Early Season DIY Sitka Blacktail: Alpine Tactics

Updated July 2026 · Kodiak Island, Alaska

Early season is a different hunt than late season. In August and September the bucks are in velvet, high, and predictable — if you can get up to them. The upside: long daylight, mild weather, and often the biggest-antlered bucks of the year.

Read the country

Find alpine bowls above the alder line, ideally with south-facing feed and a bench of tundra between rock scree and the alder wall. Bucks bed on the edge of the bowl where they can watch and slip into shadow. Look for basins with multiple exits — that's where mature deer live.

Glass first, walk second

• Be on the ridge before first light.
• Glass systematically — grid the bowl, then repeat.
• Deer move at first and last light; midday they're bedded in shade.
• Come back at 5 pm for the evening feed. Don't burn the ridge midday.

The stalk

Wind is usually thermal — up the mountain in morning, down at night. Approach from above whenever possible; bucks look downhill for predators. Alders are brutal — plan an approach that uses drainages or open tundra, not thickets.

Packout logic

Bone out on the mountain. A boned buck is ~50 lb and one trip; a whole deer is two trips through alders and eats a day. Hang meat in the shade in game bags, keep it off the ground, and pack a bear signal (spray or backup rifle).

Weather management

August is warm — into the 60s — but a front can drop the ceiling to the deck in an hour. Once you're fogged in the alpine, glass shuts off. Hunt hard on clear mornings and use foggy days to move camp or fish.

When the weather turns hard and snow comes, switch to late season beach tactics.