Kodiak Buck Shack
Mule Deer
The Kodiak Buck Shack is now available for rent for Bow Hunters in pairs or groups of two. I just spent a month over there. Three of us killed 8 bucks that will exceed P&Y minimums. I had already killed a buck in Southeast during an August hunt; otherwise it would have been 9 bucks. I think I passed 8 P&Y bucks while specifically hunting my second buck for over a week.
This place is not for the light of heart. If you think walking to a treestand or blind from a pickup truck or ATV is a challenging hunt, this place is probably not for you. You had better be a capable bow hunter, capable of walking three to six miles, and capable of climbing 6,000 feet of elevation per day.
First buck I killed at the Buck Shack.
Second buck. Hit him in the neck at ten feet and didn't kill him. Hunted him for a week and finally got him.
Wow..cool place and great buck
Congrats on your bucks. I might be interested in a few years on the shack for a Kodiak trip!
wow congrats on the build and bucks . Hows the goat hunting around the shack .
Man that looks like a fun time.. Going to have to talk Nick in to going down there for a deer hunt.
I saw goats several times while there in the early summer. I got there October 15th and spent about a month expecting to see and kill at least one goat. Limit in the unit is two. During that timeframe, I didn't see a single goat. The day we were picked off the beach, we saw 5 goats on the other side of the bay.
We also saw a lot of Caribou, but they were at such a distance chasing them was not practical.
Bob,
Glad you made it home safe after a long trip there. That first buck you posted tastes so good! We appreciate the meat, thank you. Nice work, Talk soon.
Looks a bit different in the fall! But that's a million dollar view for sure!
Congrats on the bucks Bob. That first one is really light colored in the face.
Nice bucks Bob , you sure have upgraded the camp from our abandoned bear camp in 1990. Congrats, Dave
Looks like a good wind could blow it off the side of that hill! LOL, Mike
"Nice bucks Bob , you sure have upgraded the camp from our abandoned bear camp in 1990."
Hmmmm, just curious, is this privately owned property or leased out by fish and game or forestry service or something?
Nice bucks and great pics! I know little about blacktails BUT I know a huge blacktail when I see one awesome!
Private land owned in fee-simple at the south end of Kodiak Island in Bumble Bay. Not too much of anything like it anywhere else on the Island. Very remote with very limited access.
You know, I didn't even notice it until I looked at the photo, but I think my first deer only had one eye. He was a very old buck that was backing down from a couple of younger bucks when they'd face off with him. I saw him early in the day and watched him with these other bucks all day until he bedded in a good place for a stalk. I shot him just before dark in mid October. He should have had a darker head by then. I bet his age and the eye injury contributed to the lighter head coloration.
I think his eye injury explains why he was a bit non-typical on the left side. He only has a huge fork with a non-typical extra point off the main beam.
Great stuff Bob! Congrats on the "Kodiak Condo" and the bucks!
Mark
Looks like an awesome place. That is a hunt that is on my bucket list. Congrats on a couple more great blacktails.
You don't see that in the lower 48....
:-)
Kodiak blacktail is on my bucket list, such an incredible place!
Looks good Bob, you better recheck any of the nails Nick hammered in, he isn't too reliable...
--Jim
Thank God for that little slice of level ground huh? lol
I was there two weeks ago further north by Ugak bay...saw a total of three bucks and one doe.( 2 spike and a 90") I ended up taking the bigger buck. When I flew out and spoke to other hunters they all tagged out (rifle) but they were hunting south west of me....Bob I will spend a week in your cabin soon...
There are plenty of mature bucks around and we saw more younger bucks than either Roy or I have ever seen anywhere on the Island before. It looks very, very good for the next few years.
Don't wanna do much sleepwalking....
Pretty cool. Looks like an adventure for sure.
Did y'all fly it in with a copter whole or build it up there?
Congrats on getting the cabin finished Bob, looks great! I'm already missing Lisa lake!
Thanks Andy.
Shipped material via landing craft to a nearby location in July, then Nick Muche and I bundled the material up and I had a helicopter land it on that small flat spot I had made by hand in the side of the hill.
The pilot saw where I wanted him to deposit the 8 bundles of material and said, "man, I'm good, but I don't know if I can put everything there". If he couldn’t get it all right on my flat spot, it would have to go to the beach and I’d have to pack it up the hill. The cabin is at about 150 feet in elevation above sea level.
When he started dropping off the individual loads, I had to quickly break them apart and pile the material off to the side so there would be room for the next load when he returned about 20 minutes later. I was one worn out old dude by the time the 8 loads were finally there. Nick and I built the platform the next day.
In mid October, a buddy from New York, John and I started the cabin. Roy finished up guiding a mountain goat hunter (huntn fool) elsewhere on the Island and made it out there the next day. Once Roy got there, the walls and roof went up in a day. We then insulated and custom finished off the interior the next day.
John went deer hunting and killed his first Sitka, Roy went back to the City of Kodiak to guide a bear hunter, and I went on a goat hunt elsewhere on the Island.
Roy, another Alaskan by the name of Matt, and me got back there around Nov 1. Roy killed 3 P&Y bucks in two days and flew out to do his own mountain goat hunt. Matt and I stayed there and killed 5 more P&Y bucks between the two of us. The weather turned ugly in the City of Kodiak and we were weathered in there for about ten days. Nice place to be weathered in though. Seals, sea otters, sea lions, whales, bears, deer, fox and, on the last day, even mountain goats visible from the Buck Shack.
Blacktail Bob,
I would be very interested in renting it out in 2015 or 2016 but since I am considered an "Alien"(Live in Canada)(My wife calls me an Alien as well!) DO I NOT NEED TO BE GUIDED?
If not I should give you a call.
Thanks,
Terry.
Terry,
You are correct, you need a guide and I'm not a guide. The Nazi like State of Alaska precludes you from hunting and me from even talking with potential renters about hunting. As a property owner, but not a guide, all I can do is say things about the property. The Nazi's will not allow me to say anything about hunting. I only hope my photographs speak for themselves.
Bob
^^^^^Thats funny Blktl Bob, and ohh so true !!!!
And Rockbass really the only guide you'd need is to get you over the border, once your in you could be one of us too :)
A guy from CA can't come to AK and hunt deer unguided? That's ridiculous...
Nick,
He said Canada, not California.
Although western Canada is more like what our founding fathers had in mind regarding an economy and government, certainly compared to California, but also most of our own country these days; Alaska requires a guide for all non US citizens on everything. Of course, if you come in illegally, and are likely to vote for a Democrat, you are welcome to health care, handouts, and praise from the likes of Pelosi, Reid and Obama for your illegally behavior.
Bob
CA is also the abbreviation for Canada :)
So......If I sneak across the border from Mexico and work my way north I should be ok???? Just joking.
Looks like it would be an awesome hunt. Thanks for getting back to me and giving me the bad news.
BTB: any additional details on the Grizzly a go go? Photos?
What's the skinny on hiring someone to boat you to the cabin?
Steve,
As you know, this place will be of little interest to non-residents due to the need for a guide, which I am not. For a resident like you, it will be a great place. The fishing is outstanding and you are probably well aware of the quality of the grizzly hunting potential up there. The cabin is a 16 x 16 plywood shack at this point. There are bunks, a stove and a sink. The roof is still a blue tarp as of this writing. I do plan on getting up there this spring to do more work on the place and I plan on doing my own grizzly hunt the end of August. I think my place is the last cabin before the river turns to being designated wild and scenic.
I've done a fair amount of appraisal work out of the village. I've never had much problem finding someone to run me up the river for around $100 plus fuel each way. It might take $150 each way in the future.
Bob
Not sure what a fair rent on the place will be. I'm thinking maybe the same as I get in other places, except for Kodiak, which is $1,000 per Bow Hunter and you can stay as long as two weeks. What do you think?
Roy Roth is my idol...for obvious reasons.
If it fits the schedule this year it would probably be the first week of Sept or earlier August, depending on draw results. It would probably just be BP and me. Perhaps we could even catch the boat coming in to extract you?
Are you suggesting Roy likes to wear shorts and fish?
That might work. I have a few connections regarding rides but nothing firmed up at this point. My tentative plan is to get up there via snow mobile in April 2015.
My understanding is as long as you leave a candy on the pillow you can charge what you want.....
October and November are taken for 2015. I still need folks to rent the place for August and September. No candy, but there actually are pillows and the bunks are way more comfortable than a tent.
I see in some photos when everything is brown that it looks like the cabin is wide open and in the other when things are green it looks almost hidden in the greenery.....it's amazing how the scenery changes, must be thick as hell before everything browns out....beautiful place, you're a lucky man to have a place that most can only dream of.
Bob - When did needing a guide for blacktail change? I thought you could hunt those unguided. Great looking shack!
If you are a citizen of the USA, there is no guide requirement. If you are a citizen of another country, ie. Canada, you are required to hunt with a guide. Don't ask me why.
Ah yes, it didn't change, just a little mix up in the details. Thanks!
Bob u are living life !!!!
How is the blacktail hunting during September?
What is the bear situation like where the cabin is located? I would love to do this hunt!
It would be pretty much all spot and stalk. Bucks would not be in the rut, so decoying, calling, and rattling type techniques wouldn't be very productive in my opinion.
The terrain around the Buck Shack isn't particularly high, so we found bucks from low willow patches right on up to rock ridges. Generally speaking, the earlier in the year you hunt, the higher you're typically going to find bucks.
You need a guide to hunt bears.
There are bears around, but its not crawling with them like at some locations where there are a lot of fish. Sometimes I carry a 44mag, sometimes I don’t bother.
When we killed deer, usually by the next day there was a bear at the gut pile. We did not have bears interfere with any of the deer processing at our kill sites.
We try to avoid a particular area where we killed a deer for at least a couple days until the bears have cleaned up what remains of the carcass. It usually doesn’t take long for that to happen. Magpies are there within minutes. Then eagles, crows and ravens show up. The big fella's usually show up the night of the kill or the next day.
mr blacktail Bob would be interested in renting last two weeks of sept would be my brother and me. i would bow hunt brother would probably rifle hunt. have some questions could i pm you ? thanks Ron
Do you fly into the cabin or take a boat.
I might be interested in going before my moose hunt.what are the odds of getting weathered in back there in early Sept??Don't want to miss my plane for the moose hunt that's for sure.The weather in POW was terrible in mid-sept for plane flights last year.that would be my biggest concern. Are the bears that aggressive out there that a handgun would be needed?The meat is so good from a blacktail, I may fight the bear for my meat back
My buddy and I have it rented for an October bowhunt and will be flying in. I plan on carrying pepper spray, my buddy is considering bringing a handgun. Looking forward to it! Bob has been great to deal with and very helpful with logistical questions.
Steve (Stekewood),
Please take lots of photos and do a story or journal on here when you get back.....
Steve,what were the flight costs to cabin?
Steve (Stekewood),
Please take lots of photos and do a story or journal on here when you get back.....
Scott, I haven't booked the flight yet, but figuring on around $2,000 for the round trip in a 180.
Jake, I will absolutely do a full write-up with pictures upon return. We had a blacktail hunt planned for Sitkinak in 2012 that fell through and have kept it on the short list since then. We had planned on cashing in our elk points in Wyoming this year but when this opportunity came up we just couldn't resist. The elk can wait...
Hey Bob u need to install a big timber so bow guys can leave a arrow in it while hunting at the buck shack !
Do you have any pics of what the terrain is like?How is the ground for walking?I imagine if I went in August I'd be hunting up as high as possible.what are typical shot distances there?I know getting to alpine on POW wasn't very easy and that's an understatement.From the pics it looks a lot easier but you have the 1st hand knowledge steve, your going to have a blast hunting those blacktails.And youcan't beat the views where they like to live.
Bob, very nice indeed. Interesting place to build a camp but with that view, who cares.
My best, Paul
They can just shoot and arrow in the side of the shack you don't need no stinking tree.
Nctrapper, Here's a recent Bowsite hunt thread.
