Looking at booking a drop off hunt in the sound for after I return from my deployment, in late september-oct.


It will be a party of 4, mainly looking to get some black tail deer, but would take a black bear, or brown if they were in the area.

Right now I'm looking at a water taxi from
Aquetec LLC

my questions are,

1. What island would you choose? I've been told Knight is a good choice, would like to avoid Montague if possible. Are there deer on Naked Island? Any place else I should consider going?

2. Any one know of another good drop off outfit, either by water taxi or plane in the sound?

3. Anyone done this sort of thing before/have any advice? We're all seasoned Alaskan hunters, but none of us have done much sound hunting.

AK-I can't advise on which island to choose, but please tell me you are taking your double!

Even with the added hassle of water/rust proofing, that would be an excellent gun to use.

Bob

I'm not sure yet.


I have a caribou hunt in early Aug, and moose in the same area in Sep.


My goal is to drop a caribou with it. We'll see how it performs on that hunt. If its good enough, it will probably accompany me on the drop off hunt. But either way I will be bringing my 338 or 300 wsm as well.

I've only hunted Montague; Nov '03 just before my deployment. We stayed about a converted shrimp boat and used a Zodiac to to/from the island daily. I took a couple deer and then hunted ducks. Lots of Harlequins and I ended up with a gorgeous double-banded one. We did a short hunt on Knight Island on the way back. Pretty place.

AK_Stick,

The end of Sept/beginning of Oct can be a tough time to hunt deer in the Sound - compared to earlier when they're all pretty much above timberline and later when the snow has pushed them down toward lower levels. Even though the bucks are hard horned, the rut hasn't really started. Plus, that's when Ma Nature can dumps a lot of rain.

That said, it sometimes happens that a high pressure system will settle in and you'll get frosty mornings and beautiful days where the deer just want to move.

In general, the further south you go, the better hunting as the snow load isn't so heavy. Be aware that some Native Corp land is off limits. Green Island holds a lot of deer but access might be tough via floatplane. No bears there that I've heard of. The geology of Knight Island is unique in the Sound and it's pretty rugged.

Good luck on your hunt!