I was in Alaska recently and the coastal forests are really dense. I was talking hunting with a friend who lives near Kechtikan and asked him how they hunt blacktail in such dense forests and he told me that they have calls that bring in the deer similar I guess to calling duikers in Africa. I had never heard of doing this with blacktail and wondered if anyone had experience with doing this on Columbia blacktail in California or Oregon.

They respond to grunts, bleats and rattling during the rut, sometimes. This time of the year, I'm not aware of any calling method that would be effective.

Too bad our season ends before the rut starts.

calling sitka blacktails is a blast, sometimes you dont have time to spit the call out before one comes crashing in or they can take 15 min
so you have to be ready, but they only act this way during the rut. non rut calling might get them to look or stand up but doesnt seem to get much response, dont use a grunt much but they will respond,and im not sure if i called one in ith a grunt in august or if he was already real close, they will often let you walk within a few feet before they run when they are bedded down

How often does calling bring in a hungry bear in Alaska?

I've never been to Alaska, but here in Oregon cow calls and fawn bleats can sure bring in the black bears. Just last late archery deer season, a friend and I set up to call using a bleat can, grunt and rattling antlers. One hit on the can and the oak leaves were making some serious noise. Within 10-15 seconds, a nice black bear was almost on our laps looking for a meal. He bolted when my friend drew his bow. I guess we set up in his dining room!

the rut here starts around 1st of november, on the a,b,c islands there is only brown bears
plenty of them
calling in a bear happens a lot.
they also come to rifle shots
and they will come from a long way off
since deer season starts aug 1 and fish runs are really winding down by sept.

i shoot then i skin and quarter pack up and get out of area
and no i havnt always been lucky, but neither has the bear