BlackTail Deer

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Hi there.

I am planning to be in Haida Gwaii for a while this year and I'm just wondering about General Hunting information in that area.
I've done some searching and see that Blacktail deer is a good one in the area.

More so, if my primary hunt of choice would be Blacktail Deer, I am wondering what rifle / caliber is a good choice.
I have a 30-06 but I'm sure that is much too large.
I also have a .22 but I'm sure that is a bit too small.

I appreciate any opinions and information.

Thanks so much!
 
I hunted them once many years back and they are tiny ..... I was a beefy guy back then and the smaller ones I could barely pick up with one hand and the larger ones I had to use two hands to pick up (just to give you an idea of how small they are ... about the size of a medium sized dog). 30-06 is way bigger than you need ... just about any small centre fire rifle calibre would do. I don't know .... maybe a 30-30 or .243.

We made do with our regular deer guns, but that was way more than what we needed. However, we did come across a huge bear that wasn't afraid of people, so there is that to consider as well.
 
Are those your only choices? If it's a center fire like a 22-250 or .222 they will work. Rimfire is a no-go. If its a rim-fire, 30-06 will work fine. I'd either go with a commercial varmint load or make them.
 
Yeah you don't need a fast shooting caliber. Ruins too much meat on these smaller guys. Unless you are competent at sniping them in the head, use a moderate velocity round that won't destroy meat. .30-30. the 357mag, .44 mag carbines are effective at medium and closer ranges. .243 at longer distance. But really any reasonable caliber will work on them. Carverk will likely be along soon to opine as he lives there.
 
.223 is a local sustenance hunter favourite for Blacktail, hard to imagine a better chambering for them. Your .30-06 will work great too, just more than required, but you definitely don't need to go buy a new gun. Unless you want to limit out, as you can take 15 deer a season there presently (possession 5). Review the regs .22 rimfire, if that's what you're referring to, as it is illegal.
 
Are you currently a BC resident?

Do you have a BC hunting licence?

Have you ever read the regulations synopsis?

Your comment about the .22 makes me wonder.
 
Ardent said:
It's actually a pretty poor bear stopper. Kills them, but much better choices that don't kick any more if you want to stop them. His .30-06 outperforms it as a bear stopper. No Grizzlies on Haida Gwaii anyhow so kind of a moot point.
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Really? I would have thought it would be better than an 06... sure beats the 223 tho. I like recoil though so if there were bears I'd bring my 375 lol.
 
375, .30-06, .300, 7 mag all great. Bears react to shock and any cartridge that you can say does less meat damage delivers less shock, that's why I like lighter constructed bullets in .375 for Grizzly too. Meat damage is good for Grizzlies, not so much for blacktails admittedly, I'll stop before I get a good derail going too. :d
 
Unless you are a really good shot on a german shepard sized body with long legs..... I would not be shooting those deer with a 3006 unless it's the lightest load offered.
I used .308 the last trip a couple years ago. I'm a good shot hehehe but i won't be bringing the .308 again. Too much meat damage for such a small animal.
haida gwaii deer are the sitka sub species and are much smaller than thier mainland and vancouver island cousins.

.223 would be good, 22-250, 300 savage , 7.62x39 and ya, the .3030, 7mm-08 ect ect.
but like i say, if yer a good shot and have some super light 3006 loads..... why not?
We bumped into a few bears but most just bugger right off.

Carverk is the guy to talk to. I've hunted with him and like me, he is keen on helping out new hunters.
We hit the gwaii in early november a couple or so years ago.... was some downright outrageous wrath of god type storms blowing thru, amazing really, but the hunting was excellent.
take a camera!!!! and don't forget to use it :)
 
If you want to use your 30-06, I'd recommend working up a light load using the 110gr TTSX and either Unique or maybe H4895 (google for the "Youth Loads" PDF). I use this bullet in a bolt action 30-30 and it works wonders on small coastal blacktails.
 
A lot of hunters here on Vancouver Island use a 30-06 for blacktail. My hunting partner uses one. I don't thing the blacktail on Haida gwai are much different. Go with your 30-06.
 
Barnes_270 said:
If you want to use your 30-06, I'd recommend working up a light load using the 110gr TTSX and either Unique or maybe H4895 (google for the "Youth Loads" PDF). I use this bullet in a bolt action 30-30 and it works wonders on small coastal blacktails.
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Also Sierra and Hornady makes 125gr 30 cal game bullets. A reduced load using H4895 would make a dandy small deer load.
 
pete dobinson said:
A lot of hunters here on Vancouver Island use a 30-06 for blacktail. My hunting partner uses one. I don't thing the blacktail on Haida gwai are much different. Go with your 30-06.
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Deer on Vancouver Island are bigger than they are on Haida Gwaii, on average. If you've ever hunted on a Gulf Island or Texada, etc, they're more that size.
 
pete dobinson said:
A lot of hunters here on Vancouver Island use a 30-06 for blacktail. My hunting partner uses one. I don't thing the blacktail on Haida gwai are much different. Go with your 30-06.
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They are much smaller than the black tails on Vancouver island. Having said that, I wasn't about to buy a new rifle and we used our regular deer rifles. All the shots we took were within 50 yards, so head shots are not necessarily unrealistic, but that might just have been the areas we were in and the brush was quite thick anyways. If I was a local or if I was going to make it an annual hunting trip, I'd probably buy a smaller calibre rifle specifically for that purpose and really, any small, legal caliber will do.

It's probably a good place to bow hunt too; lots of game and 50 yard shots.

If you're lucky with the weather, it's one of the most beautiful places in B.C.
 
Barnes_270 said:
Deer on Vancouver Island are bigger than they are on Haida Gwaii, on average. If you've ever hunted on a Gulf Island or Texada, etc, they're more that size.
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I've hunted on Sonora Island, I know what you mean. Smaller on average but not that much. Some of the racks I've seen from there where on par with Van Isl.
 
City Boy said:
They are much smaller than the black tails on Vancouver island. Having said that, I wasn't about to buy a new rifle and we used our regular deer rifles. All the shots we took were within 50 yards, so head shots are not necessarily unrealistic, but that might just have been the areas we were in and the brush was quite thick anyways. If I was a local or if I was going to make it an annual hunting trip, I'd probably buy a smaller calibre rifle specifically for that purpose and really, any small, legal caliber will do.

It's probably a good place to bow hunt too; lots of game and 50 yard shots.

If you're lucky with the weather, it's one of the most beautiful places in B.C.
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One of these years I'll have to go up and hunt it. I've heard its beautiful. Seems that every year I'm heading to the interior in pursuit of bigger deer than we have here on Van Isl.
 
I think that is a situation that is ideal for a .243 Win or 6mm Rem or one of the small quarter bores, the Roberts or Savage. I just hit on a great load for my Roberts with Nosler BT Hunting 115's... that would be my choice.
 
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