Upon stepping onto the dock at Afognak Wilderness Lodge last month, I was presented with quite a problem. “Do you wanna go fishing and maybe shoot a deer, or do you want to go shoot some ducks, or do you want to set some traps?”

This was a problem I could live with. My first attempt to go to Afognak earlier this year was shut down by a huge snowstorm, so I was chomping at the bit by the time I got there.
Afognak Wilderness Lodge is in Seal Bay, on the Northeast end of Afognak Island, part of the Kodiak Islands. It’s run by the Randall family, Shannon, Josh and Luke, and they have literally built it from the ground up. They have access to some of the most phenomenal fishing and hunting in Alaska. 

I finally elected to tag along with Luke, Casey and client Frank, and we motored straight out to one of Luke’s fishing holes. In no time we were hammering the sea bass left and right. And eventually, Casey hooked into a 150-pound halibut.

As if all this action wasn’t enough, on the way back home, we spotted several deer bedded on a grassy ridge overlooking the ocean. Luke and I got dropped off out of sight on the beach below and hustled up the hill into shooting position.

As we eased our way up to where we could see the buck, the deer started to head for the trees. I knew better, but instead of going prone, I fired a round offhand, just above the buck’s back at about 125 yards. I quickly corrected my mistake, got into the prone position and my next shot hammered him. It had only been four hours since I arrived back on the Island, but what a day it had been!

My trip could not have gotten off to a better start.

See the photo gallery for my trip here. And stay tuned for more videos from Afognak on Live Hunt.

Comments (5)

from JM wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Ahhh thats right. I read about the bear chasing the deer on the slideshow on the other post about your trip ^.^ I look forward to seeing the video.

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from tylerfreel85 wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

We didn't see any elk, but we saw 3 bears, and actually had one of them chase a big buck right to us which should be in one of the videos coming up!

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from JM wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Did you see any bear/elk during the trip?

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from tylerfreel85 wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Good question DSM, I was allowed 3 deer, so I wasn't so picky with the first one...a little buck, but mighty tasty!

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from DSMbirddog wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Weren't you worried about shooting the buck so early in your stay? Or did you know it was large enough that you couldn't pass it up?

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from DSMbirddog wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Weren't you worried about shooting the buck so early in your stay? Or did you know it was large enough that you couldn't pass it up?

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from tylerfreel85 wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Good question DSM, I was allowed 3 deer, so I wasn't so picky with the first one...a little buck, but mighty tasty!

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from tylerfreel85 wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

We didn't see any elk, but we saw 3 bears, and actually had one of them chase a big buck right to us which should be in one of the videos coming up!

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from JM wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Ahhh thats right. I read about the bear chasing the deer on the slideshow on the other post about your trip ^.^ I look forward to seeing the video.

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from JM wrote 1 year 19 weeks ago

Did you see any bear/elk during the trip?

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