Weather blamed for poor Kodiak hunting, bear-viewing last year

KODIAK (AP) -- Weather was blamed for a lack of hunter and bear-viewing success on Kodiak Island last fall.

Deer hunters were few and far between in the Kodiak region, but those who did hunt did not do particularly well, the state Department of Fish and Game said.

Alaska's unseasonably warm autumn kept Sitka blacktail deer foraging high in the mountains where they were harder to hunt, biologists said.

Hunters who did manage to harvest their deer reported the animals fat and healthy -- apparently benefitting from an early spring and warm summer.

That could bode well for deer hunters next season, biologists said.

Bear watchers also reported having a lean season around Kodiak Island last year. Fish and Game said the weather also had something to do with that.

Warmer than usual temperatures produced a bumper crop of berries, which lured many of the big animals away from popular salmon-stream viewing sites during the summer tourist season, officials said.