Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Kodiak Deer hurting?

Just got in from Kodiak, down towards the south end and the deer numbers were dismal. Doesn’t make much sense considering how good the numbers were just a couple years earlier. Sheep numbers down , Caribou numbers down, deer down, as well as Moose in many areas, are the bears soon to follow ? I don’t pretend to have an answer or know why but it’s scary. F&G needs to get realistic. Maybe they need to tell the out of state outfitting lobby to go home and stay there. Then again it’s probably too late. Oh well at least we got to see the tail end of it all. I am grateful for that, but sad to see the state of things.

Kodiak non-res are now limited to 1 buck, correct?

Kodiak deer populations have always fluctuated widely depending on winter weather. The access to drinking water is usually the main problem as even with deep snow, the deer can feed along the beach and even eat kelp. But when the temperature drops and the creeks freeze for weeks on end, the deer start dying by the thousands .

Yes sir, absolutely correct. But that hasn’t been the case recently , I think it was 19 20 on the N end. When the last die off in mass happened.Perhaps that caught up 3 years later , but that was the N end. We were south. Transporters were leaving with their clients in tow early this year. Doesn’t make sense . Last two years were really good?

out of state hunters help every states economy and without out of stater`s wildlife would have even smaller populations ,no the out of staters are not the problem its protecting meat eating predators to much. did you read what Alaska did for a caribou herd in Alaska ? Alaska`s DNR people shot 87 grizzly bears , wolves and some other predators to try and increase the population of that caribou herd. it seems like America in every state wants to save all these dang predators now days 100 years ago our old people killed, trap and poisoned predators ,we need to do that too ,this woke liberal chit aint helping either.

The main predator of deer on Kodiak is the weather. Kodiak bear hunting has been regulated for a long time now and the deer population has always ebbed and flowed. It isn’t the bears and no amount of nonresident money is going to change the weather

You have a lot of nerve! Introducing facts into a game management discussion is against the rules!

OK, so the weather is a big factor in Kodiak deer dying off, but is that the case this time? And if so what is the evidence?

It absolutely is the case.
We had an couple of very long winters. By April the deer are hurting. I had no problem killing a couple or decent deer but had to fly to south end.

PWS has seen its share of die off's, but it only bounced back. Kodiak is no different.

Seems like population has a several year cycle. Last winter on the KP was snowier than average, and a late slow spring. Guessing the rock was similar.

If the deer numbers fall then the bear numbers need to be reduced to match to even things up and let the spring newborns have a chance

there's far too much brown bear worship on Kodiak, need at least a 50% termination

How ? Every Alaskan resident that goes deer hunting anywhere on the Kodiak Islands should be allowed one over the counter brown bear tag on the same hunt

Seems to me the ebb and flow has been working for years. Of course if someone doesn't pay attention, pays to go hunt and gets skunked... I get that too.

Would be like sheep hunting in our unit this year. One Resident wanted to. Knew the odds. And the odds won.

Granted I've only been reading about this situation since the mid 80s.

Hunting pressure and climate. We used to shoot any bull moose in what is today the city limits of Wasilla. We used to shoot any bull in what is today Kinkaid Park. Those days are gone........forever. ADFG can't fix that.

But here's an idea: repeal the PFD. Within six months, at least 20% of the resident population disappears, and they will be the precise residents we need gone, too.

Its often amazing how many residents can think residents are without blame.

Numbers of anything... supply and demand. Fairly easy to understand. BUT the weather sure can make numbers go up and down

Hunting quotas, yes; trapping, maybe; poisoning never.

My vote. Far too much collateral death with poison. But on Kodiak, every bear could be dead and deer populations would still take a hit due to weather IMO.

Yup. Predators fit in the formula and wanting them all gone is nuts.

They have to be managed and seems they are managed.

But weather, IE what the prey, so to speak, has a huge factor often at the worst time of the season.

I was stationed in Kodiak from 96-99. I don't recall creeks freezing for weeks on end. Just as an example. Lake Catherine and Lake Louise would be frozen over and the creeks that drained them would never freeze solid. Likewise, I don't recall the Buskin ever freezing solid. It seems that there were always areas of moving water. That's obviously just a snapshot. I suppose the weather could have been atypical during that time.

Interesting thoughts about the creeks freezing but I don't accept it. I have hunted Kodiak roughly 12 times beginning 1985. All our trips were roughly 7 days long where we camped on shore on the upper half of the island. Most of these trips were in December. There is freshwater coming up from underground springs everywhere. We never once had a difficult time finding fresh water for our needs. There is water everywhere, and I mean everywhere.
I will say IMO the hunting in the late 1980's and early 90's were the best. Shooting 4-5 nice bucks during the week was easy and many forks were passed up. I remember one sunny afternoon in 85 or 86 when the wife and I climbed to about 2,000 feet and started glassing. We found over a dozen decent bucks in a 500 yard circle around us. After that period we noticed a gradual slowdown in the deer population.
Hunting pressure? Lack of food? Maybe a little of either.
But lack of unfrozen water? No way.

You have to love the notion of people with very little time on the ground when deer are really struggling knowing what kills them. I had a boat there for 27 years and hunted it long before I had the boat. Early bear hunts in late springs can be very sad affairs.

'98 was the last incredible year on the north end. The numbers and quality were everywhere. Predators including the human side have virtually nothing to do with deer populations on Kodiak.