WFGinNM Report post Posted February 1, 2008 I've been playing around with resizing some pictures and figured I'd try to post some pictures of my first Sitka Blacktail. Hope it works, --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted February 1, 2008 Whoa! That's a big'un. Kodiak? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted February 1, 2008 Bill, Real nice buck. Great colors on their capes and not to mention how great the meat tastes. Who did you hunt with? What part of the island? Did they say if last years winter hurt the population badly? Doug~RR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted February 1, 2008 Looks like a heck of a Sitka to me Congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted February 1, 2008 AWESOME.... Jason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted February 1, 2008 I hunted with Alaska Coastal Marine on the southwest part of Kodiak Island. They didn't say much about last years winter, but I do know that the bigger deer were rutting the 2nd week of November when we were there. We could have shot deer right near the beach but I wasn't much into that, we found larger deer up high and there wasn't a shortage of bucks that I could tell. But what do I know here we have to draw to hunt deer up there you can shoot 3, buck or doe. The meat is good but I would rather have southeastern PA doe, cow elk, or lion. Probably due to both bucks I killed were rutting hard. This meat was by far the best meat I brought home. I'm planning on returning to Kodiak but I missed coues pretty bad last season so I'd like to put in for 34A Oct. this year to hopefully get a chance at a coues, and maybe hit the PA whitetail rut in November. --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted February 1, 2008 My 2nd buck. Both sets of deer antlers. --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted February 1, 2008 Looks like your top photo is on their website. From teh description, sounds like the boat would be uncrowded and I lik ethe idea of the drying room for wet clothes. About how many deer bucks vs does, did you see each day? Did you get to shoot any Harlequins? From the pics, looks like the alders were not too nasty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted February 1, 2008 Tim showed up by float plane for the last couple days of our hunt so we downloaded my camera memory sticks into his laptop. There is plenty of room on the boat and excellent food. Hot shower everynight, the drying room is a plus it's a room below deck used for storage with room to hang wet clothes and fans to dry clothes. I probably saw 2 or 3 doe for every buck, and every doe or little herd of doe had bucks working them. We would get up high look for doe and then start looking around her for the bucks. I actually shot my first buck off a doe he had just got his front legs off the ground and when I saw his back forks through the binoculars I took them off the tripod and used it for a rest. Probably should have let him finish but I couldn't wait, I had dreams of a 5x5 sitka for years. There were ducks everywhere, Eider, Scoter, Harlequin, Old Squaw, Mallards, Widgeon, Teal, and Pintail. I didn't take a shotgun with me since I was more interested in catching halibut and looking for deer. They did have decoys on the boat and next time I will be bringing the shotgun. I had to book the week I went 2 years out to get the 2nd week of November. It was worth it. --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SilentButDeadly Report post Posted February 1, 2008 awesome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kilimanjaro Report post Posted February 2, 2008 great looking Sitkas.. I'll be doing that hunt sometime in the next few years.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted February 3, 2008 Bill, Your 4x4 has to be close to booking, eh? Great buck. How long did it take you to hike that high? See many bear? I am ready to go back to Kodiak, asap. Sitkas are beautiful, as are the Harlequins and the country they are found. I was in at TR Taxi and he had my blacktail drying on the wall. Doug~RR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted February 3, 2008 Doug, That buck grossed just over 103 green so it won't make all time, but it might make the award period. When I shot this buck it took about 2 hours to get over the top to the valley I found him, but we stopped and glassed constantly on the way up and over. A couple days later we went back to find a buck for a friend that has never killed anything and it took us about an hour moving at a pace that kept us from sweating. The alders weren't as bad as I'd heard but we picked our way around them or through them, still they were no fun when you were expecting to come face to face with a bear. I saw 8 browns, 6 while glassing and 2 hurried us off of a buck that we were just loading onto our packs. Also saw about 100 ptarmigan, but I really didn't want to kill one deader than it needed to be with the 7mm. I just got the capes back from the tannery and need to look into some mannikins, but have to find some time first before I can mount them. When you get yours back post some pics please. Long ago I realized I didn't have much desire to spend my life paying off sheep hunts and since I love deer hunting the deer slam seemed like the thing to do, just need a coues and columbian blacktail. To me a sitka in rut is the most striking of the deer. If you are looking for a Transporter to go with ACM is amazing, Tim runs a great operation which I felt a bit guilty with since it was so cushy. I gained weight on this hunt and that isn't right. I've got about 250 pics of the trip and now wish I took more. We really lucked out on the weather, were only stuck on the boat one day but it gave us a chance to cut deer and fish. Then the weather was too windy in Kodiak to send planes to pick us up so we spent an extra day and a half on the boat and island. Just amazing and I'm trying to see when I can fit in another trip up there. --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
