History and Current Status of Sitka Black-Tailed Deer in the Kodiak Archipelago
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History and Current Status of Sitka Black-tailed Deer in the Kodiak Archipelago by Roger B. Smith Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kodiak I vwwduc.:Uo n. In the Kodiak Archipelago, populations of the introduced Sitka black-tailed deer (Odoco~e~ hemion~ ~~keno~) inhabit vegetative associations quite distinct from deer ranges in the rest of Alaska. Deer populations are still expanding into pre viously unoccupied or lightly occupied ranges. Concurrent with this range expansion, a decline in the population in areas first occupied by deer is evident. The direction of deer management has evolved from a protective phase, through a conservative phase, and into an exploitive phase as deer populations have expanded. This paper will re f view the history of the transplant and subsequent pattern of occupation of the Kodiak Archipelago by deer. Deer/habitat relationships, natural mortality, harvest patterns, and management problems will also be discussed. V~~p~on aS ~ea--Karlstrom [1969] provides an accurate description of the topography, climate, and geology of the Kodiak Archipelago. The Archipelago is a ( group of islands extending 177 miles in a southwesterly direction off the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula (fig. 1). The area is mountainous with maximum elevations above 4,000 feet. The 2 largest islands, Kodiak and Afognak, are characterized by steep bluffs descending into numerous long glacially-scoured straits and fiords. The islands in the Archipelago cover an area of approximately 5,000 square miles. Seldom do temperatures fall below 0° F and average annual precipitation is about 60 inches, although much local variation in rainfall and temperature occurs. l The vegetation of the Kodiak Archipelago can be classified into 3 major types. Batchelor [1965] describes the Sitka spruce (P~cea ~~tcheno~) type which covers Afognak, Shuyak, Raspberry, and much of northeastern Kodiak Island. tf,ost of Kodiak Island is dominated by a grass-brush type. Alder (A!n.~ ~~nuata) stands are inter spersed with dense meadows of salmonberry (Rub~ ~pectabJ~) and grass (Ca!amag~o~~ canadeno~). Cottonwood (Popu£~ bc~ami{\e~a) and birch (Betula kenaica) occupy valleys and lower foothills. Approximately the southwestern quarter of Kodiak is occupied by tundra vegetation of willows (S~x spp.) and heath plants, including 184 c 0 UGANIK CHINIAK PENINSULA KODIAK ISLAND 185 Figure 1. Location map of major islands in Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska. crowberry (Empetnum n{g~um), bearberry (Aketohzaphyloh uva-unhi) and low cranberry (Vac.un{um vUM-idaea). Hu"lten [1969] described this vegetative type in detail. H~zony o6 ~al1./.}plant and popula:Uon ~endo--Fourteen deer, captured in the Sitka area, were released in 1924 on Long Island, about 4 miles east of the town of Kodiak [Burris and McKnight, 1973]. Two more deer were placed there in 1930. A small popu la~ion of deer became established on this spruce-forested island approximately 3 square miles in area. Although reports are sketchy, apparently it was intended that deer moving from Long Island would eventually stock Kodiak Island. Long Island is separated from Kodiak's mainland by some smaller islands and deer would have to swim a maximum of 1 mile between adjacent islands. A 1931 Alaska Game Commission report mentioned that 3 does and 2 bucks had been seen on Kodiak. An additional transplant seemed appropriate and in 1934 4 bucks and 5 does were released on Kodiak Island. If the 1931 Game Commission report was accurate, deer had probably already become estab lished on Kodiak when the 1934 transplant was accomplished. The Long Island deer population was estimated at 80 deer in 1938, according to Palmer [Rhode, 1948]. Jack Benson, Wildlife Agent in Kodiak, in a March, 1941 letter to the Alaska Game Commission, detailed a proposal to move the Long Island deer herd to Afognak Island in anticipation of planned military fortification which, he felt, would doom the Long Island deer herd. The transplant was not initiated and deer were reduced to a low level when the Island was occupied by extensive military install ations during the 1940s. Only an occasional straggler occupies Long Island today as cattle grazing, maturation of the spruce forest, and high recreational use of the Island have seriously diminished the habitat. Back on Kodiak's mainland, the 1940s found deer rapidly occupying the north eastern corner of the Island. By 1950, deer were quite common near the town of Kodiak and the first hunting season was held in 1953. During that ~-day August season, 200 hunters took 38 bucks, mostly from the Chiniak Bay drainages. According to Chapados [1953], deer populations were still increasing on northeastern Kodiak in the early 1950s. While the nucleus of the population inhabited the Chiniak Peninsula and Chiniak Bay drainages, deer had already moved as far south and west as Ugak Bay, Terror Bay, and Uganik Island. Reports of deer on Whale, Raspberry, Afognak, and Shuyak Islands were becoming more common. Hoffman [1953] reported the first observa tion of deer wintering in the Pasagshak Bay area in 1953. During the 1952-1953 winter, 11 deer were found dead of apparent malnutrition on the Chiniak Peninsula [Hoffman, 1953]. The same report stated that the browse on the winter ranges did not appear overutilized. The first season in 1953 followed the first reported significant mortality from winter starvation. The remainder of the 1950s decade was marked by a rapidly increasing population .1 spreading southward along Kodiak Island. In 1958, 25 percent of the harvest was taken in areas remote from the road system on northeastern Kodiak [Troyer, 1958]. By 1955, Troyer [1955] estimated that half the deer population was found outside the road system drainages. Although Troyer then opined that either-sex hunting would probably constitute good management, it wasn't until 1959 that a 3-day doe hunt was held. The annual harvest continued to increase as seasons became more liberal and deer popu lations expanded. The average annual harvest during the 1957-1959 period was about 200 bucks. 186 Whether by coincidence or consequence, the estimated Kodiak deer harvest nearly doubled when the State of Alaska assumed administration of its wildlife in 1960. A trend toward liberalization of harvest in the 1960s began when the bag limit was raised to 2 deer in 1960. Bathelor [1962] observed that the major deer ranges occupied by the early 1960s were in the Sitka spruce climax forest of northeastern Kodiak and nearby islands. He observed that deer were found nearly exclusively in the spruce zone in bad weather. He felt that spruce cover was a primary requirement for establishing substantial deer populations, although acknowledging that Uganik Island, a relatively sparsely forested area, was already one of the major deer winter ranges. Merriam [1964] reported that, by 1963, the deer population in the Chiniak Bay drainages had declined appreciably, despite a series of apparently mild winters and little observed mortality other than from hunting. In 1960, 41 percent of the harvest was recorded from the drainages along the road system between Kalsin and Women's Bays and this had declined to only 7 percent in 1962. Merriam felt that overhunting may have contributed to the decline and that areas without spruce forests were more likely to be overharvested. Erickson [1958] observed that competition between deer and cattle was occurring near the ocean fringe in the Chiniak Bay drainages. The lowlands near the ocean became critical range during periods of heavy snow cover. Erickson noted that willow (Salix spp.) and blueberry (Va~c{n{um ovaliflo~um), prime deer browse species, were also browsed heavily by cattle. He believed that cattle were primarily responsible for range deterioration. Recognizing that limited winter range was pro bably responsible in part for the decline, and observing that populations were build ing in other areas, Erickson recommended instituting an either-sex season encompassing the month of December, when deer would be vulnerable to hunting. A record estimated harvest of 1,040 deer occurred in 1965 during a season extend ing from August through December 31. Over 400 deer (42 percent) were taken on the Chiniak Peninsula excluding the Kalsin Bay-Women's Bay drainages where the population had declined and had a more restrictive season. Another harvest record was set in 1967 when an estimated 1,500 deer were taken following a winter with only light natural mortality. The following year, the harvest rose to 2,100, with 50 percent of the harvest from the Chiniak Peninsula; the Chiniak Peninsula was probably at a population high then and has subsequently declined. The Chiniak Peninsula area today has the best deer population in the part of northeastern Kodiak Island accessible by road, but is still far below the mid-1960s level, despite relatively light hunting pressure. Much of the Chiniak Peninsula is only lightly grazed by cattle compared to the drainages in which the early-l960s decline was recorded. Extreme browsing of willow by deer is apparent along the ocean fringe wintering areas where cattle use is lighter or non-existent. Overall range quality has undoubtedly declined to well below the former carrying capacity. During the 1969-1970 winters, unusually severe cold and heavy snows resulted in heavy mortality from starvation. Despite the low deer population, hunters took 870 and 915 deer following those respective winters. Although 54 percent of the harvest in 1971 came from the area accessible by road, hunters were taking deer on Afognak, Raspberry, Whale and Uganik Islands and about 10 percent of the harvest occurred even further south on Kodiak Island. A general upward trend in the Game Management Unit 8 deer population has occurred since the 1970-1971 winter. During the past decade deer have populated most of the available deer habitat on Kodiak, Afognak and adjacent islands.