Sitka Blacktail Deer experience in Alaska? Kodiak? etc...?

[HuskyMusky]

For some reason this hunt is high on my list/priorities, maybe because it's the cheap alaskan hunt, can be done without much expensive, no waiting for tags, can shoot up to 3 deers in some areas/seasons I think.

Plus you can DIY it on kodiak essentially.

If anyone out there has done this hunt, please share some info/experience.


Also what's the perfect Kodiak Island Sitka Blacktail Deer rifle?

My thoughts are the .300wsm in a lightweight setup stainless/synthetic.
While the deer are little, I would feel better with a 180gr 30cal bullet than say a 25-06 or 270, 7mm-08. ie 130gr 27cal bullet, just in case!

[sigpros]

I have awalys wanted to do this hunt myself. Read in a magazine that got lost in a move about an island you could hunt on that had and old air strip and a small miliatry base. A couple of buildings., It was built during WWII as an out post to warn of russians coming. On the far end of the island where the deer were a guy had built a couple cabins you could rent and hunt out of. They also had freezers and genarators. There was also a big fox population to hunt also. Sounded like a blast wish I wouldn't have lost that magazine. I too want to hunt these little guys. They are high on my bucket list

[Jon Boy]

Im planning on doing an alpine back country hunt with bow on POW for a week in september and a week of black bear hunting and fishing when I graduate college. If your strictly hunting BTs your gunna want to go in November and hunt from a boat. Alot of the deer will have migrated down from the alpine by then and be along the beaches.

[Grizz]

Husky,
I lived on Kodiak for two summers and hunted deer there extensively. While my experience is limited to late summer/early fall while the bucks are in the alpine and reaching them is a chore, I've always wanted to go back and hunt them with a bow during the rut in November... maybe do a sea-duck hunt as well.

Living on the island in the bush afforded me ample opportunity to spend time around bears, escpecially a specific set of them. I never had issues with them but did have one come in to about fifteen yards downwind as I was boning out a buck. I stood up and began shouting and the youngster realized what I was and lit out for the berry patch. I carried the Alaskan Swiss Army knife of calibers; the .338 Win. Mag. and it served me very well on Sitkas. You are correct in your size estimate but they are more short and stocky than small. In my experience they were as heavy or heavier than most whitetails I've killed and they are tough to boot. I never knocked one off its feet with the .338 despite breaking shoulders on several different bucks. They always seemed to make it to the brush which added to the excitement, not knowing if the man in the brown suit was taking a nap in there.

If I were doing a DIY I would look at the many forest service cabins scattered around the island with the area around Karluk Lake or Frazer Lake getting my knod. There are several air services in Kodiak that would fly you in and pick you up. The ones that come to mind are Island Air and Andrews Air.

Take good rain gear, good boots, fly rod, and good camera equipment. I would also recommend packing a shotgun as well as your rifle. As for a rifle? It is difficult to beat the various .300's or .338's up there. Much bigger is a joke and much smaller and one runs the very real risk of not bringing enough gun for a possible bear fight. If I were doing it all again I would carry a handgun in .44 mag or larger, something compact and unobtrusive, and take my .257 Weatherby for the deer hunting.

In short, this is an awesome hunt that can be very physically demanding and potentially life threatening (read affirming), Alaska has many ways to test a man.

[Edelweiss]

And you might have a November where none of the bucks have antlers anymore.

The Sitka bucks are tricky.

When I lived in Sitka (the town) we had a wierd winter and all the bucks were antlerless early on. I knew a outfitter that had hunters booked for the last 2 weeks in November and he called them and told them not to come.