montague deer/bear hunt advice

[wiso_67]

hey all was thinking about planning a trip next oct time frame. I wanted to know if it would be better to fly in or boat in. Also does anyone recommend a good transporter? This would be my first trip to island so any info or advice would be greatly appreciaited.

 

[rimfirematt]

First and foremost, dont tent there! Weather is usually bad. I had really awesome gear last year, but 7 days in the rain eventually got me. The guys that were staying in the cabin there looked nice and cozy. Thats the way Im gonna do it next time!

Plan on getting delayed. The guys in the cabin said they hunted there every year for the past 15 years and have ever only left a couple of times on schedule. I was 4 days late getting out last year.

I flew in with natron air. www.natronair.com

I brought hip boots and hiking boots. I wore my hippers ALOT.

 

[AKDoug]

That's only if you can get a cabin. Cabins can be hard to come by on Montague during deer season. There are PLENTY of tents on the market that can take seven days of rain comfortably. Heck, most of them you can heat too...just make sure you monitor your CO intake somehow.

I'm heading down the second week of November. I'm not arranging the trip, but I'm 99% sure we are flying out with Bear Lake Air. Three of us are going and we are chartering two Beaver flights in and out. That way we can carry all the gear we want to stay comfortable and still bring back a bunch of deer.

 

[theilercabin]

By Boat

By Boat

By boat can be the way to go. You can stay warm, dry, and comfortable aboard an overnight style charter boat. I'll be running a transporter service out there and out of Homer next year. Let me know if you need any more information.

 

[twodux]

tents

tents

Good advise from Matt on planning for a delay. I met two different parties last year here in Cordova who were a week overdue when they finally got picked up. Needless to say, they and their deer were a little funky.

Tent camping is fine if you do a couple things, find a well drained area to pitch your tent and have a good plastic tarp for a rainfly. Leave a gap between the tent and tarp of about a foot for good air circulation. Also have a safe heat source. Make sure the tarp is big enough to cover your tent and then some. And stake or tie the tarp down tight. take all slack out of it so water can't collect on it and the wind can't flap it enough for it to come loose or tear. if it doesn't have grommets or if you tear a grommet out or you need to grab it in more places to keep the fly taut, put a rock on the top of the tarp, then wrap line around it from the bottom with a slip knot and tighten it so the rock is wrapped in tarp and can't fall out.

I camped in tents for months at a time on Kodiak and Afognak and we were always cozy and comfortable even in the worst weather.

 

[AK DUCKMAN]

I'v done the tent thing there a few times. If you can stay in the trees you should do fine asfar as the wind goes. The last time however when the Coast Guard picked us up the wind was better then 50 knots ten days later a guy went in to get our stuff. The tent was still standing. Only one small rip in the fly 1 inch by 1 inch. It was a Cabelas Alaknak (1st gen..)
Still have it. Also that time we used bear lake air and felt we got screwed as did the other party that got picked up with us. I'm not going into the story but a lot of thing just diden't jive. Hell the other party was taken to the wrong cabin and I'll leave it at that! Good luck with them.
I should add if you do the tent thing go with a synthetic sleeping bag
cause down will kill you if it gets wet. Also don't count on dry wood.
It can be a real rainy place.And make sure you have a lot of fuel. Cause when the plane dosen't show up for 4 or 5 days you'll be eating Montague sushi. Not bad stuff with a little seaweed.

 

[rimfirematt]

what kind of tents are you guys talking about? Im talking about a 3 man tent the backpacking type. Most of the wetness got in there from me tracking it in and out. I was trying to be carefull but it still gets in.

I guess if you have the room a bigger outfitter tent (at least one where you can stand up) might be okay especially with a heater.

Oh Yeah, bring a Sat phone. And call home to check on the weather report a couple of days before your departure, so that if it looks bad you could maybe call your transporter and get out of there before a storm hits and you get delayed.

 

[tccak71]

Would you guys...

Would you guys...

suggest getting dropped off away from the cabins, or is Natron, Bear Lake & others just going to drop you off where they want?

Tim

 

[Snowwolfe]

Cabins are nice but the deer are not dumb. Generally it requires a long hike from a cabin to find decent deer populations. Weather around Montague seems to be even worse than Kodiak in October.
I hunted Montague twice and stayed in a cabin both times. We were delayed flying in by 2 days and didnt get picked up till three days later than planned on both trips.
If I were to go back I would opt to go by boat and sleep on the boat. You can travel along the shore and find new hunting area every day.

 

[Brian M]

Tim - Are you planning on going? I've been thinking about trying a short trip over our Thanksgiving break by boat. Any interest? Our commercial fishing boat is out of commission, but I was thinking about looking into a drop-off hunt. Not sure if it's feasible yet, but I've got interest from one or two other people to help defray the costs.

-Brian

 

[tccak71]

Brian

Brian

My buddy and I want to fly/boat in next October (2007) and take the whole work week off. I'm doing a weekend trip with a buddy that has a Pacer on 10-27 or the next weekend, weather pending.

Thanks for the invite and good luck with the trip. I'd do it but I'm taking the family and revvin' up the snowmachines over Thanksgiving weekend.


Tim

 

[Brian M]

No worries - I might try to do the registration cow moose hunt in 20A instead if some of the harder-to-reach areas are still open. Of course, that's dependant on there being enough snow cover. Who knows? Maybe I'll just sit around the house and get fat instead. Tis the season!

-Brian

 

[theilercabin]

Advice

Advice

Going the boating route can be a good one when the snow and weather has pushed those blacktails down to the shorelines. Great way to locate the deer, pull up in a bay, get the zodiac out, get to shore, put the stalk down, take the air out of a few, gut, clean, back in zodiac, back to boat nice and dry for some shrimp and backstrap in a warm, better yet a dry, warm boat cabin.

 

[AkHunter45]

Not that sounds like my kind of hunting, at least at this time of year!!

 

[theilercabin]

Fun, Fun

Fun, Fun

It's lots of **** fun. A great way to spend the time with some hunting buddies.

 

[AkHunter45]

theilercabin, sent you a pm.

 

[Paul H]

The up side of taking a boat over is, you can take more gear for the same price, and you might have more weather windows for the departure/return. You might also be able to get to more spots.

If you're going to stay in one of the cabins, then I'd highly recomend a zodiak or similar so that you can get away from the cabin and hunt. Getting a few miles away from the cabin will make a huge difference in your success.

On our hunt last year a friend of a friend took us over on his commercial fishing boat, and we came back with Eco tours. I'd highly recomend Eco tours, great guy, boat has a landing craft style door so he can take you right up to where you'll be dropped off.

Our buddies who hunted the week before used a differrent outfit, that was flaky and late. They used a small zodiak to ferry them to the bigger boat, and arrived at low tide which made for alot more work on their departure.

 

[AKDoug]

We are headed to an area on native land with no cabins nearby.

 

[Alaskan_mtnman]

Swim Over!

Swim Over!

Hey Wiso!

I've Known You For A Long Time, And Know For A Fact Your A Strong Swimmer.................. Why Dont You Just Swim Over And Save Your Money! Ha Ha Ha
Well Let Me Know What You Decide On This Hunt, As I Am Interested In Joining You As Always. Take Care, And Keep Your Head Down..... We'll Be Out Of This God Forsaken Place (iraq) Soon!

 

[fisherman19]

How long of a boat ride is to the island? From Whittier that is.