BRANT HUNTING

We offer brant hunting as well as hunts for cackling Canada geese (cacklers and Taverner’s), puddle ducks, diving ducks, emperor geese, and ptarmigan.

Brant season opens September 1 and brant and cacklers are here in great numbers in September.  Puddle ducks start to show up as well.  Hunting is still good in October, but towards the end of October and depending on weather, the cacklers migrate out of the area but more puddle ducks show up. Emperor goose hunting is good any time.  Alaska residents are allowed 1 per year.  Non-residents must draw one of the 25 permits available in a lottery.

Ptarmigan season opens August 15.  Willow ptarmigan are plentiful and can be hunted opportunistically while pursuing other game, but a hike through the tundra with a good bird dog, focusing on ptarmigan, is a special experience. There are small numbers of rock ptarmigan on Frosty Peak and a hunter who appreciates a strenuous hike up a mountain can pursue these flighty birds.  And the scenery is worth the climb.  Our guides can take you on a rock ptarmigan hunt.

SALMON FISHING

Salmon fishing in the Cold Bay area is excellent.  Chum and pink salmon start to show in July.  The silver salmon run generally starts mid-August and peaks in early September.  Anglers use a variety of methods to catch silver salmon including flies, lures, and roe.  A steelhead run can be fished in early October.  Dolly Varden fishing is also very good all summer and fall.  We have rods at the lodge for rent but the serious anglers opt to bring their own.

CAST AND BLAST

Can’t choose between brant hunting and salmon fishing?  The first two weeks of September are excellent for a “cast and blast”.  Silver salmon are running in the local rivers, brant and cacklers are in Izembek Lagoon and ptarmigan are in the tundra.  And in September, days are long and nights short, giving you ample time to pursue a wide variety of game.