SITKA BLACKTAIL TRIP

[MCwaterfowler]

Hello all,

My brother and a couple of buddies and I are considering booking a last minute trip on Kodiak with Zachar Bay Lodge.
It is an unguided hunt.
I have never been to Kodiak but the other three hunters have been the last two Novembers.
I have heard last winter was hard on the deer, but that they are still there just a bit tougher to hunt.

Has anyone had an experience with Zachar Bay Lodge that they are willing to share?
Anything would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[DEERSLAM]

North end of the island was hit hard last winter. Don't hunt there. Just had a group get back from Larsen Bay and the four of them got 9 bucks. All with bow or handgun. They saw a lot of deer or should I say bucks. They said if they saw 70 deer in a day 60 of them were bucks. The rut just kicked in big time about 5 or 6 days ago. Don't know anything about that outfit, sorry.

[waldo2382]

Never hunted with a guide and didn't get a chance to get out this year...stupid work. Anyway, I've heard different stories on the deer populations with the winter kill. The snow is pushing the deer closer to the beaches this time of year so I'm sure you'll see some critters. Earlier in the season the deer are more spread out in the denser cover, so maybe they "thought" the winter kill was worse than it was, don't know, I like to see things myself. It has been relatively warm and the bears are still out and about and with no more berries and no more fish, they are looking for red meat. Shouldn't be much of a problem for deer but for the elk hunters that had to leave the rest of the animal in the field overnight came back with bears crawling the area. Good luck and becareful, I'm sure you''ll be fine. If you have a chance, shoot some seaducks while you're there, beautiful harlequins, oldquaw, scaup, scoters, and maybe some eiders too.

[grover]

Got back from Afognak last week. Hard hunting. Saw 3 deer in 5 days. Brought back some nice Lingcod and Halibut though .Spoke with several others in the airport and heard that the north was very tough but the south area was producing nicely. Google Alaska hunting forums and you should find some info. on whats happening on the south side of Kodiak.

[wmidbrook]

The south end has always outproduced the north unless you're going after elk on Raspberry Island. I used to hunt from Halibut bay north through Viekoda and Uganik Bays and the hills above those areas. On the very south end of the south island, it's a much, much further hike into where the deer are. Lots of deer near Larson bay but lots of pressure...tougher to get a bigger deer there. An interesting trip from the west side is to hunt from Olga Bay inward as well. I liked waiting for the snow to push the deer near the beach rather than rut hunting.

[MULIES4EVER]

Just got back on monday night. Rut was happening in full force. I will post as soon as my wife downloads the pics on the computer. It was a blast but hunting was hard and deer were scattered. I had success but some did not. Didnt see as many as I would have liked but they are there. Saw more bears than anything. I do not know the outfitter you are talking about. Hunting is definatly harder right now than normal. I hunted Kaluida Bay. I would definatly do it again but it is a hunt. Nothing is garaunteed. look for my post soon.

Mulies

[MULIES4EVER]

Sorry I posted the story in the blacktail section. Should have noted it here a long time ago.