Welcome to the Sitka Blacktail Coalition’s newsletter!
We are excited to share the latest in Sitka blacktail science, research, hunting and recreation stories, and more. We work together to ensure a bright future for Sitka black-tailed deer through research, education and outreach, including their ecology, cultural importance, and hunting and viewing opportunities.
Our mission is to enhance outcomes for Sitka black-tailed deer and the human communities they sustain. We have really appreciated the support for our work so far, and welcome anything you can give to help us grow for the future.
Since we decided to put together this website in 2019, we’ve been working hard to provide resources on the deer’s biology for students and life-long learners alike, a great archive of published deer scientific research, gorgeous photos and videos of the deer, and resources on deer hunting as well. And of course, Jim has been sharing his deer wisdom and hunting stories.
And now, a winter update from Jim:
Sophie told me it was time for our first newsletter…a post-holiday newsletter (mainly because life has gotten in the way and I’m just getting around to writing this). So here goes… First, I want to thank all of you who have showed interest in such a newsletter. In 2008, during discussions with a good friend who is no longer with us, I mentioned I really wanted to create a portal of information on Sitka Black-tail Deer. That evening we went on line and secured www.sitkablacktail.org. I made several attempts to begin the process of developing a website to no avail. In 2009 Sophie and I started our journey together. Some time in the next 3 years I told her of my vision. She finally made it a reality during one of our hunts. With her and Todd Brinkman’s help there is now a place one can go to find out everything about these fascinating deer. We are dedicated to continuing to update this website with new research and articles as they become available. If you know of something you think should be here, share it with us and we’ll give it a look.
After a wonderful holiday season, we are increasingly thankful for these deer and the lands they call home. We get to hunt these great deer with family and friends sharing our bounty with others. Much of our hunting is on public lands, a fantastic opportunity not to be taken lightly. Cherish you lands and fight to keep them public lest we lose those opportunities.
Sophie and I are running a bit of research looking at the utilization of leave strips between timber harvest units. Vertical corridors facilitating deer movement. As is often the case the adjacent older harvest units have been pre-commercially thinned an are not available to deer to move through or forage in. These leave strips become increasingly important as the adjacent second growth matures. We always felt and evidence suggests if big snows drive the deer from the 800-1,500 foot level of the ridges that they utilize these corridors to access habitat at the lower elevations. Trail camera this year have also shown us the daily movements of deer from higher bedding areas to forage areas in the lower elevations. It also has shown us that mature bucks travel daily form their bedding areas on the slopes above the valleys to check for does. They travel down the trails in these leave strips moments after dark, returning to their bedding areas just before light. These deer may be making 2-3 mile circuits each evening checking for a receptive doe. More on this as we learn more.
Following in the foot steps of Joe Piston of Ketchikan who has been plotting deer movements past his cameras for years, we began plotting this data from some of our cameras.
Our preliminary data clearly shows increasing buck activity beginning about October 31, with the peak buck movement from November 8-13th…we can tell you from being in the woods during that peak period the bucks were on their feet. We are also plotting the buck movement by time of day to illustrate the few days when mature bucks change their nocturnal habits and become vulnerable in the daylight. That will be in the next newsletter…
In closing I am going to borrow a quote from my good friend Randy Newberg…”Hunt when you can. You’re gonna run out of health before you run out of money.
~ Jim Baichtal
Image credit for this post’s gorgeous buck photo: Kris Larson.