Bush planes are by far the best way to go on Kodiak. Not every little spot will be good deer hunting. You don’t need a boat for deer. Get in a bay. Get your glass out. Look for white. Check everywhere if it’s november. Any other time go higher up into valleys and amphitheater’s.
powderburner:
I can fly to Kodiak for free using credit card points. But getting out of Kodiak to someplace where we can hunt blacktails, for a reasonable cost, is the challenge that I'm trying to overcome.
We hunted Kodiak for blacktails four years ago and flew with Andrews Airways. Good company. But it cost $2,500/person to fly into Santa Flavia Bay. I don't know what it would cost to fly further.
Kodiak Camp Boat Rentals rents Zodiaks for $685/week. That's a lot easier to swallow. But I'm concerned about taking a small boat, even something as stable as a Zodiak, into the open sea. Has to be calm seas and I'm under the impression that we could camp on the beach for several days waiting for favorable conditions. I've been to Alaska eleven times over the last couple of decades and although there has always been at least one storm, they have never lasted more than three or four days. I'm retired and I could camp on the beach for a week or more and go when conditions are right. But all of my hunting companions have to plan their hunts around their work schedules.
It's about forty miles from Pasagzhak to the far west finger if Kiliuda Bay. You could make that on one tank of gas. Take two more tanks with you. But you could get stuck on the beach waiting for good weather on the return trip also. That wouldn't bother me, but it would be a problem for someone who has to stick to a schedule.
KC
