Kodiak Island

**hvny** · November 13, 2024

Just got back home from my Kodiak Island hunt with my son. The adventure started on November 3rd at 4 am when we were woken by the smell of smoke and the sounds of a fire alarm. Our hotel in caught on fire from a discarded cigarette! After some time outside we got the all clear to return to our rooms. Fortunately that was the last major hiccup in our trip. Later that day at noon we were loaded on the float plane and headed to our camp on the Ayakulik River. After a brief afternoon hunt for the Sitka black tail we went back to our tents and settled for the night.

Monday we took an hour long boat ride up river to search for the caribou/feral reindeer and deer. I saw my first brown bear in the wild. After a lot of glassing our guide found a nice bull and my son was able to close the deal after a long, wet stalk through the river valley. Our boat ride got us back to camp just before dark and the heavy winds and rain that would keep us tent bound the entire next day. Hard rain and 50mph wind gusts gave us plenty of time to recover from the previous days hunting.

Day 3 took us down river. We glassed the mountain sides for several hours. All of a sudden my guide says “who’s want to shoot that 4x4 in front of us?” Standing 200 yards out was a nice heavy 4X4 that the other guide got up out its bed while walking up the stream. A quick positioning of my pack and squeeze of the trigger and I had shot my first Sitka black tail.

Day 4 and my son was up again. We went back up river to glass. After a 2 mile walk across the sponge like terrain of the valley floor our guide found a nice 5X4 bedded at the top of a hill. A carefully planned stalk and climb up hill got us with in 60 yards of the deer. A few moments later and we had our second deer on the ground.

The last day we attempted some fishing but the heavy rains days prior made it difficult. We did have a visit from a harbor seal in the river-not something I expected on this hunt. We had an early morning flight back to Kodiak on Saturday, barely beating the storm that shut down all air travel for the next 24 hours.

Kodiak Island is a special place and I am truly blessed to have been able to share this experience with my son. Looking forward to going back some day.