Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska A pair of alpine Blacktails

Nice deer! Going to keep them in velvet?

Congrats on a great adventure and show.

Sure beats high fence, photog critter, animal husbandry shows.

Your Thorne Bay pard is a very cool guy. Congrats on the hunt...

As others have said his hunting shows are top notch his show, meat eater and Jim shockey are the only shows worth watching anymore...

Nice! I have a dozen fishing trips left and then it's hunting time. It's nice when those bucks are orange.

THAT is an impressive deer. Congratulations.

Steve.

Its too bad that he, Rhinella and others appear to cheer for more federal control of our lands and game management...

Looks like a pair of nice animals and a lot of fun!

I think that they are cheering for public land in general. Being able to freely roam the vast majority of this state and not being forced to hunt on the same few acres every year is why I came here many years ago. It's why I stay.

I may be mistaken but I believe those bucks were killed on Fed land but under state game management. You or I or anyone else for that matter could hunt there. That's what I love about living in AK!

Huge +1.

Alaska is already losing the ablity to manage game to the Feds. Soon many in AK will become more entitled to game than others. More wilderness areas will be created making access even more difficult and hunting will be banned in other areas. The state should own the land and manage the game equally for all Alaskans.

My only point was that they are cheering for public land, whether it be state or federal.I hunt both and I'm glad we have so much public land available. More was available for hunters pre Carter though
Oh and access by airplane and boat to most designated Wilderness areas for hunting is protected by fed law via ANILCA I believe. I'm not really into politics and the specifics of law but I know I've been able to legally hunt/access a lot of wilderness areas with both super cubs and jet boats so I wouldn't worry about not being able to access them. If you haven't been you're missing out on some great places to hunt.
Unfortunately politics seem to undermine the science of game management by both the state and Feds all too often.
Sorry to derail the thread. Congrats on two outstanding public land deer.Opportunity abounds for those looking.....

Not sure where you get your information about me, but it should read as follows.



I know Steve very well and I suspect that he would be in the same camp. I will fight for state management of wildlife until the ends of time. How or why the Feds are usurping that state responsibility that Alaska should hold is a mystery to me and I wish it was not the case.

As for state ownership of Federal lands; Federal lands I can now freely hunt, camp, fish, or hike, the last thing I want is the State Land Departments of western states having ownership of those Federal lands. Below are a few snippets to support my worries of state ownership of Federal lands, from the perspective of a public land hunter:

After statehood, Nevada was granted 2,000,000+ acres of State Lands (previously Federal lands) that would be open to hunting, fishing, and camping. They now own less than 3,000 (yeah, three thousand) acres. All sold in the last hundred years to a bunch of political crooks for $1.25 per acre. That is 2,000,000+ acres of land none of us can now hunt, camp, fish, or hike.

Wyoming once had 4,200,000 of State Lands that I could hunt, even though they will not let me camp on their state lands overnight as part of my hunting. They have sold 700,000 acres of those lands that we can no longer hunt. Given Wyoming requires me to hire a guide to hunt in a Wilderness area, the last group I want holding title to the other Federal lands I have current hunting access to is a group of legislators as easily manipulated as Wyoming has shown to be.

In New Mexico, I can hunt, fish, camp, hike, or whatever on the Federal BLM and USFS lands; all 25 million acres of them. Yet, if they became state lands, I could not camp on any of them, which if you have hunted the Gila and other good areas of NM, you would realize that if you cannot camp out on those lands, it is impractical to hunt them, as you would have a 3 hour drive (each way) from towns you might be able to motel in.

Colorado has 23 million acres of BLM and USFS lands I can hunt, fish, camp, hike. If those were turned over to the CO State Land board, I could not hunt, fish, hike, camp, or anything on those lands unless I leased them from the state land board or the state wildlife agency leased them from the state land board. Colorado does not allow public hunting, fishing, camping, or hiking on State Trust lands. If they got access of the BLM and USFS lands within their boundaries, we lose 23,000,000 acres of public hunting lands. Not sure how any hunter could support that concept, yet some do.

My grandparents lived and died in Alaska. I have three uncles and their families still there. Do I want the state of Alaska owning Federal lands that the public might want to use for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking? Given how much land Alaska sells for funding of the University System and the Mental Health System, my answer is no. In short order, commercial enterprises would be buying up the parcels that are the best remote landing strips, the best camp sites, and other critical spots that the public uses to access a remote place like Alaska. All of my family members have bought lands that were previously state lands and all of those lands are currently not open to public hunting and fishing. Alaska excels at selling public lands, so as a US citizen who likes to hunt and fish the Federal lands of Alaska, I don't want the state of Alaska to take over Federal lands I can currently access.

Point being, as much as I can find a lot of faults with Federal land management, everyone of those faults could be corrected if Congress and the President had the stones to stand up and do the hard work necessary to create better Federal land management. And given the history of the western state land boards of selling lands to private parties, after which we have no access for hunting/fishing/camping, I will take my chances with the Feds holding these lands we currently use for hunting, even if it means Congress will continue to manage them poorly.

You may have a different perspective and different motivations than I. Completely fine with that.

But, to say I support Federal control of game management when I've spent years and years of advocating for the states' right to manage wildlife, would be completely wrong.

Thanks to all for the comments on the bucks. Hope you all have a great season.

Exactly.

The bucks were killed on Federal lands. And on those Federal lands, I as a non-resident was relegated to small portions of the islands because the state wants to allow residents first opportunity at the deer in the more accessible areas. As a non-resident, I am completely fine with having to wait until August 15th or to hunt the far fringe areas if I want to hunt before then. That is why we should have state management of wildlife.

If I understand correctly the reason residents are given exclusive opportunity the first two weeks is the subsistence value of deer is important to AK residents. That is a valid reason for the state to adopt such a rule on behalf of residents.

Actually Randy subsistence regs are Federal. The State of Alaska doesn't recognize subsistence. As per our (Alaska's )constitution everyone has equal rights to the fish and game of Alaska. That includes non-residents.
I too am in favor of the state's management of game but also know that having Fed land management helps to ensure the longevity of access to non privatized land for everyone. Especially now here in AK with the state in a major deficit I think we will see more selling of state public land to fund our state gov. I'm glad some will be protected for future hunters access.
I have been both federally qualified for subsistence and also lived in an area that I wasn't qualified but my neighbors down the paved highway were. Actually they had to drive by two grocery stores and my house to hunt in an area that I couldn't. That's a far cry from living off the land.Subsistence is a valid idea but also is preference by zip code.
I don't pretend to have any answers, just opinions from a rewarding outdoor life living and traveling in the great State of Alaska.
Congrats again on outstanding Sitka bucks. Looks like you earned them.

Hmm. I did not know that subsistence in Alaska was a Federal demand. I incorrectly thought Federal involvement in subsistence rules were only for First Nation/Indigenous residents. Thanks for the information.

Knowing that now, it seems rather ironic. My family who lives in Alaska hates any Federal involvement in game issues; a sentiment I share with them. Yet, they love the subsistence rules that benefit them and the amount of fish/game they can take for subsistence. From what you have provided, the subsistence rules my family likes so much are a Federal mingling in the Alaska game management, the same principle they claim to hate.

Thanks again for the information.

Yep, Federal subsistence is by zip code and can only be done on federal lands.Most are rural/remote areas. But some communities, like on the Kenai Penninsula, are very connected to grocery stores ,highways and box stores. So your neighbor down the road gets a much longer moose season because of where he gets his mail. Understandably that pisses some folks off.

The State does have what they call personal use fisheries that are resident only.Typically dip netting. It's a form of subsistence but under a different name to keep it Constitutionally legal. Difference is it's available to all Ak residents regardless of zip code.

I am all for the states right to manage its game. Sometimes though it seems like the state and Feds are more focused on allocating game instead of managing it.

If I remember correctly the subsistence permits are issued through the local BLM office instead of Fish and Game. That is how it was with the caribou and moose in the area I used to live in anyways.

Awesome bucks there I'll look forward to seeing the show! Thanks for sharing Randy!