Hunting Pics

[Juneaudave]

Snow depth really differs depending on elevation and distance from the ocean. That cabin probably only has a couple feet of snow at worst in the winter.

The deer spend the summer way up and start getting pushed down as snow accumulates up high in the fall. Sometime in late November, early December the lake will freeze and the float planes will stop flying in. The bush pilots watch those temps pretty close so hunting parties don't get stranded. By late December, early January, all of the deer will have been pushed by deepening snow to the ocean shore, where they winter out eating seaweed and forage in the nearly snowfree zone caused by the relatively warm ocean currents. You can take a winter boat ride and see hundreds of deer just kicking back at the oceans edge.

About April, the snow starts to recede and the hibernating bears start coming out. Juneau is one of those areas that is more like a cold Victoria BC or Seattle. Wa than the Alaska most people think about. May is a prime time for bear watchers and hunters....like the deer, the bears hang near shore in the spring because that is the place that the new plant growth and food occur first. At that time, the bears are eazy to spot and still have that nice thick winter coat.