Men,
I am going with a group of self guiders this September 12-17 to Prince of Wales.
My luck didnt lend me to get drawn for a Black Bear tag, however I hope to get a chance at a decent blacktail buck and catch some
silver salmon. I have spoken to numerous folks about the blacktail on POW and they all tell me something a little different,
but no one will help me with a more precise area to hunt.
I have read book about POW hunting and spent countless hours pouring over the internet only to come up with very little detail.

We are staying in Thorne Bay.
Please help me out..
What location name/mountain or name of landmark should I focus on?
What decent area is somwhat close to a road?
(I know apline meadows, but which ones)


Thanks for any help.
I want this trip to be more than a 7 day expensive fishing trip.

357,
Anywhere on POW that you can get up into the alpine that time of year will hold deer. The more remote the alpine, the more likely that you can find a good buck. You'll need to pack a tent, tarp, food, and raingear, and be prepared to spend some time glassing. It'll take you anywhere from 3-6 hours or more to reach treeline. Get a forest service map, and it should show you the road system. You're going to have to do some looking to find ways to get up there, but it will be worth it. Good luck. P.S. I'd like to tell you where I went, but it was shown to me by someone else, and I can't betray the trust.

Sorry to say this but I don't know any locals that are going to share their spots. Including me. We all had to work.our butts off to find them. And there is no $$$$$ incentive to do so.
However. The info already given is what we started with. If however you go to pow and each member of your party kills a wolf and you have picture proof. Then next year lots of people will let you in on their secrets. I almost can't believe that there is a drawing for black bear. They used to be nearly vermin.
One big. Actually HUGE thing is. Don't get lost and DONT GET HURT. If you've never encountered a steep, broken up coastal rain forest. Your in for a real shock. . If your anywhere from the Coffman Cove cutoff north. The rule to stay alive by is. IF YOU CANT SEE WHERE YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR FOOT! Don't put it there!!!!!!!!! . Seriously the ground is full of holes! And there are thousands of Sink Holes that are hundreds of feet deep. I've fell timber all over PoW and can assure you clambering around in the timber isn't for the faint of heart.

The roads on PoW are now paved highways. They used to be 1 lane, shot rock loggin roads with turn outs and off highway log trucks barreling down them. 12-14' wide loaded trucks on a 16' wide road.
Its best to NOT leave your vehicle parked anywhere on the Hydaburg road. !!!

One of the problems giving advice on where the deer are is a wolf pack may have gone threw and eaten the deer we were telling you about. . Kill wolves!!!!

I only went in the spring for bears and fishing two times but saw a jillion deer. We were using the deer bleat call and couldn't keep them out of our laps. Blow call, does come running in and stand and stare at you. I couldn't believe the numbers of deer and, as always, the farther off the road the more deer, which seemed impossible because we saw so many right off the road.

All of the following comes from a non-expert who's only been there twice. You've been warned.

Asking for a specific spot and location details is really reaching, just my opinion. Also, it sounds like you need to refine what your doing on the internet as no one in their right mind is going to point you to a honey hole.

Do some of your own map work before you go: Get google earth going and find spots off of the roads out of Thorne Bay, get some maps and get a GPS and load the waypoints before you leave, etc. and know what you're going to do for the first few days before you arrive in Thorne Bay. Note that many of the roads you see on Google Earth are blocked from the highway with nasty trenches. A mountain bike is gold on those roads, but you'll walk it down and up the trenches.

Just walking up some of the hiking trails was pretty good for us, can't get much easier than that.

Note also that some areas that look like open alpine on google earth could be grown over with 3 to 6 feet tall trees and you can't see a thing. That's just life.

I parked on remote stretches of logging road or highway and hiked through the woods into some alpine. Definitely mark your waypoint/truck location with your GPS before going into that nasty crap! Then mark it again. Know your GPS very well before you go, don't unwrap it when you land. Bring two or ten headlamps, whichever's more, if you're walking in or out in the dark, following your GPS route to or from your truck. I also used some orange tape to mark my way, tying it onto tree limbs here and there, because I'm paranoid and don't trust technology, even though I use it all the time. I also packed extra GPS batteries due to excessive paranoia. I thought the deadfall in Montana was tough to walk through, not even close the the rain forest you have to go through to get to some hard to get open parks! The walk out or back in the dark is only made easier with a couple of bright headlamps and taking your time and knowing you're going to eventually get back to your truck.

I'm not a POW deer expert by any stretch but I'm looking forward to going back and trying it. I had to carry my daughter through a bunch of rain forest when hunting there and it was amazingly thick but she had a ton of fun seeing more deer that we ever thought possible.

We wear " corks" in Southeast. The boots we wear. They have rows of steel caulks sticking out of the bottom of the sole. . I strongly recommend against walking out in the dark. . Experienced hunters in Southeast die regularly doing that. . If your going to get caught by the dark. Just find a comfortable big red cedar to keg up under. If you have a light weight 10"×10' tarp you can be comfortable. This time of year its only dark for 5 or 6 hours.

Lol..
If any of you AK men want to come to Texas and fish for Giant black bass or hunt for Monster hawgs I will tell you exactly where I go.
Here in East Texas we appreciate and embrace out of state hunters.

I will tell you my spots for couple reasons
1. You probably wont come catch every one of them and there are plenty of huge hawgs
2. You probably wont be coming back every year to do it.
3. There not my critters there Gods and they replenish rapidly.


The fact is I probably wont ever go back to POW and I didn't draw a black bear tag so I am trying to bring back something for the thousands of dollars I am spending in your State. One buck is not going wipe your gene pool out but everyone acts like it would.


I have done hours of research via phone to AK fish and game, tons of waypoints on Google Earth. That being said I still don't feel confident my hunt will be successful because the lack information available.

As a general rule there are deer all over POW. You don't really need a honey hole. Find a new clear cut and glass it real good. Get some USFS aerial photos that show muskegs. Where you are going is so different from where you are it almost can't be described. From a liability stand point I'm not going to reccomend any place because what is easy for me to access and enjoy could get a newcomer killed. As a rule it isn't very hard to find a buck on PoW.

quote:

Originally posted by 357MAGAG:
Lol..
If any of you AK men want to come to Texas and fish for Giant black bass or hunt for Monster hawgs I will tell you exactly where I go.
Here in East Texas we appreciate and embrace out of state hunters.

I will tell you my spots for couple reasons
1. You probably wont come catch every one of them and there are plenty of huge hawgs
2. You probably wont be coming back every year to do it.
3. There not my critters there Gods and they replenish rapidly.


The fact is I probably wont ever go back to POW and I didn't draw a black bear tag so I am trying to bring back something for the thousands of dollars I am spending in your State. One buck is not going wipe your gene pool out but everyone acts like it would.


I have done hours of research via phone to AK fish and game, tons of waypoints on Google Earth. That being said I still don't feel confident my hunt will be successful because the lack information available.

Geez, just follow your signature line and "win the war" Texan. No one's going to hold your hand, you have as much information as everyone else who goes for the first time. I came back empty handed with bear but still had an awesome time. I didn't blame lack of information, nor did I or would I ever ask anyone for their secret spot. You have to hire a guide or actually work for it. In Texas you're dealing with private land that you drive around on, been there several times and loved it, planning on going back again. Where you're going it's public land and honey holes are hard won and worth protecting. Totally different situation.

Man up, head up and have fun and don't expect anyone to send you a GPS waypoint. Alaska ain't texas or Montana or anywhere else. You're going to have fun no matter what happens. We want pictures of your blacktail when you get back!

Thank you. We're not trying to be mean asses it's just that shooting a deer on Prince of Wales generally isn't that hard. But you really need to be spooled up on killing a wolf. That's the primary trophy of PoW.
A lot of times in the timber you can't get a GPS signal so you want a compass. A real good one like a Silva Forester and you want to be able to use it. . But, most off the time in the timber you can't or won't want to run a straight compass course. Often times there are cliffs and rock bluffs in the timber that you won't see from the road. Also, stay off native corporation land. That's a biggy! But most of the land on PoW is federal. .
If your in the timber and you get into a blowdown patch think several times before you go strolling down a big blowdown that crosses a draw or crik. Speed bark can get you hurt or killed quick. Follow the game trails. Don't waste your energy trying to bust thru berry patches. Unless you can walk on 50 stems per square foot. " which you can't " no one can.
Don't wear any cotton clothes. You get hurt with a sweat soaked cotton T-shirt on and hypothermia isn't far away. .
Everything will always be wet. Line of sight will be obscured because of low clouds, rain and fog. Starting a fire is not for the faint of heart. Get a bag of cotton balls and a jar of vasoline petroleum jelly. Rub the vasoline into the cotton balls and put them in a baggy keep a flint and steel/ magnesium fire starter in your pocket. Ect.ect.ect.

Wolf season is not open in Sept ... check the regs.

"Thanks for any help.
I want this trip to be more than a 7 day expensive fishing trip."

Actually the fishing lodges charge more than a guided hunt these days.

Well, I am interested in how you did? Do you have any pictures. The island is really beautiful!

Here it is.
I went prepared with the Forest Service map with 12 peak points marked. My handheld
GPS Garmin had these points marked along with another predetermined way points (access points, alpine meadows, muskeg meadows, misc roads.
Is was told to hunt the alpine which I did and the hikes on 1:1 2:1 slopes are not for the faint of heart.
Camped out overnight in the Alpine (tons, and tons or deer sign there) only to the see the butts of two deer running over ridge.
Then I was told to hunt the muskeg which we did only to see nothing.
The only deer we saw 200+ doe/fawn and 2 bucks at night where while driving the roads near Thorne Bay to Craig.
All of the locals are very tight lipped as if they have made some secret pact not to help non-residents.
One local lady told us a couple spots but she was extremely paranoid about telling us.
We had to follow her down the road before she would tell spots.
They yielded no deer either.

Highlights-
Enjoyed the challenge of the hiking.
The land is beautiful and pristine.
Caught more Salmon than I care to count.
Got extremely close to 50 plus doe.
Landing some large halibut.
Had a B&C bear in my crosshairs with no bear tag.
Laughed and joked about the secret code the locals have.
Will never forget the adventures over the the 7 days I was there.

If I get another chance to go I will land a large Blacktail from info gathered this trip.

Send me your email if you want photos.