Alaska blacktail deer

[grizz]

Has anyone hunted blacktail deer in Prince William Sound, AK?

I'm planning a blacktail hunt as part of my trip up there in August, and I'm trying to figure out where to go (within PWS). From Whittier, I have access to a 28' bayliner. The boat barely has enough range to make it to Montague Island, so I'm not sure I want to risk going all the way out there.

Would Knight Island be any good? How about Coghill Lake?

Any info at all would be great. Thanks.

--Grizz

 

[Dooger]

Blacktail in PWS

Yes, I've hunted those islands quite a bit. In August, be sure to take your hiking boots as you are most likely to have success on the high ridges and peaks above the tree line.

Knight Island has quite a few deer and I've had luck in Copper Bay, at the head of Mummy Bay and on one or two of the small islands on the west side of Long Channel up toward the entrance to Dryer Bay. Copper bay s real rocky so be careful in there.

I'm not sure where Coghill Lake is. Might that be on the north end of Knight Island?

I've also hunted Chenega Island with some luck...but...all my hunting in that whole area was much later in the year than August and with snow on the ground which tends to drive the deer to the lower elevations if not right onto the beaches.

I've also had good luck on Montague Island...just west of McCleod (sp) Harbor. There is an area of brush and grass a couple of hundred yards wide along there below some bluffs. Often you can find deer in that brush or resting just below the top of the bluff. I used to walk the beach along there and then every once in a while climb the few feet up to the flats and glass things.

It's been over 5 years since I was around that area so I don't know how it may have changed with the increased use due to the new vehicle access to Whittier and all. That's some of the prettiest country in the world.