Wrangell

[S.E.Ak]

Anyone ever hunted the Wrangell area or know anything about that area.

[thxmrgarand]

Others here may be more familiar with Wrangell hunting or more current.  Respectfully, Alaska territories are so large that asking about Wrangell hunting may be like asking if anyone has ever hunted in TN or KY.  The Stikine has outstanding waterfowl hunting (done that), and decent moose and bear hunting (hunted in similar Southeast drainages but not that one for those animals).  Islands near Wrangell have elk and deer.  While the mainland has brown bear, black bear are everywhere.  Several years ago I spent about 4 weeks with a camper on a pickup and my Chessie hunting on Prince of Wales Island - a short ferry ride from Wrangell.  It was in September.  Salmon were in the creeks.  Ducks and geese were everywhere (season begins 9/1).  Deer were everywhere (season begins in August) as were black bear.  Every night a few minutes of howling outside the truck would bring wolves responding all around.  POW has about 1,000 miles of old shot rock logging roads.  I saw other hunters only once - two hunters and a dog about 3 miles away across some tideflats.  Once in a while I went to town to stock up on beer.  Of course there was rain just about every day but the camper was warm and dry with the Chessie preferring the bunk over the cab.  We ate deer, ducks, geese and salmon.  I cannot imagine a better playground for people who want to hunt and fish but want to be warm and dry every night.  I generally parked in a turnout at one bay or cove for 3 or 4 days and then moved to another.  The Alaska Marine Highway and SE Island ferries dock at Prince of Wales every day.   

[S.E.Ak]

Thanks for the info.Sounds like better hunting than I had in Haines for six years,bear was great but everything else lacking.I enjoy just hitting logging roads and see where they take you type hunting. I really want to get back to Alaska and enjoy the wild even if its just watching most of the time.Need a place to get by on a $4,000 a month after tax fixed income and this time I would really like indoor pluming and store bought electricity piped right to my shack.Sit back warm a dry November till April and watch every sunset the rest of the year from someplace outside. Big plus if I could see some type of water out the window,not mud puddles

[thxmrgarand]

As you may know, the Clinton Administration shut down the Alaska timber industry as payback to the Sierra Club.  Even though only 4% of the timber had been harvested, and that was harvested under federal sustained yield laws, environmentalists wanted the industry killed.  Employment went from about 4,000 to about 200!  All pulp mills and associated sawmills were shut down as ordered by the feds.  Wrangell had a sawmill that must have employed a few hundred, and that was the major employer in that little coastal town.  Wrangell population has continued to decline as people have to leave or they pass away and there is nothing to lure people to move there (no jobs).  So your timing for moving to Wrangell could not be better from a standpoint of finding a house on the beach to buy.  You can find houses for sale on line so I won't take a guess at prices.  However you should be able to purchase a house on the road system and the electric grid where you can watch the tides come in and out twice a day, whales and state ferries cruise by, etc.  This year every single Alaskan received $3200 in Permanent Fund Dividend and energy help.  I think that Wrangell would be a great place to wait out the next few years if November 4 brings bad results.  Good luck.

[S.E.Ak]

Yes it put an end to the Lutac mill in Haines in 91 I believe.Thanks alot for the info,I owe you a cord if we ever meet.