Admiralty Island Blacktail Deer Hunt

[AndrewJ]

I went to visit a friend on Admiralty Island, and set it up so I would arrive just before deer season opened. I flew out of the Interior in the afternoon and made it to Juneau by nightfall. It was really foggy and pouring down rain. I wish I could have seen more of the capital, but I didn’t have time for sightseeing. I checked into my hotel near the airport ($200 a night!) and went to Fred Meyer to stock up on hunting supplies. I was told to bring one thing only- lots of Bud Light. The next morning I went to the airport to fly out to Angoon on a seaplane.

 

It was pouring down rain, and still foggy. We took off, and about half an hour into the flight we turned around because the pilot couldn’t see. I was disappointed, but a few weeks ago a plane that was flying to Hoonah crashed into the side of a mountain due to fog, so the pilots were being extra cautious. We waited around for a couple hours, then tried it again, except we flew down the other side of the island over Chatham Strait. Same thing- we got halfway there and turned around and came back. I spend the rest of the day wishing I took the ferry instead of a plane. At the end of the day we gave it one more try, and it looked like we would turn around, but we kept going and finally touched down on the water.

 

On opening day we got the boat ready and went out to look for deer. It was raining, so we wore our slick suits. I was amazed at all of the sea life. We saw a couple whales in the distance, and some huge sea lions on the buoys. The salmon were jumping everywhere. I pulled out a rod with a pink lure and cast it out a few feet, and with very little effort I caught my first salmon on a rod and reel. The salmon are much smaller than the fish we pull out of the Yukon, and they look very different in the ocean. I wanted to go look for deer, but the fishing was too good and we spent the rest of the day fishing for salmon and halibut.

 

The next day we smoked all the fish. It was a lot of work getting everything in place. I met a really amazing Tlingit family, and I ate everything they put on the table. It was a treat I will never forget. First we had pickled salmon- when you have one bite you can’t stop eating it. The salmon is cut in small strips and salted overnight. Then it is put in a jar with vinegar, onions, lemon, and pickling spice. At low tide they went out and pulled an octopus from the rocks. It was really slimy and hard to even pick up without slipping from your hands. The octopus was boiled for a couple hours, then the outer layer of skin was peeled off. We cut it up and put it in a pickled soy sauce. The suction cups were the best. We also ate fried halibut dipped in seal oil. Seal oil has a unique taste (kind of like fish). Then we had dried salmon strips mixed with cream cheese and garlic. The area is really rich in food, and they say if you go hungry here it’s your own fault. The family had a deer in their smokehouse, and we cooked up rib stew for a dinner. I have never had better smoked meat. The meat fell off the bone and was really tender, and the smoke flavor went into all of the vegetables.

 

When I went to the dump I got to see Trash Bear. Trash Bear hides in the rubbish, hoping you don’t see him. He is really sneaky, and he comes out when you least expect him, rushing forward to steal garbage and haul it off. When a bear becomes a trash bear, it never goes back to how it was before. It will only search for trash, and if it doesn’t get enough to eat, it will start to raid the town and will eventually need to be eradicated. There are actually multiple bears at the dump, but the locals refer to them all as the singular Trash Bear. It's hard to tell, but these are actually brown bears.

 

The next couple days were really windy, and we weren’t able to go out in the boat. The waves were too dangerous. When the weather was bad I tried land hunting. It was really tough, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy for even wanting to try. The forest is dark and thick with fallen trees, shrubs, and all sorts of vegetation that make it difficult to even walk or see. I was also told Admiralty Island has the highest concentration of brown bears per square mile than anywhere else in the world. If you find a trail out in the woods it is a bear trail. You have to be very cautious, as every noise you hear could be a bear in the bushes. There is also this giant, overgrown stinging nettle plant you have to work hard to avoid. The places in the forest that opened up were swamps, and they were difficult to walk through. There were berries everywhere that were really good to eat. When I got back at night I was filthy and exhausted from crawling through all kinds of bushes and had a greater appreciation for why everyone goes hunting by boat.

 

Sea hunting is far superior to land hunting. You don’t get caught in vegetation and don’t have to worry about bears. We passed through a boat graveyard that serves as a reminder for what happens when you go out in rough water. The tides down here are really powerful and impact which way you go. When the tide is rising, the water surges inland through all the small channels and islands and is fast and powerful. It feels like being on a swift river with a strong current, you would never know it is ocean water until you see dolphins and seals in places you least expect them. We passed through some narrow channels of rocks (it’s one way with the tide), and you have to wait for the tide to start going back out before you can come back. We saw thousands of salmon, and even in shallow spots we saw huge schools swinning around. The salmon would hang out at the top of the water with their fins out and looked like little sharks. We hunted for hours and saw perfect deer habitat, but never saw a single deer. Right before deer season opened you would see deer all day long, and as soon as the shooting starts all the deer vanish into the forests. This is a hard time to hunt, and I hear it is better in the winter when the snow pushes the deer down to the beaches.

 

I flew out on the seaplane with two coolers full of fish and some smoked deer meat that was given to me. The deer hunt turned into a fishing trip, and even though I never saw a deer, I had a great time exploring another part of the state and experiencing the food. I’ll try and go back next year. Right before I left I walked along the beach which was the site of a historic engagement with the US Navy. In the 1880's the Natives had a dispute with a trading company, and the trading company called on the Navy for support. It was right before winter, and the Navy came in and destroyed all of the Natives' canoes, destroyed the food storages, shelled Angoon and burnt it to the ground, and about 2/3 of the villagers perished in the winter from starvation. Outside of the Civil War, it is considered one of the few times the Navy has fired on American territory in anger.

 

If you love year round fishing, sea food, berries, mild winters, and the beauty of the Pacific, then this is the perfect place to live. However, you won't have the big game hunting opportunities that come with living in the Interior.

 

 

[5nRamirez]

Awesome write up and pictures...

[HUNTnTAT2]

Looks like a blast. Thanks for sharing

[mattys281]

Incredible country! Thanks for sharing.

[6ANut]

Great pictures thanks for sharing your story with us.

[AZ8]

Awesome pictures. Looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing your adventure!