Hunting

PHOTOS: Blacktails, Grizzlies and Halibut on Kodiak Island

By Outdoor Life Online Editor

Updated on Feb 1, 2021 10:42 AM EST

1 minute read

OL editor Doug Howlett was joined by photographer Matt Hage during a week-long blacktail hunt on Kodiak Island, Alaska. They slept on boats, hunted during the short daylight hours and even got charged by a bear. This gallery features some of the extras from Matt's camera.

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Doug and a guide look for the best location to ambush feeding blacktail deer.
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Doug profiles for the camera in a large field at the edge of the water on Kodiak Island.
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Meals during their week at Kodiak were often caught fresh from surrounding waters. Here the crew checks a pot for crabs.
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After a long day of hiking the rugged terrain of Kodiak Island king crabs are dinnertime delight.
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After sleeping on a head boat, a small zodiak would shuttle hunters to the island.
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Editor Doug Howlett poses with one of the few blacktails that still had antlers attached. Due to weather conditions and diet, the deer on the island dropped antlers very early.
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A deer is hoisted onto a zodiak. Hunters had to field dress the deer very quickly to avoid detection by local grizzly bears.
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Writer Tom McIntyre poses on the stern of the boat. Blacktail carcasses hang behind him. Outdoor Life Online Editor
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Living on a boat means tight quarters. The hunting party squeezes into the dining area for dinner.
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Along with king crab, halibut are plentiful around Kodiak. Halibut filets plus deer steaks sounds like the perfect surf'n'turf. Outdoor Life Online Editor
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Hunters sight-in rifles before heading off for another hunt. Outdoor Life Online Editor
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Hunters sight-in rifles before heading off for another hunt. Outdoor Life Online Editor

OL’s Doug Howlett went to hunt sitka deer in remote Alaska. His quarters were small (a boat), but his dinners were great (king crab). View the pics here!