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High fences restrict movement... restricted movment=confinement.
So do oceans. Hunt on one of the Alaskan islands and you are doing much the same.
I routinely hunted islands on public lands in MS- granted, not an ocean but the river/water could do one of two things:
It limited hunter access. Most guys would not hunt with a boat (even more if cold weather)... they staid on the mainland areas. close to the truck. some times i had to bust the ice at the boat ramp to get the boat to float.
But it could also work to your adantage, and keep game in an "easier to define" area, and open some public land that you truly had to yourself if you were willing to get to islands that were the furtherest from public access points.
The last time i was out there, (fishing in summer) someone had released some feral goats on one of the islands. I snapped a picture, and they had some wide horns for feral goats. (attached is a picture, not good quality, bit it's about a small 75 acre island).
The deer would swim long distances to get away from the mainland sometimes when rifle season opened up, and seeing 20-30 a day was not uncommon. I'm betting those polar bears can swim a long ways too
The island's were not natural, as Corps of Engineers dug channels for barge traffice in the 1970's. The smaller islands were easier to hunt than the bigger ones, some of which were 1100-1200 acres. So i understand the point you are making... but it still somehow seems different than a fenced in area.
rembrant - I'm not stuggling with the idea, but wanted to see what other opinions were on the subject, and they are getting popular in this area, but i would not pay a dime to hunt in one of them.