Haida Gwaii Deer Rigs and Loads

conor_90

conor_90

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Hi guys.

I have booked a couple of weeks off in late October to go for a hunt on Haida Gwaii for blacktails, I have been dreaming of doing this solo hunt for years and I am beyond excited. I will be driving from the north to the coast and hunting hard, I can't wait. I cut my teeth hunting on Vancouver Island so the coastal rainforest is not foreign to me and I am familiar with the techniques used in both longer cuts and in still hunting in the real thick stuff. I will also be using a fawn in distress call in the hopes of getting some up close and personal action.


I recently bought a "general rifle" in 8x57, a zastava m85 stutzen. I will probably use this rifle for longer cuts and on the beach. I would definitley appreciate any suggestions on lighter weight bullets in this bad boy. I have 200 and 220 grain loads for hunting moose and bear closer to home already tuned for the rifle. If anyone can recommend a flatter shooter load/bullet combo I am all ears.

Here is where the real fun begins though.

For bush/still hunting in the jungle and on deactivated roads and the calling I am in the process of assembling a couple of rigs. The first is an iron sighted cz 527, I will probably load her with woodleighs and baby her.

For the real rough tough bush bashing I have gone on a bit of an e.e shopping spree. I purchased a ruger american ranch, a vortex sparc red dot with a 2x magnifier and a flash hider to keep it tacticool. I can't wait to put this rig together and show it off, too bad I am doing shift work atm and it will probably all arrive while I'm on my next shift.

I am all ears for any technique or load suggestions, stories or expressions of envy from our eastern brothers :)

What would you use for projectiles and what rig would you choose out of those available? Everything else in the safe is a little bit big for the little guys. I would really appreciate it if people suggested some .223 deer loads and shared their experiences using normal cup and core .223 cal softpoints on little deer. Is barnes a better call? I will also be doing some load development with 75 grain bullets and would love some brand suggestions.

Cheers guys, is it october yet?

Pictures of my bush bashing tacticool rig and truck full of deer to come :)
 
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Mumbles Marble Mouth said:
I think that's too small of a cartridge for those massive beasts on Haida Gwaii.
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Yup, was there 3 years ago, never seen deer that large before, 460 Weatherby, hell .50 bmg should be the minimum caliber for sure:p. Seriously though I have a coworker that is from there (native), 30-30 is what he and his family use for decades.
 
A popular game load here is to drive 55 gr Remington PSP bulk bullets at about 2800 fps from .223, .22-250, or .220 Swift rifles. At that velocity, expansion is good, the little bullets don't seem to break up too badly, and they penetrate well. The guys that use them commonly shoot wolves, caribou, and seals by the boat load, and I know of at least one moose taken with the combination. IMHO the 70 gr Speer is the best .224 game bullet available, and their flat base, tapered round nose profile makes them short enough that they stabilize in slow twist barrels. Barnes TSX bullets should be driven as fast as they can be made to go, but their longer length for weight means that only the light weight versions are suitable for use in slow twist barrels. I can't even shoot 53 gr TSXs in my 1:12 .223, and have to go with 45s in order to get near range stability; reliable .45 caliber expansion is more the rule than the exception though. If all this sounds like I'm in favor of shooting large animals with .22s, I'm not, but it occurred to me that I should examine the other side of the argument.
 
I lived in Tasu in the early '80's, back when Haida Gwaii was known as the Queen Charlotte Islands,
My wife and I met there as well.

A truly magical place, we miss it very much and have lots of fond memories.

The deer are very small, however a .223 is a varmint cartridge, as far as I'm concerned.
I would recommend nothing smaller than a .243.

Not sure about now, but back then you could shoot 10 Blacktail per year.

I actually shot my first deer ever there with a Winchester 94 in good old 30-30.
 
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My buddy Ear-Knee swapped my a .264wm in Model 70 for my Ruger 44mag semi.
The sole purpose was for the hunt of these massiff beests awn HG.
Yo-Yo has met me buddy and gift'im the nicky-nom.

This wuzz an entertaint'in event at our local gun show a few years back.
Sumtin'bout #'s iff'in I recall korectly..............................................................:onCrack:
 
Didn’t the Gooberment just pay millions to PH ‘s from New Zealand to hunt all those deer ethically (illegally) from moving helio’s ? Can’t be any left ! They were highly paid PH’s !
 
The deer are small there. Three of them skinned, gutted and de-boned were 90 lbs. Could have gotten more but it was all the meat needed. Shots were all close from 30 to 70 yards maybe.

8x57 is a hell of a round for these. .243 win with 100gr. (Fedaral blue pack) was my choice.
 
broadhead67 said:
Didn’t the Gooberment just pay millions to PH ‘s from New Zealand to hunt all those deer ethically (illegally) from moving helio’s ? Can’t be any left ! They were highly paid PH’s !
Click to expand...

There is more that one island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago
 
308 Winchester and road hunting was the way my mom, dad, and uncle killed many a deer in the Charlottes. I don't know if it's still like this but back then (in the late 90's) the spring bear season overlapped with deer season in June. No kidding. Just needed a lot of ice.
 
Not my bailiwick, but I would bring my Robert's with 115 NBT's... .243 or 6mm Rem with 90/95's would be just about as good. The 6.5's with lighter bullets would be great too... no matter what flavour of 6.5 you prefer.
 
Me and a few buddies dream of this trip every year. One of these days we'll have the money and time off to make the trek...

If I was going this year, I'd be taking my 270 w/130gr pills. Swift Sciroccos maybe?
 
Going to bring a .223 and 7.62x39 for sure.

I know from hunting on the island and working in similar areas in the bush that there may be longer shots than some may anticipate in logging cuts and on the beaches.

Maybe I will just put a 2-7 optic on the 527, it carries so well as is and has a great set of irons though. It will not see much use where I live for hunting. Deer opportunities here are mostly on agricultural land and I have better calibers for that.
 
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OP, here's a few loads that will work dandy on deer inside 100 yds from your 223 rifles.

Sierra 63 gr. SMP

- 18.0 gr IMR 4198, 22.0 gr IMR 4064, 20.0 gr IMR 3031, 22.0 gr IMR 4895 or 22.0 gr IMR 4320. All of these go between 2400 & 2500 fps in a 24" barrel. Carbine length tubes reduce velocity a tad, but not enough to matter at closer range.

Speer 70 gr SP

- 22.5 gr IMR 4895, 22.5 gr IMR 4064 and 23.5 gr IMR 4320. These are also in the same speed range as above, and as mentioned earlier, the 70 gr Speer is the best choice. I used the 4895 load in my Rem 788 for bigger critters years back and it worked fine.
 
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