Ketchikan Deer Hunting

I just returned from deer hunting and unfortunately didn't bring home anything to brag about. Well, unless you count the multiple insect bites I am sporting around!

Other than the crazy bugs I encountered, I did have a good time hiking around and exploring the alpine area south of town. Luckily, I had a coworker with me who knew where to hike up and where our best chances were. He is an avid hunter and was eager to be up in the alpine/treeline area first thing in the morning on opening day of the season (August 1), which just so happened to coincide with another one of our beautiful 80 degree days we have been enjoying.

We started out on Friday afternoon (July 31) shortly following work and hiked our way up to an amazing lake surrounded by rock walls and set up camp for the night. It was an intense 3 hour hike straight up from sea level to a couple of thousand feet and felt more like an old school stair climber than a hiking trail. My legs were burning by the time we made it to where we planned to camp and the sun was just about down.

The next morning we got an early start at about 3 am (yes there was already light in the sky) and started hiking up to the alpine area. This took us a couple of hours but we made it up to the top of the peak just about the time the sun came over the horizon, which was an amazing site on such a clear day. Immediately upon reaching the top, we came within throwing distance of a couple of mountain goats. Unfortunately, we didn't have a goat tag and therefore could not go after them, but they were a beautiful site sitting on top of the peak going about their daily business.

For the next 8 hours, we cruised around the alpine area and stopped numerous times to scan the area with our binoculars in hopes of spotting a deer in the distance. Unfortunately, we didn't see any signs of deer in the area. I don't know if it was our tactics or the theory that some people have that some of the deer died off from our unusually severe winter, but we didn't have any luck.

Overall, I am not too disappointed that we did not get a deer since it ended up being a great hike. We were also fortunate enough to see mountain goats, a black bear, and several ptarmigan cruising around. Maybe next time!