Does anyone on this forum have any experience with beech landings on Kodiak Island? I'd like to go there on a deer hunt next fall. I've heard you can do it but don't know any specifics about exactly where to land. I've studied Google Earth but I can only tell so much from that.

Russ Elliott - N6063M - Stinson 108

No experience there...but I'd be interested to hear any answers...I've thought about this as well.

Several years ago, I read a magazine article about hunting deer on Kodiak Island. According to the article, the big bears on Kodiak (and there are a lot of them) have learned to equate a gun shot with a dinner bell. They will come to investigate when they hear one, and are not shy about appropriating your kill for themselves. The article's author and his party used a good sized boat as a camp, stayed on it and went ashore daily using the tender. After a kill, they quickly gutted the deer and hauled ass for home before any bears arrived.

Hmmmmm. I wonder if the bears think a gunshot is a dinner bell, would an airplane stuck in the sand sound like an invitation to a "people feast"? Inquiring minds don't want to find out!

Cary

There is no restriction on landing on Kodiak Island beaches. By any agency, that is.

On the other hand, where are you going to PARK the airplane while you're hunting? Kodiak has some of the biggest tides in the world. Like16 or so feet on some cycles. Seasonally, the tidal variation is 26 feet.....

Also, the wind occasionally blows on Kodiak. How will you secure the airplane for a few days while you hunt? Are you prepared to fly Kodiak weather? By the way, Kodiak weather can be aLITTLE uncooperative in the fall. Like one December we had 23 inches of rain in the first two weeks of December (and, yes, December is the good hunting month in Kodiak). Then it continued raining.

Get in touch with one of the great flying services on Kodiak, and set up transport on the island with them. Andrew Airways is a great outfit.

I DID once fly myself out for an overnight hunt once.....and spent five days and nights waiting for the next DAYLIGHT low tide.....duh.

Hire one of the pros on the island.

And don't sweat the BS about bears. Get in touch with theRefuge office, reserve a public use cabin...they have meat sheds.

Yes, the bears have great senses, but gunshots aren't a "call" for them. Their sense of smell is all the news they need. Don't be stupid, keep your eyes WIDE open and if a bear beats you to the deer quarters you left on a hillside, let him have the damn deer. Then go kill another. It isn't worth shooting a bear over a deer.

And, yes, I worked and hunted there for eight years.

There's a LOT of bullshit out there put up by folks who've never been to Kodiak.

There are a LOT of bears....so what would you expect? Then again, those bears are
Well fed, and most don't need the fight.

Again, dont be stupid. Lots of folks have successful deer hunts on Kodiak every year....

MTV

MTV...deer are legal to hunt same day airborne in Alaska...so I assumed that was the intent behind the question.

Troy,
I' m familiar with the same day airborne exception for Kodiak deer. That said, it takes a while to land, park,hunt, shoot, field dress, pack out and load a deer. Most of the beaches there are fairly steep and they go away fast as the tide comes in.

There are some bigger beaches, but none like the Bering Sea side of the peninsula.

And, you have to get your plane to and from Kodiak.....over Shelikof Strait. I've made that trip many times in single engine airplanes, and not a single one of those was fun. That's about forty miles of REALLY cold water, and some of the nastiest weather anywhere.

If you have NO time constraints, that may not be a problem......but bring a generous credit card balance, cause you're apt to spend a lot of time sitting in a hotel waiting.

Again, get airline ticket to and from the island, then make reservations with Andrew Airways or Harvey Flying and go for a flight in a classic Widgeon.

But, if you don't mind long overwater legs to get there and back, and you're willing to dance with tides and weather while hunting, go for it.....it's been done.....just not frequently.

You can give the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge office, and ask to talk to the pilot. They can give you current info on hunting and perhaps beaches.

MTV

Mike, thanks for the thoughtful response. Shelikoff is 20 miles at narrowest, for me I need 10,000 feet to ensure glide with a 1/3 distance overlap in the middle of the channel. The guys I've known that have done this hauled back whole deer and cleaned them in their garage, that is what we would be doing if we went. But I appreciate and understand what you are saying, it isn't very high on my priority list, so unless conditions and opportunity align perfectly, I'll take a pass...but I'm always interested in figuring out what the options are just in case opportunity and conditions do happen to fall into place.

There are a couple of reasons why I would personally not be interested in such an adventure.

I have been to Kodiak 4 times hunting deer. The published average deer per hunter is something around 1.5 and most hunters are there for more than 1 day. I would be really interested in the number of deer/hunter/day as I am sure that the number will be very small.

Flying to and from Kodiak and hunting the same day will leave you with very little time on the ground to schlep yourself up and back down a mountain plus get your deer. The later in the season you go, the more the snow will likely push the deer lower towards the beaches, but then the days are even shorter. If you plan to fly home that night and you don't get a deer, that is just a huge trip to make with significant risk for nothing. If you are lucky enough to get a big one, that's like 150#. Most are much smaller.

I love Sitka Black Tail and have thoroughly enjoyed all my hunts, but I know that I wouldn't want to fly myself to Kodiak and back in a single day with a deer hunt squished in between. I'm with Mike. Fly with the pros. Stay awhile. Bring back a bunch of deer and maybe even a goat......on Alaska Airlines.

If you do go.....please let us know how it went.

Troy, you're right, Shelikof is only 20 miles open water or so, IF yore coming from your part of the world....the west. Most folks are going to be coming there from the north. That is a much longer stretch. Granted, the Barren Islands are out there in the middle, but that ain't no great shakes and yes, I've landed there.

Squash is right...most of Kodiak is steep, like REALLY steep, and dense alders mixed with devils club. And the deer are high till late in season, which is why December is best.

It IS a fantastic place to hunt, and recreate. Definitely go there some day.

MTV

I really do appreciate the thoughtful responses and I do try to take the advise of others who have more experience than me. I think I'll put this hunt on hold for the time being. If someone ever does this hunt, I'd like to know some details.

Russ

Welcome to BCP by the way, Russ. I've always liked the Stinson 108

Hi there ! I thought I might add a little insight on this post as an avid hunter and pilot. I am a lifelong alaskan and love hunting on Kodiak. Kodiak can be one of the most beautiful places on earth and one of the worst. I would strongly recommend hunting by having someone drop you off at a rental cabin for a few days, or rent a crab boat if you have the $. Awesome way to hunt. What it really comes down to is this : Do you want to babysit your airplane or hunt ? It is not a place I would leave an airplane for any length of time unprotected. I was hunting on the south end of the island three years ago and the hunting trip turned into a survival trip. The winds kicked up from the north to 100-120 mph and 0 degrees F. These big storms usually go through in three days but this one was five days. I was glad we didnt have an airplane on the the beach !!! There was spray from the ocean 300 yrds from the beach encrusting everything with ice over a foot thick. Had to break ice off the tent to keep it up. Whole other story. No trees down there by the way, I think they all blow away. Anyhow you get the idea. The Navy Seals were doing their cold training in the next bay up and got extracted as that one hit. Can be beautiful, or nasty there. It keeps me going back. Bears are a concern, but the weather is the bigger concern for me by far.

100 - 120 mph winds for 5 days. That gets my attention.