sep
New member
I'll be hunting Prince of Wales from 2-15 November for deer and I've never been there before. I've hunted Montague island 5 times but the deer numbers are still low there so I decided to try Prince of Wales.
Just wanted to see if anybody with experience hunting the island had any advice on basic hunting strategies? I'm not interested in knowing your honeyhole location or even any specific roads, drainages etc. just want to verify some basics. (I have searched for other posts too.)
First, according to ADFG deer densities are highest in the central part of the island. The nothern end of the island gets a lot of snow so deer numbers are lower there but the hunting pressure is also lower there. The southern end of the island has less suitable habitat so deer numbers are lower there as well.
Since it's an old growth rainforest, I'm assuming the basic strategies are:
Hike up (3-6 hours) to relatively open clearcuts or meadows (if you can find em) to glass for and call deer
Call deer just off the road system or trails assuming you can actually find a spot to see for any distance through the trees (not interested in violating game laws by shooting on, from or across a driveable surface)
Stand or still hunt deer trails
Is there anything else I'm missing aside from using my GPS to mark my vehicle location, pre-scouting by using google earth etc. to look for meadows to hike into, using headlamps and being careful to make sure we don't step in any holes etc.
How effective are deer calls?
Any insight you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Just wanted to see if anybody with experience hunting the island had any advice on basic hunting strategies? I'm not interested in knowing your honeyhole location or even any specific roads, drainages etc. just want to verify some basics. (I have searched for other posts too.)
First, according to ADFG deer densities are highest in the central part of the island. The nothern end of the island gets a lot of snow so deer numbers are lower there but the hunting pressure is also lower there. The southern end of the island has less suitable habitat so deer numbers are lower there as well.
Since it's an old growth rainforest, I'm assuming the basic strategies are:
Hike up (3-6 hours) to relatively open clearcuts or meadows (if you can find em) to glass for and call deer
Call deer just off the road system or trails assuming you can actually find a spot to see for any distance through the trees (not interested in violating game laws by shooting on, from or across a driveable surface)
Stand or still hunt deer trails
Is there anything else I'm missing aside from using my GPS to mark my vehicle location, pre-scouting by using google earth etc. to look for meadows to hike into, using headlamps and being careful to make sure we don't step in any holes etc.
How effective are deer calls?
Any insight you can provide will be greatly appreciated.