Then the fun began. It was extremely steep and thick. So much so that it took me almost a half hour to find the deer. Turns out he slid down the steepest part and landed in a small depression. It didn’t help that the grass, brush and deer were all the same color.
An hour later I had the buck broken down and in my pack ready for the hike out. I hadn’t really thought about it but by the time I shot, I was a little over 4 miles in and by now it was about 4pm. I took about 10 steps and stepped to a small hole and rolled my ankle. Down I went. After the pain subsided and an experimental toe wiggle suggested no break I continued on. With the brush, tender ankle and eventual darkness, it took me till around 8pm to get to the pick-up point. That was a thoroughly unpleasant hike out.
A few pics to give an idea of the terrain.
I took the next two day off to rest and get my buck all cleaned and packed. The remaining days we better weather but only saw does and a spike. We did go out in the bay fishing and caught a bunch of rock fish and a small halibut. It was a fun trip and quite an adventure. I can’t say enough about the lodge and the owners. Nice accommodations and great food. If anyone wants more details shoot me a PM.
A couple shots of the bay the lodge sits on.
