Vancouver Island blacktail hunting.

[jonz]

Hello everyone this is my 1st year hunting and I am also new to this forum. I live on the lower mainland not the Island but travel there sometimes to visit family in Port Alberni. I am wondering where on the Island there is some good blacktail hunting and what methods work well for finding bucks. Road hunting? Sitting watching clearcuts early morning? I have yet to take my 1st deer and don't care that the blacktails are smaller than mule deer. Thanks for any info you might have.

[Mulie_Hunter]

I've never hunted blacktails before ,but for mulies we drive around until we find where the deer are hanging out then we concentrate on the area where the deer are. This works great when the ruts on and there's snow on the ground ,because you can see the activity in their tracks. This may not help you at all because this is what we use on mulies, but then again who knows.
Hope this helps
Mark

[3kills]

welcome to the site...i have never hunted black tails before but i would love to do it...but from what i have been told they are pretty dam hard to hunt...

[Steeleco]

Let me tell you they are much tougher to hunt than mulies. I've been chasing them around Harrison for 5 years and just this Sept got my first. They like steeper country and are very elusive. Someone posted this link previously but have a read there's lots of good info. I especially like the line "when it's raining, drop everything and go Blacktail hunting" Welcome and good luck.
http://www.blacktailcountry.com/index.htm

[Marc]

Well it all depends on if you plan on hunting with a rifle, shotgun with slug, buckshot or using a bow. You'll see more deer in the area's that are designated bow and buckshot only, some places you're allowed doe. So anywhere along the highway coming up from Victoria you are going to see lots of deer.

If you go to Gabriola Island you can hunt with a shotgun and slug from what I understand from the regulations (shot gun and bow only). I've heard the population is quite healthy there.

I've found that if you venture into the big woods you're more to see a bear then a deer. That’s been my experience so far and I've only been on the Island for a little over the year and only hunted the southern portion of the Island. I lucked into a nice two point while out looking for bear and we spent 9 days hunting for bear last fall and that was the only buck we saw. We saw a couple of does but it was bucks only where we were hunting.

I’m sure there are guys who could give you a little more input on the northern part of the Island. From the last report the deer numbers are rising up north. They are still below the numbers down south but it’s encouraging to see them starting to climb.

Marc.

[SAVAGE300]

hope i can help you on this one, yes black tails are hard to hunt, from my experience on the island here i find it best to still hunt and i follow the bite times and tide changes (dont ask me ) but it seems to work for me. and now your going to port albernie. you may want to stay around mount arrowsmith for the bucks are just starting to get stupid, where there is a doe there should be a buck. have the breeze in your favor try and find a spot where the deer are active in slashes and open feilds along the edges at daylight try and be in your spot before dawn and stay til at least 10 am and again at about 230 in the afternoon til dark. this is the way i have hunted these smart critters for the last 15 years and with patience you should do ok, hope your 1st is your best i remember mine like yesterday. good luck

[Salty]

Welcome Jonz!

Yes, blacktails can be a big challenging but its well worth the effort in my book. Contrary to some belief they do vary in size quite a bit, the smaller deer are around sea level. And let me just say one thing for finding large bucks. High Country.

Its getting good up this way again but I'm not sure about the Alberni area. I've only ever just passed through there but it sure looks like some good country to me. Its going to take some time to figure hunting blacktails out, it did for me at least. In general here's some tips.

Cover lots of ground the higher the better. Stop, and walk often looking for sign. If you don't find sign soon get in the truck and go to another area. There's huge areas with little or no deer at a given time. Find sign and then look hard.

Once you have found promising areas get to know them. Now, if possible wait for the worst freakin weather you can imagine. A howling south easter with rain. The worse the weather the better. The deer will be moving more and will continue to do so for a while after the storm. This has brought me the best success.

If you don't have the luxury of hunting a lot and really learn an area I'd say just stick with covering lots of ground. Walk lots and real quietly. Good luck with it.

Edited to add: Oh and like said, still hunting in good areas is also a good plan

[Nails]

There is alot of good info from the guys. Get out in the rain a look in an area with alot of alders. The rut will be happening any time know, with this cooler weather its looking great .The bucks will be moving with their nose to the ground being very stupid. Blacktails are very tough to hunt away from residential areas.


welcome to the site Jonz

[SAVAGE300]

just ran down to the store, a doe ran across the road in front of the car so i stopped and then a 4x3 with his nose to the ground right behind her. a block from the house

[3kills]

sounds like they are rutttin to me...to bad u cant shoot that close to the house eh...i would love to try black tail hunting...and i really wanna go the qci at least once...maybe in two years...

[SAVAGE300]

iv seen lots of deer close to the house but never him, gee wizz the natives are restless now, the weather here is ugly, thingk ill go sit on my stump for awhile

[jonz]

Thanks for the great info guys. I may try Texada Island in a week. Hey Savage is there any hunting allowed on the Nanoose penninsula? I remember seeing all kinds of deer when I drove through there before.

[leftcoast]

The deer are making a comeback in the Alberni Valley but the numbers are nowhere near what they used to be years ago. Still more bears than deer. You have has good advise so far.

I hunt the timber above a feed area like a logging slash. I move slow and stop alot and just look and listen. A big buck will be a statue for good lengths of times and usually out waits us 2 leggeds.

Big Blacktail bucks are the toughest trophy in the deer family, bar none. Most are killed by luck rather than skill during the rut.

Biggest one i shot was 2 point in Port McNeil area. 286 pounds. There were a couple around that were bigger.

=keith=

[Salty]

Woah! That's a nice blacktail leftcoast. Its funny how some of the real big ones don't ever get much for horns. I know of a real big two point in the Holberg area, but he's winning so far...........

[leftcoast]

Salty, I have seen big deer in the Holberg area in the past. I think it is in their genes.

I lie the flavour of the deer up there better than the deer here.

I will try and get a pic of the 2 point horns off that buck in the next couple of days. really heavey. A lot of guys think they are off a mule deer.I saw one the other day along the highway near the petrocan at nanoose that was just about as heavey. A 2 point. Not wide but high.

Good luck with the one you are after. Keep at it, he will make a mistake.

Get yourself some good doe stink.

=keith=

[ratherbefishin]

I have observed buck activety for a number of years.The bucks start showing around the end of september, then not much for a couple of weeks, and then the main rut activety starts mid October, building towards the end of the month.By mid november that slacks off with a brief period the end of November and even the end of December.I haveconcluded that there is a minor''early rut '' the end of september[ accounting for some of the bigger fawns seen next season] then the main rut at the end of October[accounting for 90%of the fawns] and then a later minor rut the end of november and even december[ breeding the does that were missed earlier]- possably accounting for the skinny little fawns seen in the following fall.
Anyway, that's my theory

[Don in BC]

Hi Guys. First post hear. Back in '96 I lucked out with these two 20 seconds apart up in the Sooke hills. My deer hunting on the island was over very quickly for that year. Those days are gone I'm afraid as the wolves and cougars have really knocked the sh$t out of the deer pop.

[Marc]

Welcome to the site Don in BC, It would be nice to see deer hunting like that again but I'm guessing it's going to be a while before the deer population is that high again. Might as well take advantage of the high bear population and put a pair of them on your quad ;)


Marc.

[3kills]

welcome to HBC don...

[houndogger]

Jonz,

There is hunting aloud on the south end of the pennisula but you have to get there by boat. There is no access on foot with privte properties and notch hill park. The hunting would be very good over there I am sure nobody hunts it. So good they found a dead couger in the bay. Not sure how it died. It is bow only and shotgun. Not sure if you would want to be blasting a shot gun around in that area.

[troutseeker]

I used to live on the Island and bowhunted for balcktails. Most times I would pick an area with lots of hills and somewhat exposed hillsides with boulders and such. Most best sites always had some bush covereage, or at least small gullies or patches of bush for the deer to travel in.

I would scope the hillside carefully and look for deer activity, and preferably deer bedded down. The always picked their bedding spots with something at their back, quick access to a brushy escape route.

Once I spotted a bedded deer the stalk was on. Wearing quiet clothing and carrying as little as necessary. The goal was to stay of of sight, smell and hearing of Bambi while getting to 30 or better yrds for a shot. Many times my shots where from behind them as the wind was coming up the hill to their nose. I sure jumped a lot of deer and it took me a couple of years to consistentently get close enough for a shot. Even when close enough, succees was not always achieved. No shooting lanes, swirling wind giving away your scent, a snapping branch, etc... I once sat 20 yards above a deer without seeing more than it's nose anf one big spike... The rest was coiled at the base of a large tree. I was stuck in one position with no options to move (due to terrain). I tried soft calls, roll pebbles dowh hill, rusttle leaves, no go.
The deer would not move. After 1.5hrs I lit a cigar... The buck jumped staight up and took a step forward allowing me a clear shot at it's chest. He went 30 yards downhill towards the car...

When someone ask's what I used to get that buck I reply my trusty ol' Colt!

Troutseeker