Montague Hunt Story with Pics

[Matt in AK]

Got back from my Montague Island Blacktail Deer and Brown Bear hunt this afternoon.  Got two deer but never laid eyes on any Brownies.  A couple guys, however, said they were "woofed" at by a bear and they found a different direction to hunt.  

We lived aboard a 45' boat and had a blast (no pun intended).  Our party of six only took four deer so I counted myself fortunate to find two.  Montague is a beautiful, albeit rainy, place.  Honestly, I'd spend more time duck hunting and less time deer hunting the next time around.  There were sea ducks everywhere.  We also saw whales and dozens of sea otters.  


Sunny day on Montague -- very, very deceiving.  I don't recall any sunshine at all on this trip.  

It was helpful having a transporter (Cap'n Ron's Alaskan Adventures, who could decipher the public/private land areas at Montague.  He also managed to find us a nice calm area to anchor the boat so we could sleep without feeling like we were on a waterbed.  This wasn't exactly a "roughing it" hunt.  Our boat captain made us breakfast and dinner...sometimes with desert thrown in.  He used a little Zodiac with a 5hp outboard to get us to shore.


My double on blacktails.  Both were pretty close shots and both, thankfully, dropped at the shot.  This picture gives a much more accurate depiction of the weather on our trip; cold, wet, and dreary...but oh so much better than being at work -- and I actually like my job.


Strange antler conformation.  The right antler was a cow horn (spike) and the left looked a caribou top with three points.  My son (10 years old) and I will butcher the buck tomorrow and I'll get some of it canned so I can eat it while I'm in the Middle-East for six-months starting in January -- a little taste of home.


Harlequin duck with double-bands.  One on each leg.  This beautiful bird will go to the taxidermist tomorrow to remind me of this beautiful area.  I love duck hunting and this is the first banded duck I've ever taken.  It rivals the wood duck in looks and beats it in habitat beauty.

The trip back was a little interesting since we were just hours ahead of a forecasted gale.  No big deal for the boat captain but a little thought-provoking for a landlubber and cheechako like myself.

[Daveinthebush]

Any trip out into the wilderness of Alaska is a good trip.  Well you have more deer in the freezer than I do.  Even my boy has gotten two this year and lost one.

It is truly beautiful out there and boy I love being out there every possible moment. Hopefully the .338 was able to handle the job on the deer. :roll:  Always good to have something more than adequate when the big brownies are around for sure.  

There are a few guides in Valdez that offer the same type of trip and you stay on the boat.  I just might do it this year in December as I have tooooooo many personal days acculuminated and need to use them up.

Welcome back Matt!

[longwinters]

Nice pics Matt.  I can't imagine being away from my family for 6 mo. Venison or not.  My hat is off to you and to the many others who risk it all for the rest of us.

long.

[Matt in AK]

Dave,
   The 338 was just barely enough guns at 50-60 yds.  Those Alaskan Blacktails will charge if ya give 'em the slightest chance :wink: .  I figure it was touch-n-go for a few seconds there and it wuz me or them :lol: .

Longwinters,
   Thanks for the sentiment.  My wife's getting a little tired of the long deployments (3 x 6 months and many other short ones) and frequent moves (9 moves in 15 years...and 3 more coming in the next 4 years).  She's about got me convinced to hang up my spurs in 2008 and become a teacher at a junior/community college somewhere.
   Before you give all the credit to the vets, however, remember that it's an American team effort.  Support at home, whether it be letters to the editor, care packages to troops, prayin' hard, voting, saying "thanks", or just plain payin' taxes...supports the troops.  We're in this one up to our knees and we're in it together.  Again, my thanks to you.

[Matt in AK]

Just got my card back from USGS today.  The duck I shot last month was hatched 6 and 1/2 years ago and banded 6 years ago 5 miles east of Green Island...within 20 miles of where I shot him.

[BW]

Matt,

Nice pictures, thank you!

I've done some flying around PWS and it's a beautiful place.

Is that the boat you were staying on?  It looks a bit cramped for 6 hunters and the cap'n.  Usually you can only expect 4 berths in the forecastle with that layout.  Was the hold modified to sleep hunters?

I've been very interested in starting a transporter business here in S.E. Alaska, and have been questioning what kind of boat to buy.  I know what will work (and that fishing boat has many of the properties, except berthing space) best to provide enough client comfort.

I'd love to hear more thoughts about what you thought of the whole transporting deal.  If you don't want to post them here, then please e-mail me at...

bw_99835@yahoo.com

...with whatever complaints (although maybe minor) or compliments you may have for your hunt.

Thanks!

[Matt in AK]

BW,

I've got nothing but praise for Ron's outfit.  As you suspected he's modified the hold.  He built four bunks down there.  It's a bit crowded and you get a taste of Navy life with perhaps 18" between you and the ceiling or bunk above you.  It was, however, dry and warm.  Two other hunters bunked in the bow and the cap'n slept on the fold-down table in the cabin.

Here's where Ron earned points with me:
1.  No hidden charges.  None.
2.  All food was included in the price and there was plenty of food.
3.  He's a darned good cook and kept the menu interesting.  Even an occasional dessert.
4.  He'd dry out wet clothes in the engine room.
5.  We didn't ask ahead of time about duck hunting but he didn't mind chaufering us around a bit to do some.
6.  He was genuinely thankful anytime someone pitched in t do dishes, or something like that...
7.  He was very safety conscious and didn't push the weather -- same reason I enjoy taking my son fishing with Daveinthebush.
8.   Lots of magazines/books for the long slow trip out to Montague and back.

We didn't bag a bunch of deer, but we saw a few and the sign of many.  The weather just wasn't cooperating.  That's hunting for ya.  Everyone had a good time.  Of course, none of us are twenty-something any longer so just being out there can sometimes be enough.

Cheers,
Matt

[Winter Hawk]

Matt, did you say Ron who?  If we want to book with him on your say-so, we need to know who and how to contact him...

-Kees-

[Daveinthebush]

This should do it.  There are contacts at the bottom of his web page.

http://www.alaskawebs.com/captainron/fishing.htm

[Matt in AK]

Sorry Kees.  I posted Ron's outfit's name in the original post but should've posted the link.  Dave's done so for ya.

[Daveinthebush]

I hope to be leaving on the 27th with a charter that had some cancelations.  We will be out for 4 days.  I will let everyone know how it turns out.

That is an old duck Matt.  How long did you have to cook it for :grin:

[BW]

Matt,

Thanks for the details!  Pretty much was the way I figured.  Sounds like a great outfit, and that's good news as that's exactly the way I'd like to do it myself.

One question though...  If you could have run a small skiff yourself, in the protected areas, would that have made any difference?  Do you think most 'non-nautical' type folks could manage running a skiff (say 14ft with a small kicker) and dealing with the tides etc?

Thanks!

[Matt in AK]

Dave -- crock pots and orange juice concentrate are good things if you've got 6 hours to spare :wink:

BW -- Several of the folks who went out with Ron in the Spring for bears used his Zodiac without ay problems and they aren't nautical types.  The particular area we hunted (west side of montague) didn't seem to have really serious tide changes.  You could beach the Zodiac, tie it to some alders, and not have it more than 20 yds away on the tether when you returned....of course, I wasn't payin' too much attention to that since we were dropped off and picked up each time by the transporter.

[BW]

Matt,

From what I recall, much of the coast line in PWS is fairly steep thanks to the last ice age.    There are places like that down here, where you can be 200ft off the beach and in 300-400 feet of water.  But, the head of most bays have filled in with river silt and losing a few feet of water to the tide can result in hauling the skiff a long ways to hit water.  These places also seem like the best places to hunt bears.

Inflatables seem to the most popular choice, but I was considering the 14ft http://www.porta-bote.com/14pb.htm as an alternative.  They have a very good reputation with their owners, they don't puncture like inflatables, and a 9hp kicker can move them fairly well with two hunters and a hide.  The folding feature doesn't do much for me, but it might come in handy sometimes.

I think one of the benefits to hiring a transporter is that the client has a lot of control over where they hunt.  After all, the job of the transporter is to 'transport'.  It does require some research on the part of the client, but I think a well marked map provided by the transporter, of good locations beforehand, can give the client more control over the hunt.  Naturally the transporter will only recommend qualtity areas (got to have success to keep everyone happy) but the client can decide where to hunt on a given day.

It's not for the pampered, or the unexperienced for sure.  But, they offer a very reasonable price for the guy who knows how to hunt and just needs some help in Alaska.

[Daveinthebush]

Brian your correct about the sound out there.  Much of the shoreline is very rocky and steep.  You have to park out quite a ways with a big boat, or else be grounded when the tide goes out.  Light boats can be beached if you can find gravel, I have yet to see sand there.  Always tie up to a log or tree.

I have gotten into a habit with the 21 footer to anchor, and then run a line to shore too.  Just in case.  Takes a lot of line but your boat has more of a chance of being there in the morning.

The other condideration is the weather.  There are not a lot of secluded bays that are safe from all winds.  You might be protected from three directions then a storm comes in the wrong direction.  It can become quite interesting real quick.

[Daveinthebush]

Well one more person canelled on the hunt so the guide cancelled the trip.  He could not justify taking just 2 people out.  We ended up with a gale anyways.  No the snow that was expected but we had a few inchs.

Well maybe next year.

[Matt in AK]

Well that's a shame .  Look on the bright side -- maybe you'd have been eaten by a bear :wink:  ...a really light sleeper that bear'd be