The Kodiak Island Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos Middindorfi) are found throughout the entire Archipelago of Kodiak. This group of islands stretches from north to south for a distance of nearly 150 miles and from west to east almost 50 miles. These various islands differ in topography and vegetation from rain forest to tundra. From our location we hunt four of the largest islands in the group: Kodiak, Afognak, Raspberry, and Whale Islands.
An Alaskan Registered guide may register for no more than three guide use areas per year throughout the entire State of Alaska. We make our home here on Kodiak Island and have been hunting Kodiak and the surrounding islands exclusively for more than 20 years. We select the three guide use areas that are literally right out our backdoor.
For anyone looking for the trophy of a lifetime we can offer the benefits of our local knowledge, our acute understanding of the game we pursue, our familiarity of the areas that we are hunting, and our understanding of the timing that is most crucial to a successful excursion.
Combine these facts with our strong desire to provide each and every client we guide into the field the highest quality outdoor experience. Whether it be on big game hunt, fishing trip or waterfowl hunt, you have a surefire recipe for success!
The Kodiak Island Brown Bear Population is Very Stable
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game has determined that our Brown Bear populations are in fact growing island wide and is proposing an increase in the harvest levels of these bears on the Northern end of the islands, which are the areas that we hunt.
The Kodiak Island Brown Bear Hunting Permits are only accessible through a State-wide drawing lottery. The application process for this drawing is very simple and can even be accomplished online. It is part of your guide’s job description to assist you in this task.
Here on Kodiak Island it is mandatory that all guides that wish to conduct Kodiak Island Brown Bear hunts within this Game Management Unit (#8) be pre-registered for the areas we are intending to hunt. Each of us may submit no more applications for our clients’ permits than the total number of permits that will be issued. This way, a single guide cannot submit a billion names and everyone who enters has a fair chance to be drawn.
Kodiak Island Brown Bear Hunting in the spring is possibly the greatest trophy hunting experience that North America has to offer.
The Spring Kodiak Island Brown Bear hunting season opens on April 1st and closes May 15th.
Beginning the hunts 15 days after the season opens is beneficial to our hunters in two primary ways. The first benefit is that our springtime weather usually starts to really accelerate on or about the middle of April.
The second benefit is that there is a substantially greater number of bears emerging from their dens after the 15th of April. There are approximately two to three golden weeks of bear hunting during the Kodiak Island Spring Brown Bear Season.
During this period we see an ever-increasing number of bears freshly emerged from their dens each day. The greater numbers of bears we see each day, the better the chances are that the next bear spotted will be the well-furred trophy you are looking for.
We access the hunting grounds from our starting point here in Port Lions by several modes of transportation. The main method of transportation is our 40′ boat the Amy Lorese. This vessel is very well appointed and incredibly sea worthy. We are able to use this boat as a base camp when hunting two of the areas that we use. This allows for a very comfortable hunt with nearly all the comforts of home. We also use a 4 seat RAZOR to access the backcountry from the lodge.
Kodiak Island Fall Brown Bear Hunting is also an incredible North American trophy hunting experience.
The fall Kodiak Island Brown Bear hunting season runs October 25th through November 25th.
During this season each days is getting a little bit shorter and bears are retreating to their dens. This makes for a tougher hunt but in my opinion a fall Kodiak Island Brown Bear after having fed on Salmon all summer is as fine a trophy as can be attained. With the fall season being as late as it is, the fur of these bears is also primed up by the time we begin to hunt. When a bear suitable size is spotted, one need not worry about the condition of the hide.
Our fall season has other beneficial points of interest to the trophy hunter as well. Kodiak Island and all of the islands of her archipelago are home to a very large population of Sitka Blacktail. These close cousins of the Columbia Blacktail and Coastal Blacktail not only grow larger here on Kodiak Island than anywhere else, they also are better tasting than any other venison. The current #1 SCI Sitka Blacktail buck was taken in one of the areas that we hunt. Sitka Blacktail Deer on Kodiak Island begin their rut on or about the 1st of November. This timing coincides with our fall Brown Bear Hunting season. We will usually concentrate solely on getting a trophy Brown Bear before pursuing a good buck. However, if a hunter is fortunate enough to have a chance at a record book buck we will often switch gears to pursue one of these fine trophies.
Pricing information and further details for any of the Sea Duck hunts, Sitka Blacktail Deer hunts, Brown Bear hunt and any other big game hunts that Kodiak Wilderness Adventures offers are available on our Hunting Packages Pricing and Details page.
