UPDATE-We made it back!! Kodiak Island with Chromebuck and Bergie and AKDD!!!!

[bayhunter]

good luck! thats one of my dream hunts...

[limbow]

We made it back. What a trip!! I must say the weather was a bit unforgiving for trad gear. We had 20-30 mph winds with 50-60 mph gusts. In fact, the high winds and snow squalls kept us on Kodiak for two extra days because the plane was unable to land.
 

The landscape was rugged and stunning. The alders posed a challenge a time or two when getting into shooting position, I pondered the thought of how my arrow would get through it. As I later found out, it would not !!
 

We hunted hard for 4 days, I took a day off from billy goating the mountains with Bergie and Chromebuck giving chase to Halibut.

[limbow]

Marty(AKDD) was a source of much knowledge. A great trad bowhunter who knocked out 5 days of hunting giving chase to the Sitka Blacktail with his Toelke Whip. Marty had quite a few encounters but like myself never connected.
   

I found sliding around the alsers to be quite challenging, especially with a quiver full of arrows that accompanied my Silvertip longbow.
 
 
 
This was the landscape for the day that chromebuck and I decided to tackle.

[Bel007]

   

[limbow]

I would like to comment on the clothing I chose for this trip. It was Kuiu from top to bottom. I researched this topic for quite some time and I am glad I chose Kuiu. The clothing performed flawlessly. We had temps from the high 20's to low to mid 30's on most of our hunt. Little rain fell but we did get 8-10" of snow the last days of the hunt.

The guide jacket and attack pants flowed nicely with every step I made ascending and descending this steep terrain.
My chugach rain gear became even more quiet with each day that I wore it. With my spindrift jacket and a layer of smart wool beneath my chugach jacket I found it to be a perfect match. It vented and breathed very well, the pit zips in the jacket and the leg zippers running down the sides were a welcomed option that I used daily with elevation change.
   
   
I had brought two Green easton XX75 arrows that were part of the last dozen I made for my Father before he passed away. It was my hope to get the job done with his arrow and bear razorhead.

[limbow]

The scenery just kept getting better and better!!
 
 

All in all the trip was a success even though none of us who hunted with our trad gear harvested a Blacktail. I met some wonderful people and the friendships we forged will continue on until we cross paths again. Thank you Keith, Marty and Don for an incredible trip that surely provided memories for a lifetime! Until we meet again!

[ti-guy]

[stujay]

Kodiak and the Sitka blacktails have to be my favorite hunt. Wild country, lots of deer. I notice today's Alaska wx cam pics of the Island show lots of snow down to the water line. That should find the deer within reach of the beaches.
Larsen Bay? Have hunted couple of times with Mike at Larsen Bay lodge.

[Thumper Dunker]

   

[Whip]

Beautiful pictures!  No need to kill something in order to have a great trip in a place as beautiful as that!

[mparks]

Nice trip!  Looks like quite an adventure.

Any bear encounters?

[CDR]

Kevin, great pictures, and sounds like a wonderful time...thanks for sharing!!

[KentuckyTJ]

Great trip.

[Big Ed]

Sounds like a great trip!!

[steadman]

What a great hunt! Thanks for sharing  

[limbow]

Mick,

There were several Bear encounters in our group, only one for me and that was quite enough. On the second day of our trip my hunting partner for the day was able to harvest two blacktail with other means as did I. We had three down within an hour of each other. All three were within in 75yards  of one another as well. We quartered these animals out and loaded them into our packs for the trip down the mountain. On day four we came back to the same area since it had been so productive before. Another Blacktail was taken and it came to rest within 15 yards of my gut pile.
We went to retrieve that deer full well knowing we may have company and when we arrived to the deer a rather large Brownie was dining on my carcass from Tuesday. We were within 15 yards of him before we saw the big fella. Fortunately he headed down the mountain and cleared a swath through the alders that my full size chevy pick up could drive through.

Another hunter from our party had a Brown follow him for much of his morning hunt until they finally crossed paths at 10 feet! Again in this instance the bear took off.

Lastly, one other hunter who I have since nicknamed Grizzly Adams( because of his prowess in the woods!) shot a nice 4x4 or better Blacktail. By the time he reached the animal it was being hauled off by a Sow and two of her cubs.

It was an element of the trip I found difficult to prepare for mentally but as the days went on, I began to feel more comfortable in my own skin out there.

[mparks]

Awesome!

[Covey]

Looks like a great trip with some awesome scenery. I would love to go there some day. Thanks for sharing Kevin!

Jason

[limbow]

A little about the people I hunted with.

The trip was great, I highly recommend it. I would like to start out by describing how this bow hunt came about. Bergie, another tradgang member and I have been buying, selling, trading, loaning bows for the past 5 years and we met here on Tradgang. We spoke often on the phone and via email. It wasn't until the day we flew out of Chicago had we met one another. How great is that??? I am sure many of you can relate to this, developing a friendship and common interest in a lifestyle we each hold such a high regard.
From there, Bergie met Chromebuck here on tradgang. He sold him his first "custom" bow a year or so ago. I was then introduced to Keith via Bergie as Keith and I are both from Michigan but he now resides in Kenai. After 9 months of planning and much discussion Bergie and I were headed to Kodiak island where we met up with Keith and three other hunters. One of which was Marty Rinke (AKDD) yet another member here. Simply incredible!!!!
Thanks to tradgang and Chromebuck (thanks Keith!), I was able to hunt with a few fellas who share the same passion I do for Trad gear.

Like most of you, I have made many friends on this site, of which I hope to hunt with in the future at some point, Tradgang certainly is a special place!

[DannyBows]

What a beautiful place. Your pics are great.

I'm glad you had an excellent adventure and everyone got home safe.

Thanks for sharing with us.