Blacktail on the Islands

A friend of mine has 160 acres just outside of Tlell. He tells stories of shooting 5 deer in one go, just picking them off in a clearing. And tells a story of butchering a handful of does and fawns, leaving their legs piled outside the garage. After they were all wrapped and drinking beer a nice buck comes out of the woods sniffing for the does. Heads out the back door, around the side and down goes the buck.

Other than that, the gist is lots of deer, lots of rain, lots of bush. Good luck.
 
lots of Island deer down here , tasty and tender but you get the munchies after you eat them .Not sure what they are feeding on.
 
Years ago the season used to be all year on them and you were allowed 10 or 12. My Grandfather used to say they were even smaller than the Blacktail on Van Isle. He always talked about going after them up there but never did. I know the ones around my father's place in Nanaimo sure like to eat everything in peoples flowers gardens including some pretty harsh looking plants. I can't imagine they taste all that great eating some of what I saw them eating at my father's.....lol
 
Anybody got any photos of good BT as I have no idea what a good one compared to a sh!t one looks like............bring on the photos guys !!!!!!!!!

I will be taking my 234 Douglas and my 300 WSM.............another outing for the 234 Douglas. Changed scopes and checked her out this afternoon not shooting great as I have had very little chance to work loads for her but she'll do 1.5" at 100 mtrs so I'm good to 400 or so. I've been told they are some of the finest venison that can be had..............oh and by the way, the overall limit is 15 with a max of 5 at any given time. I also plan to take a mainland one as they are technically a different deer, being Columbia BT and the island ones are Sitkas.
So photos of both will be appreciated, Charlottes and mainland if y'all got pics of such.

I'm getting pumped for this hunt, taking camper and trailer with freezer and Ranger to hunt from...........yes it's going to be stiff costing on the ferry but we will be self sufficient and have the ability to butcher and freeze our meat while there. I have weighed out all the costs and I think it will still be better being 40-45 ft long on the ferry with all the capabilities we'll have while there. It'll be nice to have a nice warm camper whenever we want it and a secure place to hang our deer (assuming they are as easy and plentiful as indicated).
 
Last edited:
CFBMI,. If you see a blacktail like this one..SHOOT!!! :)

This is my biggest blacktail, shot the last day of hunting season for me (had to go back to work the next day) :)

1928368_8669190515_3388_n.jpg


This is a mainland BT though, which are generally larger than Island deer. I've been to the QCI's 3 times, and never seen a deer this large there.(body or rack)
 
The blacktail photo posted is about as good as it gets, that thing is a hog for Haida Gwaii.

Edit: the one from earlier in the thread, nice buck Gatehouse

Here is a Saanich Peninsula monster, in its natural habitat, some rich guys lawn:

Edith_s_deer_Oct_2014.jpg


I never saw anything that good in the woods on Southern VI.

In my experience the deer on the north island were larger in body and antler size in general .
 
c-fbmi said:
Anybody got any photos of good BT as I have no idea what a good one compared to a sh!t one looks like............bring on the photos guys !!!!!!!!!

I will be taking my 234 Douglas and my 300 WSM.............another outing for the 234 Douglas. Changed scopes and checked her out this afternoon not shooting great as I have had very little chance to work loads for her but she'll do 1.5" at 100 mtrs so I'm good to 400 or so. I've been told they are some of the finest venison that can be had..............oh and by the way, the overall limit is 15 with a max of 5 at any given time. I also plan to take a mainland one as they are technically a different deer, being Columbia BT and the island ones are Sitkas.
So photos of both will be appreciated, Charlottes and mainland if y'all got pics of such.

I'm getting pumped for this hunt, taking camper and trailer with freezer and Ranger to hunt from...........yes it's going to be stiff costing on the ferry but we will be self sufficient and have the ability to butcher and freeze our meat while there. I have weighed out all the costs and I think it will still be better being 40-45 ft long on the ferry with all the capabilities we'll have while there. It'll be nice to have a nice warm camper whenever we want it and a secure place to hang our deer (assuming they are as easy and plentiful as indicated).
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great camp! But one more BC regulation reminder for you, regarding butchering and freezing. BC requires a patch of hair and evidence of ### to be visible. SO don't go cutting and wrapping the whole deer up and stowing it in your freezer. I know guys that have had problems with CO's after doing that. I've never cut and wrapped in camp, but I would say at a minimum you want to take pics of the whole animal, then cut and wrap all but one hindquarter that also has evidence of ### and a patch of hair attached. I *think* that should keep you out of trouble, but I'm not a lawyer. In my experience, CO's have never had an issue with meat that has been boned out with one hindquarter left with fur/### attached but as I said, never wrapped in camp.

One idea if you were to wrap is to label each pack with deer #1, #2 etc. That way, you could easily "assemble" each deer if required. I know some guys that had several deer cut in quarters/pieces and the CO's had them "assemble" each deer on the side of the road to ensure what they had claimed was what they had.
 
c-fbmi said:
Anybody got any photos of good BT as I have no idea what a good one compared to a sh!t one looks like............bring on the photos guys !!!!!!!!!

I will be taking my 234 Douglas and my 300 WSM.............another outing for the 234 Douglas. Changed scopes and checked her out this afternoon not shooting great as I have had very little chance to work loads for her but she'll do 1.5" at 100 mtrs so I'm good to 400 or so. I've been told they are some of the finest venison that can be had..............oh and by the way, the overall limit is 15 with a max of 5 at any given time. I also plan to take a mainland one as they are technically a different deer, being Columbia BT and the island ones are Sitkas.
So photos of both will be appreciated, Charlottes and mainland if y'all got pics of such.

I'm getting pumped for this hunt, taking camper and trailer with freezer and Ranger to hunt from...........yes it's going to be stiff costing on the ferry but we will be self sufficient and have the ability to butcher and freeze our meat while there. I have weighed out all the costs and I think it will still be better being 40-45 ft long on the ferry with all the capabilities we'll have while there. It'll be nice to have a nice warm camper whenever we want it and a secure place to hang our deer (assuming they are as easy and plentiful as indicated).
Click to expand...

On Haida Gwaii the deer are Sitka Blacktails, the smallest of the mule deer. Coastal Blacktails are a size up, then size up again to a full on mule deer.
I have plenty of pics of coastal blacktails and blacktail/mule hybrids. In midst of a 5 hour drive home. Will post when I get there
 
Gatehouse said:
CFBMI,. If you see a blacktail like this one..SHOOT!!! :)

This is my biggest blacktail, shot the last day of hunting season for me (had to go back to work the next day) :)

1928368_8669190515_3388_n.jpg


This is a mainland BT though, which are generally larger than Island deer. I've been to the QCI's 3 times, and never seen a deer this large there.(body or rack)
Click to expand...

That's a whopper! Beautiful buck.
 
Thanks! I was using my beloved Leeper rifle with a 2.5-8 Leupold ;)

I was slightly above him, it was a frontal shot and you can see on the right leg where the TSX bullet exited. He was DRT. :)
 
It's hard to impress just how small the queen Charlotte deer are ........ The average one I literally picked up with one hand and the largest took two hands to pick up (was in good shape on that trip, but I bet I could still do that). When you're used to northern moose where two people would handle a quarter, it's quite a surprise. Just about anything you bring will be overpowered.

It's a meat gathering trip and expect a lot of stews and roasts due to the tiny size .... Butterfly the loins to get a small sized steak.

They seem to like the treeline and they are easy to miss ..... They're not like the other deer I've hunted; instead of running they will just freeze or move twenty yards and freeze, but they're so tiny that you might not see them or you might lose them quickly .... Hidden behind a simple branch or beside a small tree. One walked right into camp as well did a large, unafraid black bear.

The ferry is like seven hours and there are few sailings ... Get a reservation and get a cabin if it's a night sailing ... They shut the lights off and the locals pull out sleeping bags (it gets pretty boring). If you time it right, the camp sites are free and many spots near or at the beach.

At least that's what my trip was like.
 
Was a long time ago, so maybe some things are different now ..... Tons of forestry service roads on the top island too and they were handing out maps of those somewhere too, but I can't remember where now. Never made it to the bottom island, but heard one camp had problems with little martins or some other little critters all over the meat poles.
 
I was under the understanding that your camper is your home away from home.
I walked this walked with a pair of CO's and they decided charges weren't in order.
Cut, frozen and wrapped in the camper is legal as far as I'm concerned if the
paperwork supports it.
Had the antlers to show it was a legal bull too.
Lots of photos of each and every downed animal. GPS locations wouldn't hurt either.
 
kamlooky said:
I was under the understanding that your camper is your home away from home.
I walked this walked with a pair of CO's and they decided charges weren't in order.
Cut, frozen and wrapped in the camper is legal as far as I'm concerned if the
paperwork supports it.
Had the antlers to show it was a legal bull too.
Lots of photos of each and every downed animal. GPS locations wouldn't hurt either.
Click to expand...

I'd say just be careful. When transporting 5 deer, having a hindquarter with ### and fur attached for each animal isn't a bad idea. Gives the CO's what they want to see. Maybe the best idea would be to email Stephen McIvor of the BC CFO service and get his opinion, and print it out.
 
Dave that's a real nice buck, very characteristic of nice BT's with the antlers rounding up and together (as opposed to a mulie that goes out and is more "square" for those that don't know BT's)
 
I have a CZ 527 Carbine in 7.62X39 that will be just perfect for the Charlotte deer. Gotta get over there again. Been a while. Taxidermist buddy of mine lives over there. Beautiful country and quite a lot of deer. They aren't very big, but the meat is second to none. Cut it with a fork tender when cooked properly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom