Kodiak Deer Advise

[jcorwin4278]

So I am planning on doing a deer hunt next year. While I would love to go to POW to hunt them, the price is a little more than I can afford. So I am going to Kodiak instead. Here is what I am planning. I am going to load up my truck, head down to Whitter, get on the ferry, and hunt for like 7-10 days. What I am looking at doing is either renting a public use cabin or renting a cabin from a company/person that has them to rent. My problem is, I havent found any info on previous threads on any of the above. So if someone could help me out and give me names of people or a public use cabin that is accesible from the road that I can call home, it would be awesome. Again, I am not flying out, nor am I planning on being cold. Thanks for your help. You can either PM me or just post it, that way other can research it and find something.

 

[Chisana]

Why are you taking the ferry from Whittier to Kodiak? Would be a much shorter ferry trip from Homer. No public use cabins on the Kodiak road system that I know of. There is a lodge at Saltery that I've heard good reports from. Maybe the Burton ranch would rent you a room. I think you'll be disappointed with a 7-10 day deer hunt on the Kodiak road system.

 

[jkb]

I see a lot of guys just taking their 4 wheelers to port Lyons. Flying over that area shows a large trail system.

 

[jcorwin4278]

Why are you taking the ferry from Whittier to Kodiak? Would be a much shorter ferry trip from Homer. No public use cabins on the Kodiak road system that I know of. There is a lodge at Saltery that I've heard good reports from. Maybe the Burton ranch would rent you a room. I think you'll be disappointed with a 7-10 day deer hunt on the Kodiak road system.

I guess I never looked at Homer. Thanks for that! I am kinda gonna play it byt ear. I am hoping to find a spot and park the truck and walk in for a little while. I have heard and read the same thing about hunting the road systems and I am hoping to find something. If I had the money to blow, flying in would not be a problem, but it is. I really want to do a deer hunt and this looks like the best option and the best chance I can have to get one without going bankrupt. If someone has a better way to get it done and it fairly inexpensive, please feel free to post it.

 

[Brian M]

Have you considered taking a flight to one of the villages such as Larsen Bay? If you catch one of the regularly scheduled flights, it shouldn't be too crazy expensive. If you start from Larsen Bay (assuming there aren't land ownership issues that would prevent this), you could hike out from there and potentially have a great hunt.

 

[HomerAdam]

You can take the ferry to Port Lions and be in some great deer country. Only drawback is that you dont want to be cold and there isnt any public use cabins that I know of.

 

[kodiakrain]

There are some guys I know real well, who kill Nice Bucks off the road system, using ATV's to get out a ways, every year.
They are pretty Serious Hunters tho, pre season scouting and all that, and I am sure they are WAY off the road, like willing to CLIMB, after using the ATV to get back in there.

So it could be a good hunt, but probably an uphill battle if you are hoping to sleep near your truck and walk in from near the road.

Standard deal on the road hunting, lots of traffic for the few miles near the road.

As far as flying out to a village, that's getting tighter every year now,
you should probably check on land use mapping first.

I was in Larsen Bay last year and surprised at how much land they had locked up by the Corporation,
Maps clearly posted, to be seen, the minute you landed at arpt or harbor, everything near the water or town for quite a ways.

Old Harbor and Alitak are similar, can be good hunting down there but the private land issue won't make it easy, as it used to be

I'd say your plan to not fly out is sound, staying warm, may not be so easy if you want to really see some nice Deer.
Dress for the Coast, bring a good tent, get up high, far back in, and wake up in Buck Country

 

[akflyfisher]

I have friends who take nice bucks every year and never even fire up their ATV's.

What you want to do is very doable! You will need to get a permit from the native corp-$125.00.
Find a nice bowl and hike up to it your first day and mark your trail on a GPS. Get up two hours before daylight the next day and go to the same area and glass at first light and you should spot a couple of bucks.
It is really easy, if you don't mind two hours of pure hell in hiking thought some of the thickest steepest stuff you can imagine. You could also bring a spike camp and wake up in deer country. If you have the will to hike up and back down in a day, you would be surprised. Your hunt may be over in the first couple of days.

The deer population is up so I would say your chances are good. You could also hit bad weather and never leave your truck for week. It is all part of being on kodiak.

If you are coming from North Pole, drive to Homer and take the ferry. The ferry from Whittier stops in Homer before coming to Kodiak.

Good luck!

 

[FurFishGame]

Me and my friend are planning on doing the same thing, I was thinkking, could you sleep in your truck? then hike in for a ways off the road?

 

[BRWNBR]

ya they allow sleeping in trucks down there..
theres some great deer country that will take some effort to access, but ifyour willing to go for it there are some big big bucks on the road system. doing goat hunts down there i've only ever seen one buck. goofin' off in areas where i dont' see goats, i've seen some really nice deer. drive the whole road, look it over and pick your poision, alot of it wil be trial and error. depending on when you go deer will be in different places. not sure if your doing the general hunt or the primitve hunt later on...

 

[La Pine]

Kodiak road system

Kodiak road system

A few years back we stayed at the lodge on saltery lake and hunted from there. The road is is very rough and at times washes out so you may want to call the lodge before your drive out. We didn't care to much for the lodge owners but its a dry roof over your head. have a good time.

So I am planning on doing a deer hunt next year. While I would love to go to POW to hunt them, the price is a little more than I can afford. So I am going to Kodiak instead. Here is what I am planning. I am going to load up my truck, head down to Whitter, get on the ferry, and hunt for like 7-10 days. What I am looking at doing is either renting a public use cabin or renting a cabin from a company/person that has them to rent. My problem is, I havent found any info on previous threads on any of the above. So if someone could help me out and give me names of people or a public use cabin that is accesible from the road that I can call home, it would be awesome. Again, I am not flying out, nor am I planning on being cold. Thanks for your help. You can either PM me or just post it, that way other can research it and find something.

 

[jcorwin4278]

I am planning on going down in Oct. I have a nice tent and would be willing to use it if I could use my atv to get off the road and get back a ways. It has a stove and the whole 9. I just wanted to stay somewhere I could feel a little less like on not on top of the food chain. If some one could tell me where I need to look on the maps and my atlas to see where I could go in to set up camp with a tent, then I could be talked into doing that, if it means a better chance at getting a deer.

 

[BRWNBR]

i'll be suprised if you even see a bear. i've only seen a tiny handfull on the road system in the last 10 years or so...only ever seen one on a goat hunt. look to the west of pasagshak bay...
early oct or late? early grass will be high, some leaves still green, you'll want to get above all that and hunt the funky tunrda stuff up on top. late oct it might be falling down and deer will be starting to move around a bit more. early probably would be better.
don't forget the silvers should be in the local rivers...and kodiak has BIIIIG silvers!!

 

[La Pine]

Well if you don't want to be visited in the night check this out. http://www.udap.com/bearshock.htm Its a good way to keep from an unwanted visit.

I am planning on going down in Oct. I have a nice tent and would be willing to use it if I could use my atv to get off the road and get back a ways. It has a stove and the whole 9. I just wanted to stay somewhere I could feel a little less like on not on top of the food chain. If some one could tell me where I need to look on the maps and my atlas to see where I could go in to set up camp with a tent, then I could be talked into doing that, if it means a better chance at getting a deer.

 

[jcorwin4278]

i'll be suprised if you even see a bear. i've only seen a tiny handfull on the road system in the last 10 years or so...only ever seen one on a goat hunt. look to the west of pasagshak bay...
early oct or late? early grass will be high, some leaves still green, you'll want to get above all that and hunt the funky tunrda stuff up on top. late oct it might be falling down and deer will be starting to move around a bit more. early probably would be better.
don't forget the silvers should be in the local rivers...and kodiak has BIIIIG silvers!!

Thanks! I will bring my salmon rod! It would be a sweet bouns to get some silvers. I will look into the area you sadi and see if there is a way to get a atv back in there. If that will work out better, then so be it. I was just trying for the "easy way out". I normally take my tent and stove, but was being lazy. So if we do take our tent, that would kinda changes the permaitors a bit. Does anyone have any suggestions on that? Where should we go in and find a camp spot? I am still not able to fly, so atv via ferry. I wil admitt, waking up in deer counttry would be nice, just cant afford to fly in any were.

 

[twodux]

When I lived on Kodiak, my biggest three bucks came off the road system. But remember, unless you go out to the Saltery river and cross it, you're only allowed one deer. And if you take one anywhere else, such as across the Saltery River, you then can't legally hunt the road system. So if you want more than one deer, and want to hunt anywhere on the road system, do your hunting on the road system first, then cross the Saltery River. I've heard that now you have to go a ways, cuz that area gets hit hard by locals on quads, but when I lived there, I used to hike up into the low hills just a ways past the river. They are small foothills to the higher ridges. There's some swamp and beaver ponds and a quite a bit of alders, but lots of openings. There's a big high long ridge that heads over towards Wild Creek, and you can get up on it and glass for a long ways. There's always the chance of finding a big buck up on the ridge too. Kinds steep getting up, but do-able.

 

[twodux]

Here's a land use map that helps figure out where private and public land is.

http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/planning/easmtatlas/kodiak/indexmap.htm