Bowsite.com

—jim

Had a guy back out on us last minute so we are actually looking to fill his spot....

If you're on a boat and you have time, drop a line in. Also, I wish i'd have taken 1 morning to chase sea ducks. One of our guys did and shot a limit of harlequin. Oh well, just one more reason to go back!

$300 per deer tag (can get 3)

Beaver flight from Kodiak to far south end (1200lbs total weight) is roughly $1500 each way (so it would be cheaper the closer to Kodiak you end up going, typically). This is total cost, so if you're going with others you can split it amongst yourselves.

Airfare to Kodiak from your location in the L48.

Food

I think boat hunts run between $2500 and $3500 per person.

I'd do a tent long before I did a cabin only because the areas that have cabins are typically hunted a bit more and I enjoy hunting in an area that is somewhat fresh.

YOU OWE ME A BEER—OR THREE, TREEMAN!!!

—Jim

—Jim

Except when there's only Bud Lite and Coors Lite around... Then it goes like this:

"Hey Ike, you want a Coors Lite?"

"Hell yeah I want a Coors Lite!"

I wanted to go to Kodiak this year, but dad spent 3 points on an Iowa deer tag, so that's where I'm headed this November. Maybe next year.

Oh, and Treeman bought me a beer in New Mexico...

—Jim

...... to buy shares in Alaskan breweries!!!

Apauls, Canada's "Kodiak" is just off the coast of BC and no grizzlies. Something could be arranged.

And Troy, I'd be happy to go stop one of those "not there yet" bucks from using up trail cam batteries on you.

Ambush. Get in touch with midwest and scoot. Maybe you guys could carpool!

t-roy, when your mrs. was talking about island vacations I'm not sure these were the "islands" she was talking about but I like your style!

Troy you will see a bear . Most likely a big one. Just be smart and stay out if the alders !!

He texted me earlier and said “Bears are afraid of me!” I feel like he’s just taunting them at this stage!

—Jim

Did the bears look hungry, Ron??!!

Helluva job on some great animals gentlemen!

Hope this isn’t one of those rough winters for next year

At any rate, I should consider buying stock in these things...

—Jim

No one flying Ravn... met a group that’s been trying for 4 days. If you’re headed to Kodiak this month, be sure you’re on Alaska Airlines to and from!

Git yer asses out there and kill some stuff!

Thinking the deer on that island are in trouble!

Anyone thinking about a hunt there next year may want to reconsider....

Good luck guys!

TRoy how do you like the pole mountain bow case?

Bullet proof aren't they.

Kota an enabler? That is crazy talk.

But had a good time with the guys in the group photo above and look forward to a return trip.

—jim

—jim

Always wondered if this was a hunt that an individual Hunter would take or best to go in a group.

Looks like y’all had a great time! Looking forward to hearing the stories.

I’ll get to posting some pictures shortly (as long as the Alaska Airlines wifi will upload them), but thought I’d describe the hunting a bit. We had perfect flying weather on the 16th and managed to get out, get settled in, and make an afternoon hunt of things. We were seeing deer right away, but the area we were hunting was a flat filled with willows and alders and once those deer moved into cover they’d vanish. So no opportunities the first afternoon. The second day was similar - same type of country, saw about 30 deer, but every time JTreeman and I tried to cut the distance we’d lose them.

We’d move around our area based on the wind and day 3 had us in our brushless spot of the hunt. FYI alders suck. And FYI salmon berry sucks just as much! We spent half the day busting through foliage and finally got above it where things opened up a bit. We managed to find a deer bedded in a little bowl, made a play on him, but he just didn’t want to come into some rattling. In fact, when Jim started rattling, the buck got up from his bed and walked off - with a limp!! We tried to entice a buck into a fight that had just gotten his butt kicked. Needless to say he went the other way.

However, as we were sitting joking about that, another bucked popped up in the same spot and I tried to swing around on him. I couldn’t get in front of him and he stared me down at 33 yards through some willows - I just didn’t have a shot. However, those Sitka BT aren’t as spooky as other deer species and after our stare down he moved off about 20 yards and presented me with a 55 yard shot. I let an arrow fly and unfortunately hit him a little back. We were on blood for about 600 yards and then the blood trail dried up and we lost him. Needless to say I was bummed. We only saw about 5 deer that day and the poor shot had me down a bit.

The next day found us hunting an area that we would basically be hunting in over the next four days, as the weather pattern ended up staying pretty consistent for the rest of the hunt.

It took JTreeman a few hours on day 3 to find the deer, but we finally did at about noon. We split up to make a play on different groups of deer. Long story short, I sailed an arrow over a deer’s back...again at 55 yards. The deer was perfectly broadside and perfectly still and never moved until the arrow had past him. Basically a 3D target standing there. The failure to finish at 55 yards earned me the moniker of Jason Hagar (I can’t shoot...55!!).

Day 4, 5, and 6 had us hunting the same area. It was very, very open with slight undulations and ridges running through it. The deer would find a ridge and basically post up on the leeward side out of the wind. This meant, generally, you couldn’t approach from above them as the wind would blow them out and you couldn’t approach from below them as they would have you pegged 300 yards out. Jim and I racked our heads as to how to close the deal. Meanwhile, everyone else managed to bag a deer in this area but we couldn’t get the pieces to fall together.

The evening of the 5th day as we were watching about 12 deer from 150 yards away, I came up with a plan to swing around the backside, let the deer get my wind, and hope that when the buggered off, they’d do so towards Jim. It worked. Twice that evening. It worked in the sense that two times it brought deer into bow range but bowhunting being bowhunting, they managed to escape unscathed. Team J&J was down to our final day to punch at least one tag.

I was closest to the deer so I crawled down to a spot that I thought would get me in range. The deer was below a little bluff in front of me, and I couldn’t see him as I crept forward. I stood up to get closer and finally saw antlers through some willows faced in my direction. At 10 yards.

I drew and paused, hoping the deer would go back to feeding. He did, but at 10 yards, he was more or less covered up in the willows in front of me. So I crept forward, still at full draw, to try and clear the willows. When I did, I let the top pin find the shoulder area and released. I got all of about 3” of penetration and hit the shoulder blade square on.

The deer bounced off with 90% of my arrow still protruding from his right side. Even though it was clear the deer was going to be totally fine, I was sick. I blew it. I wanted to quit then and there. It was about noon and we only had a few hours to go anyways. Jim asked if I wanted a pep talk. I said sure. He said “that sucked, way to blow it” or something to that effect. Despite wanting to quit (the hunt, bowhunting in general, etc), I kept going hoping Jim would get one.

We found more deer over the next rise and decided it was time to put our deer drive technique - dubbed the Sheridan Shove - to work one last time.

I was already to get up and walk in order to get around them and hopefully push them to Jim when he said, “No, I’ll go for a walk. You sit here and wallow in your misery some more.” So that’s what we did.

In order to intercept them, once they were out of sight I started on a sprint to get to a point I thought they’d funnel. As I got there, three does and buck were pushing through. Knowing there were more deer likely coming, I pushed ahead a little bit further to try and get into bow range of the path those deer seemed to be taking. As I got there, I saw a bucks antlers creating the ridge 70 yards in front of me and I dropped.

The deer continued forward, and instead of taking the path those deer were on, he actually continued more or less straight towards me. Completely in sight of the deer, I somehow managed to extract and knock an arrow, stand, and draw without him blowing out. As I got to full draw he paused broadside - this time the shot was true and I watched him drop within 10 seconds. And just like that, I loved bowhunting again :)

Did you guys go back to the boat in the evenings?

And you others guys, quit recovering and get writing!!

Deer, caribou, fox, and ptarmigan are basically what you will get. And fishing is on a boat.

—jim

I'm not a sushi guy, but that looks pretty good! And what is that on the plate in the middle of the table?

—jim

Secondly, I concur in spades, with Sammy, er, Jason, that alders definitely suck, although I would rank salmon berry slightly less sucky, but not by much!

As I sat on another opening, eating my lunch, I spotted movement below and to my left. It was a huge 3x3 with eye guards, cruising down a trail in my direction. I quickly scrambled to try and get in position for a shot by scooting down the hill about 30 yards. I needed to go about 5 more yards to get to where I had a completely open spot to be able to shoot, but the buck came into view before I could get to that spot, so I froze. The buck continued my way until he spotted me and stopped at about 35-40 yards. I didn’t have a shot, but he wasn’t sure what I was, and he took a few steps to my left, into a possible opening. He saw me drawing my bow and stopped, perfectly broadside at about 35, with only a couple of spindly alder twigs between us! After settling my pin behind his shoulder, I hit the release. The arrow looked perfect......until it ticked one tiny little twig about 2/3rds of the way to it’s target. I watched helplessly, as the arrow sailed, just barely over the buck’s back. I’m pretty decent at guessing whitetails, and blacktails are configured somewhat similarly. I think this buck was easily over 100”. I watched helplessly, as the buck wheeled and sprinted out of my life forever :-(

Dejected, I reversed course and slowly worked my way back towards the way I had come, glassing, grunting and occasionally rattling at several spots. At about 3 pm, I did a rattling sequence. After a few moments of nothing, I spotted a buck coming my direction. He wasn’t coming on the run, but he definitely had responded to the rattling, coming straight towards me. I slowly turned to get into shooting position, and as the buck dropped into a depression, I drew my bow. He popped into view at 20 yards and froze, head on, when he spotted me. I had never attempted the dreaded “frontal” shot before, but felt I could slip an arrow in where it needed to be. Placing my top pin on his shirt pocket, I triggered the release. Perfect! The buck wheeled and headed towards the alders behind him. He didn’t make it, piling up after only forty yards. He wasn’t the biggest buck on the island, but I was elated! My first Sitka blacktail.

Cory...Kyle swore it was his first ever miss! First, he started out that his rangefinder was fogged up. Then it was that he hit his arm. Then the wind. I finally called BS when he said something about a swarm of locusts;-)

The third morning found all of the groups hunting similar terrain. Lots of wide open flats with a few alder patches and a little broken terrain. We saw some deer right from the boat and Zach dumped me off on the beach only 60-70 yards from a nice buck chasing a doe around. They slipped up and over the top of the shelf right off the beach. I quickly buckled my release on and tried to sneak up and over the top to, hopefully get a shot at him. Unfortunately, as soon as the buck crested the rise, they made a hard left. I peeked up over the top, looking to my right and saw nothing until I turned to my left, but the buck and the doe had already spotted me and headed towards the second bench about 300-400yds away. They weren’t spooked very bad, so I gave them a little time, then slowly worked my way in their direction, straight into the wind. I soon spotted them again, along with about 7-8 other does and a couple of big forkies. My target buck kept chasing the doe around and occasionally would run one of the other suitors off. Finally, after a couple of hours, the smaller bucks gave up and decided to go find another singles bar to check out.

My target buck finally bedded in front of an alder patch, while the doe kept feeding. They were about 200 yards away, with minimal cover to utilize on my sneak. There were a couple of small humps between us that I could possibly remain somewhat hidden, but I needed the doe to bed down in order to have a chance. She fed another 20 minutes and finally bedded down in some tall grass, disappearing completely from my view. The buck was bedded broadside to me and never did doze off, but, after dumping my pack, I was able to slip forward each time that he would look away. Slowly, a few yards at a time, I was able to gain another 100 yards or so, putting me within 90 yards of him....then the doe stood up and started to feed again. I was pinned down. CRAP! The buck remained bedded and the doe stayed in basically the same spot, feeding.

Kyle had stayed at the boat today and was duck hunting. They were basically, directly behind me, probably 400-500 yds away, and every time they would shoot, the deer would look their direction, which put them looking straight towards me. The buck stood up during all the shooting. To make matters worse, I didn’t grab my rain gear when I dumped my pack, and, of course, it started to rain. After another 20 minutes or so, it finally quit raining, but between crawling through the marshy ground and the rain, I was completely soaked and shivering in 40 degree temps. The buck eased his way over towards the doe and they started to slowly move straight away from me. I figured that I had to do something pretty quickly or they would soon be gone.

There was one small hump between us, so I just decided to try and slip up behind it as quickly as I could. I slithered as fast as possible towards the hump and I couldn’t believe it when I got there without getting busted. I figured this was as close as I was going to get, so I ranged the buck at 61 yds, nocked an arrow and slipped forward onto my knees. I set my slider to 60 yds and drew back. There was a bit of a crosswind and, with the buck severely quartering away, I held my pin on his hind quarter and released. I watched as the arrow flew towards the buck and hit him right in the hind quarter. The wind had little, if any effect on the arrow. The broadhead hit just below the socket and shattered his femur, as well as angling up into his intestines and liver. He dropped, but, with some difficulty, regained his feet. He labored his way back to the same alder patch that he was bedded in front of earlier. I watched him and he finally bedded down about 90 yds from me. I decided that it might best to slip out straight away from him and circle around from behind to try and get another arrow into him. Hoping he would stay put, I made a big sweep and finally got in behind and above him, but couldn’t get a shot through the alders. Finally, I just decided to walk towards him with my bow drawn.

The wife says it’s time to shut the computer off and come to bed......Who am I to argue! Happy wife....happy life! I’ll finish it tomorrow.

Gotta go to work, but I’ll finish this part up, first. I don’t want to end up on Shug’s list, with him being from Jersey, and all.

I ended up having to weave my way through the alders to try and find an opening. Thankfully, the buck stayed bedded until I found a spot and slipped a final arrow through his chest. IMO, they are the prettiest of all the deer species. I took a moment to admire his markings and reflect on the hunt itself, before dragging him out of the alders.

Congrats again my friend! Way to get it done on two great deer. Hoping to share a camp again sometime down the road as it was an absolute blast!

Congratulations to all of you guys on your successes and sharing here for us to read and view!

I had to get in on the hot chocolate early before we ran out, the way you and Zack were going through it, drinking those Burning Burros, or whatever they were called! The main reason was I was successful early was that I fell back on some of my trusty whitetail tactics, like the deadly snort-wheeze! When those failed, I turned to the “blind hog” and “$h*t house” luck systems. It was a blast sharing camp with you guys as well, Jason, and I’d love to do it again any day! Once you get your 55yd pin dialed in, you’ll be golden!

And I heard from the same source there was one guy that excelled at all three!

Any flaming donkeys enjoyed on this trip??????? The zacks would know ;-)’

That’s what they were, Chris! Flaming donkeys. I knew it was equine related. I was pretty close!

Rod......I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors. Jim has sworn me to secrecy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Love the rainbow pictures! Only thing better would have been to have dressed Kia up as a leprechaun:-)

Already have a couple of high end hunts on the books for 2020. Might need another Kodiak fix...

Although my wife was just going off about all the dead animals around the house and that I need to downsize.... Hell! There’s still some white space showing on the walls???!!!

Just curious, would it have been possible for you to fish from the boat or maybe duck hunt after you tagged out?

I never really thought about this hunt as a possibility, but you guys have me thinking....................... ;-)

It probably won’t happen anytime soon, but maybe for my 60th birthday or my RETIREMENT present to me. : )

Hope to be there in 2021. Also, hope for a couple of mild winters.

And yes, there were a few Flaming Donkeys (aka Burning Burros haha) consumed last week, along with plenty of beer, wine, whiskey, scotch...

Here’s a pic of one of his nighttime positions. I think he called this one “downward spiral”

Ambush—I think that guy was me. I suck at deer hunting, can’t play cards worth a damn, and don’t don’t drink. So I guess I’m “that guy”

—jim

My trip up there with Homer Ocean Charters didn’t result in a mountable buck but did bring back lots of great meat! Those deer are yummy!

Have had a return trip in mind since that first one. Although the boat hunt is amazingly fun, next trip will be an early season drop hunt when the bucks are in velvet and the salmon are still running. Backpack and tenting it to up the excitement level a bit:-)

Now, bring on the “PROM” pictures!

I was not supposed to go this year, but after hunting this past November and seeing the potential for this year, I thought Midwest whitetails can wait—I’m going to Kodiak!!

We got our group together and after some last-minute shuffling (t-Roy), we were on our way from various parts of the country.

This is the first—but not last—flaming donkey of the trip. It’s the signature drink of any trip to Kodiak with me

I have to ask, and please don't think I'm being critical or judgmental, but it seems these deer are awfully small to be taking 50-plus yard shots at. Are those long range shots typical and necessary due to the terrain and lack of cover to get closer?

Matt

If you think these deer are small, you have obviously never hunted them. Both bucks I shot this year weigh more than 200 pounds on the hoof. Twice the size of true Blacktails I hunt at home and more than twice the body size of Coues deer. That being said, I shot one at 21 yards and the other at 44.

I met the “most interesting man in the world” in Seattle and we enjoyed our flight to anchorage with a “strategy session.”

When we landed in Kodiak, one of my friends had a sign for me. She spelled my name wrong, but I appreciated the gesture

Matt, I thought they’d be smaller deer but they most definitely are not. I think they are closer to a “typical” mule deer in size plus they are a often LOT less skittish than mike deer (let alone whitetail) and tend to offer you a few seconds to settle the pin and take a shot. I think if you’re going to Kodiak you should be prepared for shots of those distance and use your judgement based on the situation (weather, terrain, awareness of the deer, stalkability, your comfort level, etc) as to whether to take the shot.

Once we settled in, we hit up the fine establishment down the street. I expected to see Ed or Nick there...

Jason, the deer in the pics on this thread look a lot smaller than the Mule deer I hunt. I was just wondering if the nature of the terrain and cover dictated such long range shots. 50 yards is my max comfort range on deer, but maybe you guys are much better shots than I am.

Matt

At least Troy (a great last-minute addition to the group!) could kill bucks! Also, Kyle arrowed a great sitka that would easily make P&Y (his goal for the trip).

Also, we did catch some fish!

Carry on, Zack.

This is the widest buck I have ever personally seen on Kodiak at just over 20” outside. Luck was on my side that day and after several trips, I finally arrowed a buck that measured more than 100” gross.

Things were starting to turn in our favor.

Right then, a doe skirted out from right underneath us and I thought we were about to be busted so I shot too quickly. I know better because I have hunted Sitkas enough to know to take the extra couple seconds instead of rushing the shot. I didn’t hold enough wind and hit the buck behind the last rib.

He went about 150 yards before laying down and I figured we’d just wait an hour and then go in a get him. About that time, I looked down the ridge line and saw the biggest bear in my life working our way.

He was about 400 yards and working right toward the blood trail of the buck I just shot. Before hitting the blood trail, he lifted his monstrous head and started sniffing the wind. Without warning, he ran several hundred yards up and over the ridge behind us. I thought that was a lucky turn of events and we went back to eating lunch and waiting.

Before I finished my sandwich, I looked over my shoulder and saw a large ball of brown hair running back over the ridge with something in its mouth. It had picked up the smell from the buck we had killed the day before and ran about 1/2 a mile to snag the carcass. I knew the paltry amount left on the bones wouldn’t keep him entertained for long, so I decided—against my better judgement—to move in on the buck right away.

Luckily, we were able to sneak in on the buck and I put another arrow in it. It’s amazing to me that the buck looked like it was near death, but when I put that second arrow in its chest, it tore off at an unbelievable speed and crashed through brush for 100 yards before leaping off the small cliff and crashing onto the rocks of the beach.

It’s great to hunt with people who make things fun and successful. I have been very lucky on all my Kodiak hunts to have that. Hope it can continue next year...

But I gotta ask- what is in a flaming donkey? Some kind of alcoholic hot chocolate?

Flaming Donkey = Hot Chocolate and any form of Baileys one can find. The official drink of Kodiak. ;)

Two parts hot chocolate, one part Baileys. Alter proportions as needed

^^link ^^ Anybody remember the scene from the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest where they were on the fishing charter boat?

The wild success of the Kodiak Capers is encouraging some real personalities to want to join the crew!

On a boat full of guys, either Zack dressed up real purty or maybe an inflatable date???

How bout it, Zack??!! ;-)

There has to be some secrecy of goings on during the Kodiak hunts. You guys were privy to previous years stories, pics and videos. It is only fair that those in my Kodiak groups have some sense of privacy and privy to others delinquent behavior.

I guess the “What happens in Kodiak” adage should apply in this instance as well. However, if you ever decide to run for political office and change your party affiliation.......all bets are off! ;-)

—jim

You are apart of the group. Past participants count because I told stories about you to this year’s group! You will get a side text

I can't wait until my return trip next November.

—jim

You, Shawn and JP are the only ones without sense because you come back with me!

But I have watched all of you guys shoot a bunch of bucks on Kodiak as I stood right next to you...

That would depend on the weather. However, I have spent a lot of nights on the boat over the years and have never had an issue. The bush flight in is usually more of an issue than anytime on the boat

Lou.....like Zack said, it wasn’t bad the nights I was on the boat. The only time I had any issues was one day that I was trimming meat. It was a bit rough and I got a little queasy for a time. The patches are supposed to work really well from what I’ve heard. I didn’t try them.

I also sat next to a fishing charter boat captain on my flight home. I quizzed him on the best remedy for sea sickness. He said they’ve found a cure for it...... You simply lean up against a tree! 8-}

Looking forward to Nov. 2021....come on global warming!

If you get sea sick and even if you don't, the patch is worth it... You'll need an Rx for it, but any Dr. should be able to get you a script.

You are close to being apart of the Kodiak group. You will get to see the prom pic soon

This statement has now cast a dark cloud of doubt over the truthfulness of any past or future post from you! ;)

—jim

I've been twice now. Only time I was close to losing my breakfast was the float plane ride to the boat the first time, but it was also my first time on any type of small plane.... The boat isn't bad at night, unless your in a typhoon, then it can move a bit :) We had a few "heavy" gusts hit the boat while there this year. I think the highest one was 73 mph, can't remember for sure.

I highly recommend the WWO Kodiak Boat Fox Hunt.....a highly coveted tag...reach out to Zack to get in on this ASAP!

Mark

Mark

If the winter is fairly mild, usually by mid Feb you can have a pretty good idea of what the deer herd will look like the following fall—baring some sort of freak late spring...

You guys are gonna have a blast!

Hard to believe it has been 2 years already since Kota originally "planted the seed" with this thread.

Maybe Zack will show us the prom pics at the next PnY convention.

—Jim