Paula Del Giudice: In Alaska, deer hunts bearable

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

AAFTER SPENDING a whole day flying and negotiating airports, I wish I had something wonderful and newsy to write about how Nevada's deer hunting is going this year. But I only have a little of that. So it's back to Alaska.

The other times I've been to Alaska have been either in July or August to fish. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to visit the Last Frontier during the autumn. I was at a leadership conference for women in the environmental field and delivered the keynote address Saturday.

I talked with a number of Alaskans about the deer hunt on Kodiak, asking if it is true about bears beating you to your deer, if you shoot one.

They all said yes. The solution, I was told, is to hunt in pairs. When one hunter has a deer down and is gutting in, the other watches the perimeter for bears. Mostly, the bears will stay away until the hunters leave and then pounce on the gut pile.

You have an hour to get your deer out of there before the bears come after the spoils.

The limit on Kodiak deer is five and residents of the island who were at the conference said there are deer everywhere. They're happy to have the hunters come and thin them down a bit, because tough winters make it tough on the deer, especially if populations are high.

Kodiak also is one of the only places in Alaska where it's possible to catch all five species of salmon in one day. I understand you might have to fly around the island to locate all the different streams and species, but it can -- and has been -- done.

As you might expect, living in Alaska would take some adjustments, particularly during your first winter. Even now at the end of October the sun is rising awfully slowly in the mornings. The sun was just coming up as I headed for the airport just after 8 a.m. Before daylight savings time ended last weekend, that would have been 9 a.m. Sunset is nearly about what it is in Las Vegas now, but that will change as the days get shorter.

The sun is low in the sky all the short day long, making for incredibly lovely light conditions. The sky in the morning was aglow with washes of purple, blue and red. The pink cast the sun makes on the snowy mountains is truly magnificent.

Of course, two feet of snow is just the beginning, but it's a lot more snow than I've seen since moving to Las Vegas. With the streets mostly cleaned except for patches of snow now turned to ice, Anchorage reminded me a lot of Elko as I was growing up. It was so lovely, it made me want to sing Christmas carols.

I had a roommate at the conference, a wonderful woman who has been one of Alaska's most prominent environmentalists. The first night she said, "I hope you like to sleep in a cool room," as she cranked the window open. It was 23 degrees below zero in Fairbanks that night and 11 below in Anchorage. I was nice and toasty, though smothering, in my long johns, sweats, and three blankets -- two doubled over.

Those who live in Alaska are either very active or very bored. Residents talk about cross-country skiing or ski-skating all winter -- some ski to their office in the morning. All the ski trails are lighted, so residents can ski even when it's dark. Last year, there was little snow to cover up all the lakes and rivers nearby, so there was little skiing but lots of skating. Soon, the city ran out of ice skates and emergency calls were placed to the "Outside" to get more.

I love to hear the stories about how Anchorage residents deal with moose populations. Moose wander throughout the city during the winter. Two years ago, the snow was level with the eaves of their one-story houses and residents were quite surprised to see moose bedded down on their roofs -- they are the warmest spots in town.

It's wonderful to be home, but leaving Alaska isn't an easy thing to do.

Duck hunting opens

Duck hunting opens in Clark and Lincoln counties on Saturday and will run through Jan. 19.

Goose season is scheduled Nov. 16- Jan. 19. Drawings for opening weekend goose hunting reservations at Key Pittman and Overton will be held Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8 a.m. at NDOW.