44 BOWHUNTER///SEPTEMBER 2019
WILD ABOUT KODIAK!
dig into the rocky slope. He lugged and pulled logs up from
the ocean for vertical support and 2x10 decking for support
beams. The whole cabin is anchored with huge ratchet straps
to withstand high winds. It has four bunks he made from sal-
vaged driftwood, a stove, sink, water tank, table, and a porch —
and building the cabin was quite an amazing feat considering
where it’s located.
As with most adventures, there are glitches. The first hic-
cup was the fog and high winds, which prevented Matt from
flying into camp. The second problem was huge: Bob’s genera-
tor was leaking gas and wouldn’t run, so we wouldn’t be able to
charge camera batteries.
Since Bob and I each had two deer tags, we could still hunt
without Matt. So, we climbed the east ridge and hunkered
down in golden-brown, waist-high grass, looking across a 400-
yard bench onto steep hillsides. I used my 10x42 SIG SAUER
binoculars, while Bob used 12X binos to glass for deer. I felt a
little ill-prepared, because this was like a spot-and-stalk mule
deer hunt. I should have brought one of SIG’s higher-powered
optics. I hadn’t expected this area to be so open, with no trees
and just tall grass and some patches of chest-high alders. Deer
can see you coming for a mile.
We watched a nice buck bed in chest-high alders, so we
planned a stalk. l used my Nikon digital camera to film Bob
crouching and using vegetation and land contours while clos-
ing in on the bedded buck. Other deer kept spotting us and
eventually spooked the buck Bob was after.
After this encounter, it took a couple of hours for us to
climb to the top of the ridge where we could sneak along rocky
crags. Finally, we were in position for spotting and stalking
from above. We located several bucks, but they were in tough
places to stalk, so we returned to camp, arriving just at dark.
Bob and I went hunting at first light the next morning, and
around 8:45 a.m. I decided I’d better return to camp and work
on the generator because Matt was in Kodiak and scheduled to
fly in later that day. Bob had called his wife, Lisa, earlier on the
SAT phone and told her about the generator, so I called Lisa for
an update and learned that Matt had rented a generator.
Bob, in my opinion the most experienced Sitka blacktail
bowhunter on Earth, wears a white coat when hunting, be-
cause only mountain goats and caribou are white and they’re
not a threat to deer. From the cabin I could see the sun lighting
up Bob’s white coat as he was about to take a shot at a buck
bedded directly below him.
When Bob shot the buck, it bolted, stopped for a few seconds,
and then fell end over end. It was amazing! I emptied my pack,
shouldered it, and took off to help. Bob had his six-point buck
skinned and de-boned by the time I got there. We each took half
and packed it back to camp, arriving at dusky dark. Matt hadn’t
made it out, once again because of fog and wind in Kodiak.
Bob and I left early the next morning, climbed an east-fac-
ing slope, and then we circled up into some jagged peaks to
glass for bucks. We saw several, but they weren’t in stalkable
locations. We also spotted two brown bear sows with cubs in
distant creekbottoms. Just knowing they’re around adds to the
adventure. It was well past noon when we heard the roar of the
Cessna and watched as Matt unloaded and started unpacking
his gear, so we headed back to give him a hand.
Bob had packed pancake mix, so the next morning he
cooked and stacked them three-high acccompanied by fried
eggs on our plates. Matt added peanut butter, honey, and
crushed dried banana chips. It was a bit too much for me, but
Matt was in hog heaven.
At first light, we hiked up the southeast side of the ridge and
saw a brown bear sow and two cubs in the valley below. The
wind began picking up speed as Bob climbed up and across