I'll be hunting deer on the island about a month from now. Having never been there I'm not quite sure what to expect. Will the deer be down lower at this time of year? Midway up the hills and require more hiking (I hope so). Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks

darkside,

I hunted the island for deer in 06 from oct 10-18 on a boat-based deal. It's a hoot, and a challenge depending on the weather.

Last year was unseasonably warm and clear. Mid day temps into mid 60s. Night time only to 50, maybe high 40s. NO snow expect on the top of the highest, which meant we had to climb every day to find the deer. We did see young bucks and does on the beach or just above but nothing shootable except for meat. One one day of rain and wind, too, pretty rare for the island. Bears were a concern and we lost a deer to a she-bear that thought looked just right-- while we were dragging it to the beach.

good wind/rain gear, two pair of well broken in boots, socks and liners, and for god's sake, NO COTTON! Cotton will kill yer ass. Layer in the techie fabrics.

If you hunt ducks bring a shot gun as the harlequins should be flying well. That, and the foixes that roam the beach early and late in the day don't at all enjoy T shot.

nkonka
Thanks for all the info. We are hunting about the same time frame and off a boat as well. I love to hike and won't mind climbing hard if thats what it will take. Just want to find a few descent bucks. We are bringing the shotguns for ducks just in case.

quote:

Originally posted by nkonka:

good wind/rain gear, two pair of well broken in boots, socks and liners, and for god's sake, NO COTTON! Cotton will kill yer ass. Layer in the techie fabrics.

Back when I was in the ARMY, while stationed in Germany, we spent much time in the rain, snow and mud (Infantry). We never used cotton socks, as such was just begging for blisters.

What really saved our feet was to wear thin & tight fitting dress socks underneath ARMY-issued wools socks. Once the boots get wet inside, and the feet start to slide around inside of the boots, the dress socks act as a buffer between one's skin and the wool socks. Rather than rubbing on your skin and forming blisters, the dress socks take the beating. This is especially true when your feet are wet AND cold (in the cold, once your feet get a little numb, one does not always feel the rubbing until it is too late).

Just my $0.02.

Darkside,

if you are booked with Ninilchik Charters I would say you'll be well taken care of. There are a number of good to very good operators but Ninilchik gets my money.

One VERY important thing you'll want to pack in a good-sized day pack is a nice warm fleece to get into when you make it to the beach and are waiting for the ride to the boat. yeah-yeah, I know, everyone strips and puts on as the layering mantra goes but one time, probably when dragging down a deer through the pucker brush, you won't. And that one time the wind will be howling and the boat a ways away. You'll want to get into that warm and dry fleece toot-sweet.

wish i was going along-- that place defines the word hunt quite well.

Here is what you are looking for...this isn't me.

Thanks for the info guys.

Yukon,
Yep, seen that picture before. My hopes aren't that high but I can dream right? I hear they've had quite a winter kill/die off but hopefully I can find one or two candidates to make the trip home with me.

Hows the weather temperature wise in mid-October?

Here is a good weather resource...
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=kodiak%2C+ak

Here is a graph showing that the average temps in Oct. are 30-40 degrees.
http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayNORMS.asp?Airp...&Units=none&IATA=ADQ
You can also specify a day in the past and see exactly what happened.

I've heard the winter was hard on the deer on the North end of the Island, but the Southern end fared better.

I've heard it's not until November that the deer get pushed down low, but that's also the time of year that weather tends to keep the boats in port.

Bring good glass and get up high enough to put it to good use.