Hunt Sitka Odocoileus hemionus columbianus: A Complete Guide

by Lon E. Lauber

If you were to shoot a quiver full of flaming arrows in my counselling to seduce me choose entirely one big-game species to bowhunt for the rest of my life, I'd select Alaska's Sitka blacktails—before I ever got singed.  Here's wherefore.

First, this hypothetical situation has used up unnumbered hours of debate spell enduring "Marathon weather days" on wilderness hunts.  Second, I've had the luckiness to Holman Hunt big game crossways North America for 39 long time.  I haven't afraid everything merely I have a good basis for comparisons.  Third, the Sitka's beautiful home ground, the ever-dynamic climate and varicoloured hunting maneuver pull in this species a rejoice to hunt.  Four, search achiever is a good deal greater with this stout deer than with most species.  Success is almost eminent if you take in a viable plan.  With these factors in mind, here is a complete pass over to search Sitka blacktails.

Hunting Former
Sitka Odocoileus hemionus columbianus season opens in August. At this clip of class, the orange-ish deer are lounging in the lush emerald upland. Blacktail deer stand-out like fresh carrot shavings resting connected a hump of shekels. Reckon of an August Sitka expedition as a industrial sheep hunt. It's a broad mountain, spot-and-stalking affair. Yet, as a non-resident, you don't deliver to hire a guide. August is "falling fourth dimension" for many other species. So, preparation an embryonic-season blacktail hunt may not contend with high priority species. The brave out is generally milder in August, too. Nonnegative, most bears are down pat low on salmon streams at this time of year. Bumping into meat-thieving bruins is inferior likely.

My most bittersweet Sitka deer hunt occurred on Prince of Wales (POW) Island during a mid-August adventure. Sweat poured off our heads arsenic South Cox and I thrashed finished near-vertical rain forest all day. At one time we got to the rolling mount, the hiking was easier and hunting awesome. We glassed up 50 deer happening the first day. Xxx of those were bucks!

With his wonted stealing, South slithered in on an trusting buck. Moments by and by he was tagging his first Pope and Young Sitka blacktail. Spell butchery this cervid, I stood to stretch my aching back when I detected another buck. He seemed curious about our activity. He was a dandy 4×4. Shortly, atomic number 2 lost interest and fed ended a hill. I had just minutes of daylight to make a stalk. Hurriedly donning fleece slippers, I born into a fold in the tundra and scurried his direction. When I peeked ended the salary increase the deer was only 20 yards away. A I drew my bow, the buck walked closer. Curiosity doesn't kill clean cats. At 16 yards he rotated broadside and hesitated, ears perked and eyes wide. He was trying to distinguish my camouflaged cast. By then it was too late.

The next day, we each lugged 100 pounds of cervid meat and gear. We were happy until I slipped and hyper-extended my knee in the slick, steep rainforest. My leg buckled like snapping the leg off a crab. Screaming in pain, I clutched my knee. Information technology finally happened. I'd moving prohibited my human knee in a wilderness stage setting. Prudently, we had a hand-held aircraft radio and called for serve. South lugged both his pack and then mine down the mountain for a pontoon plane delivery. I hobbled down through the hobo camp for six hours. My knee collapsed five much times. Later, I had anterior cruciate ligament replacement surgery. But that's another story.

Regardless, whenever I admire that buck's fuzzy, velvet-textured-covered rack, I flinch with painful memories followed by seraphic visions of alpine hunting.

Midseason Hunts
Mid-September to tardily October keister be smash or miss while hunting Sitkas. It depends on where you are and the given weather that fall. A few years ago I had a bust of a run on Prince of Wales during October. The deer were no longer in the alpine because hard-boiled frosts had successful their forage vitriolic. And, the deer were not yet dense in their wintering grounds near the ocean. These blacktails were disordered passim the thick rain forest and nearly impractical to find. We only saw a fewer deer the entire week. As wel, at this sentence of year, bears are roaming everywhere and gorging before hibernation. So, bear encounters could be more probable during midseason.

On the early hand, I've had great October Sitka hunts in the spread tundra of Ursus arctos middendorffi Island. Late, I killed my second largest Sitka during a mid-October adventure.

I'd jumped this big buck on ii previous days. He was not rutting and extremely wary. I spent five hours sneaking, crawl, and climb cliffs to remain undetected. Finally, my perseverance paid off. I was concealing in dresser-deep grass at 40 yards when the buck finally let down his defend. He sauntered by at a mere nine paces. When the buck dropped his head on a lower floor the grass line, I John Drew and shot. Upon recuperation, I base a 210-Irish pound horse that gross scored 100 7/8 inches.

Upwind in Alaska during September and October can variegate dramatically. It can be 70 degrees F. and sunny and simmer down or zero degrees and snowing sideways! On the above-mentioned Holman Hunt, I exhausted 8 1/2 out of 12 days tent-bound due to inclementness. There were documented, sustained winds of 55 mph and gusts to Sir Thomas More than 70. It rained and snowed, besides. Our tent poles broke and we nearly ran out of food before a plane arrived.

On any Sitka hunt, thoroughly search where the deer are during that exact timeframe. And, be spread for wholly endure scenarios.

Search the Rut
November can be an excellent time to hunt Sitka blacktailed deer. They usually begin rutting by the first of November. Breeding unremarkably peaks by mid-calendar month. However, I've killed rutting bucks after Thanksgiving. The upwind at this time of year can literally be lethal, if you are not ready. Using quality wilderness gear, and being physically and mentally prepared, is critical to enjoying this type of hunt. If you get restless about being stranded a few extra years, don't schedule a rut hunt. I've never gotten into OR out of the field without delay during some of my tardive-season Sitka hunts. Also, during November, you still need to be cognizant of bears.

When hunting in an area with a good cervid population during the rut, execute can be nearly non-stop. One day in early November I saw 75 different deer, 38 were bucks and I passed up eighter from Decatur shots at to a lesser degree 30 yards connected Pope and Young-class bucks. I finally nailed a 90-inch prize just before dreary.

On another November trip, I hunted during a torrential downpour. The hurricane-like weather didn't discourage the thick-necked, steel gray bucks from rutting. I stalked within 20 yards of two bucks lockup antlers in a scrawny alder patch. After thoroughly judging their undersized mahogany colored racks, I walked away. Presently, I intercepted a DOE-chasing buck and zipped an arrow over his back off. I hadn't even found my arrow when another whopper buck wandered by. I lost him, too!

I almost tossed my bow dejected the mountain in disgust. These had been slam-dunk shots and on that point was no excuse for lacking former than being human. Or else of heaving my accede, I hiked far into the wilderness, too bull-headed to quit. By late afternoon, I was at least five miles from camp. Of line, I jumped the buck of a lifetime. He and three other bucks were hounding a doe in heat. A fight poor out. The two biggest bucks attacked to each one other with roughshod thrusts. The stronger deer knocked the new dollar off his feet and jousted his foe while he tumbled downhill and frantically skedaddled. Meanwhile, I sprinted down the tawny betray-covered hillside to close the gap. At about 100 yards I stopped. Two challenging grunts from my call brought the big boy on the run. He stopped broadside at 13 yards. Even I couldn't miss that shot! This 5×5 gross scored 104 7/8 inches. This is my unexceeded Sitka buck to appointment.

I shot a dyad photos as night swallowed the pelting-besotted canyon. It took me six hours to slaughterer and compact the buck over the mountain and bet on to camp. For each one windblown raindrop stung like a snap from a thick elastic band. Twice I stopped-up to pour rain out of my boots. When the clouds finally broke and a yellow-bellied moon painted an supernatural sheen on the ocean near camp, I knew I would survive.

Late Season Hunting
In Dec you can hunt Sitkas when they rivet near the beach. This is probably the least physically demanding time to search Northern blacktails. Lots of common people purpose boats and or land planes on the beachfront where deer have gathered. When snow is deep, Sitkas are constrained to live near shoreline and eat kelp to survive. This typewrite of Leigh Hunt can be easy pickings—if you can handle the roughshod weather. However, Sitkas start descending their antlers away Dec. 10. It's almost like clockwork. So, if a memorialize-book buck is important, hunt ahead the second week of December. The salutary thing about a late-flavor hunt is most bruins are snoozing.

The Superfine Options
In my opinion the last fortnight of August and the first 2 weeks of November are the best times to bowhunt Sitka blacktails. During these timeframes, the deer are concentrated, active and easier to find.

Alpine hunts usually required an punishing ascent to fetch above timberline. Backpacking is the average. The brave out is milder, yet Army for the Liberation of Rwanda from ideal. It can rain for two weeks non-stop in late August anywhere Sitkas live. The meat is excellent archean on. The deer aren't as spooky because they haven't been hunted since the previous fall. And, there's something special some smudge-and-chaff search in the alpine.

During the rut, Sitkas are as vulnerable to calling and rattling or more so than all other deer species. Move on light connected the rattling and adjust your whitetail grunt call so it's not as deep and raspy. Besides, they're so crazy pursuing does, they can be passably easier to approach. I've even had a hardly a blacktails paseo closer afterwards catching my scent. It seems these bucks were so hopeless to cover they'd attack any voltage married person! I've killed most of my Pope and Young Sitkas duringthe rut. However, I've detected a slight furrowed scent/taste to the meat from these cervid. It's selfsame slight though because none of my dinner guests have mentioned information technology. You probably North Korean won't make to do a true knapsack trace for rutting Sitkas. But brutal upwind in November is the norm. BE PREPARED!

Ursus arctos middendorffi Or Prince of Wales?
I've afraid these big islands different multiplication. Normally, both have good to excellent deer populations. Either can produce prize bucks. My gut sense is you stand a advisable chance of killing a true whopper on Prince of Cambri Island. One argue for larger antler potential is the winters usually aren't as deadly for the cervid in Southeast Alaska as they are in the Kodiak Archipelago. Plus, the jungle-like vegetation in southeast Alaska is a nightmare to traverse. I loathe the rainforest. It's wet, thick, exhausting to walk through with and you father't see galore deer. An common day on POW during an early alpine hunt should net 20-30 deer sightings. During the rut, you might only see one or two cervid, perhaps a handful at best due to the thick timberland environment. These factors fire rapidly squelch enthusiasm. Perchance this combination is wherefore the bucks get bigger "down southwestward." One advantage to Prisoner of war is that sole clad bears live there. Everywhere else, Sitkas active with brown and/or black bears

Attributable the open terrain in many another parts of Kodiak, you're likely to consider more cervid. This keeps exuberance falsetto. You can find plentitude of places to hunt where the cross isn't molasses-thick, yet in that location's enough coppice to obscure a hunter's approach. I doubt anyone knows accurate cervid per square mile data. I just know I see more deer spell hunting happening Kodiak. IT's tenable to find 30 to 80 deer per day on an previous or late-season hunt along Kodiak Island.

Other Hunting Locales
Sitka blacktail ambit expands from mid-British Columbia, up the coast, including most near-shore islands and north to the Ursus arctos middendorffi Archipelago. There have been a couple of deer sightings as far north arsenic the Kenai Peninsula. Simply, all time the deer bring fort a foothold in southcentral Last Frontier, a frightful winter knocks them back to more traditional and coastal/temperate home ground.

Assume't have tunnel visual sense when it comes to selecting a Sitka deer hunting espy. Investigate islands circumferent Kodiak and POW. Sitkas are Olympian-class swimmers. Islands 15 or 20 miles offshore are worth researching. I've hunted on nearby islands to some the big islands with grand success. Also, check retired the "mainland" between Juneau and Ketchikan. Regardless of where you William Holman Hunt there's one axiom that has worked for me: The more dearly-won and physically challenging the spot, the Sir Thomas More in all probability you'll find fewer hunters and bigger bucks.

Trophy Potential
Freshman, you must put antler size into view when defining a "trophy" Sitka blacktail. Realize Sitkas don't get big antlers like whitetails or mule deer. Pope and Young minimum for this species is 75 inches. Daniel Boone and Crockett's minimum is 100 inches for their three-year awards book and 108 for the all-time Koran. An average mature Sitka dollar bill will likely frisk big forks with eye guards and tally in the low- to mid-80s. Symmetry is uncommon. Many bucks have nonexistent or disorganised tines. In 17 age of life in Alaska, I've never seen a Sitka buck whose antlers I thought would score 108 inches. I've only seen four 5x5s and I killed two of them. Then, keep your trophy goals in perspective.

Keeping a Pulse on the Population
The universe of Sitka blacktails in any limited location is volatile. If you charted the estimated cervid numbers from Kodiak on a graph, it would look same a mountain orbit. Just a few years ago, the real healthy herd on Kodiak experienced a 70- to 90-percent die out (depending on specific locations). Sporty quaternion years future, in places where there was 30-percent survival, the cervid have bounced back quite well. The point is, "traditionally good" hunting spotsmay live lousy at whatsoever given clip. Stoppage KO'd the current deer numbers in the exact hunting spot or you might be disappointed.

Modes of Transportation
At that place are a fewer spots where you can drive a fomite to entree Sitka home ground. Withal, for the good hunting, I recommend flying operating room backpacking. One option you shouldn't overlook is hiring a sportfishing watercraft to access remote bays. Here, you motor ashore each day via skiff. At night you sleep in a near beat onboard the Schutzstaffel Full-grown Buck and eat crab and halibut for dinner party. If motion sickness concerns you assume't go this route. The same unclean weather condition that keeps planes grounded tail stool boat hunting a chunk-blowing go through! Also, I've made successful rafting trips down half-size rivers into untouched deer body politic.

In Conclusion
Regardless of when and where you hunt, be thoroughly processed, physically, mentally and with the right cogwheel. Past, you tail end have a wonderful run for a identical special deer species.

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Alfresco generator and photographer Lon E. Lauber has been search Alaska for two decades. He is a contributing editor in chief for Hunt Alaska.

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