A young Sitka black-tailed deer finds fresh greens to eat along Glacier Highway on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

A young Sitka black-tailed deer finds fresh greens to eat along Glacier Highway on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: Let’s manage Douglas for deer

Wolves have decimated the deer population.

It is time for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to stop managing Douglas Island for wolves and manage it for deer.

Douglas Island is where people who don’t have a boat and can’t afford to charter a plane to a remote site hunt for their venison. The wolves have decimated the deer population, despite our having several mild winters in a row.

Fish and Game personnel need hike over the top of Douglas in late July and count the deer they see. In the 40 years I have hunted Douglas Island, there were times that I would see as many as 20 to 25 different deer on top in one day. This year, I did not see a single deer on top. There was almost no sign. Other hunters I have talked with have said the same thing — lots of wolves and very few deer.

Gary Miller,

Juneau


My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.


More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

The site of the now-closed Tulsequah Chief mine. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
My Turn: Maybe the news is ‘No new news’ on Canada’s plans for Tulsequah Chief mine cleanup

In 2015, the British Columbia government committed to ending Tulsequah Chief’s pollution… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Voter fact left out of news

With all the post-election analysis, one fact has escaped much publicity. When… Continue reading

People living in areas affected by flooding from Suicide Basin pick up free sandbags on Oct. 20 at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)
Opinion: Mired in bureaucracy, CBJ long-term flood fix advances at glacial pace

During meetings in Juneau last week, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)… Continue reading

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (Alaska Department of Family and Community Services photo)
My Turn: Rights for psychiatric patients must have state enforcement

Kim Kovol, commissioner of the state Department of Family and Community Services,… Continue reading

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage. (Alaska Department of Family and Community Services photo)
My Turn: Small wins make big impacts at Alaska Psychiatric Institute

The Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API), an 80-bed psychiatric hospital located in Anchorage… Continue reading

The settlement of Sermiligaaq in Greenland (Ray Swi-hymn / CC BY-SA 2.0)
My Turn: Making the Arctic great again

It was just over five years ago, in the summer of 2019,… Continue reading

Rosa Parks, whose civil rights legacy has recent been subject to revision in class curriculums. (Public domain photo from the National Archives and Records Administration Records)
My Turn: Proud to be ‘woke’

Wokeness: the quality of being alert to and concerned about social injustice… Continue reading

President Donald Trump and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy pose for a photo aboard Air Force One during a stopover at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage in 2019. (Sheila Craighead / White House photo)
Opinion: Dunleavy has the prerequisite incompetence to work for Trump

On Tuesday it appeared that Gov. Mike Dunleavy was going to be… Continue reading

Most Read