HUNTING

Deer

Sitka Black-tailed Deer transports are lodge-based do-it-yourself spot and stalk hunts. Every day, you will be transported out at first light and picked up before dark. Each day you are provided with a hot breakfast before we depart, pack lunch to eat on the mountainside, and then dinner once you return to the lodge.

Our deer season opens on August 1. This early deer opener allows for hunting to overlap the peak fishing season making for some amazing combo adventures.  During August and September, the bucks are in bachelor groups typically at higher elevations in the alpine. The thick, green, and lush vegetation can make it an arduous hike to get up to the top after them but once in the high alpine it can be a very successful time to hunt them. As you move into November the rut and colder weather begin to reveal more deer and it can be easier to get around. In November and December, greater snow accumulations up high begin to force more deer down to the heavy timbered and sheltered lowlands. During years with significant snowfall large numbers of deer are often found right along the beaches.

Currently, Nonresidents are allowed 1 buck per year. Though the Sitka Blacktail Deer have smaller antlers than most other deer species, they are arguably the most beautiful and striking of the deer species. These stocky deer have a dark, black-capped forehead with a double white throat patch and rich dark brown antlers. For a record book entry, Pope and Young minimum is 75” and Boone & Crockett minimum score is 108”
 

Deer begin to shed their antlers after the 1 st week of December, and we shift our focus primarily to Sea Ducks.