where in BC is there a large deer population? willing to drive far..

[psyclops]

Title says it all, tired of getting skunked trip after trip. Ready to use some completely different techniques but mainly I need to know where in BC you would likely find high numbers of deer. Our luck has been dismal.

Tried Texada island this past weekend thinking it would be hard to screw that hunt up, dozens of truck hunters criss crossing every road on the island every 5 minutes.. conservation officers putting up fake deer in confusing spots to entrap people instead of signs indicating no hunting areas.. was a gong show. Won't be returning I dont think.

Willing to travel to where the deer are abundant, beats trip after trip to locations within a days drive to find tons of hunters and no deer.

Any advice? I was seriously discouraged after Texada but having recently sacrificed so much in my life to become a hunter these last few years I can't stop now! lol

Sorry to be a sad sack, need a pointer tho. Interior? Way north? how far?

thanks guys

[adriaticum]

The further you drive from the mainland the better your chances.
Pick a spot, any spot.

[ClemShady]

How about a trip to the Queen Carlottes. Little buggers there, but at least you can lift them up with one arm

[KtownBobby]

West Kelowna is good right now for whitetail and muley

[604redneck]

Pm me ur phone number

[betteroffishing]

theres deer almost everywhere in the province . thing is , any place i name now where i have seen lots of deer in the past may not be so loaded with deer at the present . clearwater had its run with lots of big bodied deer comming out of its trees , merrit has its years , kamloops areas get pounded , yet seem to produce sometimes , princeton has near legend status for deer populations unfortunately they all live in town .,
game is like gold , its where you find it and as soon as you get an area figured out , the pay streak will run out and youll need to get to know a new area . i havent got any game down this year either . keep on keepin on .

[dino]

Title says it all, tired of getting skunked trip after trip. Ready to use some completely different techniques but mainly I need to know where in BC you would likely find high numbers of deer. Our luck has been dismal.

Tried Texada island this past weekend thinking it would be hard to screw that hunt up, dozens of truck hunters criss crossing every road on the island every 5 minutes.. conservation officers putting up fake deer in confusing spots to entrap people instead of signs indicating no hunting areas.. was a gong show. Won't be returning I dont think.

Willing to travel to where the deer are abundant, beats trip after trip to locations within a days drive to find tons of hunters and no deer.

Any advice? I was seriously discouraged after Texada but having recently sacrificed so much in my life to become a hunter these last few years I can't stop now! lol

Sorry to be a sad sack, need a pointer tho. Interior? Way north? how far?

thanks guys

kootneys during the doe wt season. If you get skunked doing that, there is no helping you.

[rides bike to work]

If you ask google the same question and it will answer you. There is some government studies that talk about mule deer populations in Bc .

[Greg]

I would go to some place within a long days drive of the lower mainland, if you get skunked there, try coming to Haida Gwaii for four days. If you get skunked here, you better leave all your hunting equipment with me and find another hobby.

[wsm]

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CD0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.env.gov.bc.ca%2Fwld%2Fdocumen ts%2Fmuledeer.pdf&ei=iT6EUsDtHOnlyQH7toDoDw&usg=AFQjCNGliF7oC75PxBapmejH8uWN_643Yw&sig2=dbHAy2leOXqoVbdalYWfGA

is a couple years old but will still hold good value

[HarryToolips]

West Kelowna is good right now for whitetail and muley
LOL you make me laugh dude..that is my local, and numbers are WAY down, not just me but everybody says so..like adriaticum says the further from the coast the better, our numbers are low because were close to the coast and our local population is high and holds lots of hunters..there's deer here, but like I said before to alot of criticism, the month long any buck muly and wt doe seasons together have knocked numbers down...

[RomanianTHUNDER]

Deer are always easier to find on Wednesday or Thursday around 10 am when everyone else is at work :)

[keithb7]

Title says it all, tired of getting skunked trip after trip. Ready to use some completely different techniques but mainly I need to know where in BC you would likely find high numbers of deer. Our luck has been dismal.

Tried Texada island this past weekend thinking it would be hard to screw that hunt up, dozens of truck hunters criss crossing every road on the island every 5 minutes.. conservation officers putting up fake deer in confusing spots to entrap people instead of signs indicating no hunting areas.. was a gong show. Won't be returning I dont think.

Willing to travel to where the deer are abundant, beats trip after trip to locations within a days drive to find tons of hunters and no deer.

Any advice? I was seriously discouraged after Texada but having recently sacrificed so much in my life to become a hunter these last few years I can't stop now! lol

Sorry to be a sad sack, need a pointer tho. Interior? Way north? how far?

thanks guys


Sorry to hear about your frustration but many of us here are frustrated as we too are not seeing much that is shoot-able lately. It is a very frustrating sport when you put hours and hours into hunting. You spend thousands on gear. You travel miles and miles to try a new area. Still no reward. I cannot think of anything else that I dedicate so much time and resources to, with no final reward as of yet. We keep hanging in there hoping it will happen. Every year BC becomes more and more populated. Humans encroach further and further into our game territory. Whether or not the number of hunters increases, or decreases, it does not effect the urban sprawl that is happening. It's only going to get worse for every generation. Sad. I can say that I drove 10 hours to Ft St John this season for a full week and did not see 1 ungulate of any type. I saw 1 grizzly bear on the last day. I invested a $1,000 plus my time and got little reward. Yes, frustrating as h e l l, but that's why it's called hunting and not killing. If you have a doe tag, I could give you 20 areas all within 3 hours or less of Vancouver with a 99% guarantee. If you want 4 pt or bigger buck, or any white tail buck, there are no guarantees. It's a crap shoot. Pick a spot. The more remote the better. The farther from a city the better. Give it a try. Worst case you get to see some new country side. Personally I would not bother driving 4 hours past the lower mainland for a deer. There are plenty in that range, you just got to be at the right place at the right time.

[markt308]

Deer are always easier to find on Wednesday or Thursday around 10 am when everyone else is at work :)

wisdom.........

[Big Lew]

Re: where in BC is there a large deer population? willing to drive far..There are decent deer populations in pockets throughout most of B.C. Finding them during legal hunting perimeters is another matter. Many of those using trail cams can attest to it. Most deer do migrate to some extent late in the year. Learning their habits, food sources, and travel patterns go a long way to your success. Whenever you are driving away from the city centers practice spotting them. After awhile your eyes will seem to automatically focus toward them. That is one of the advantages experienced hunters enjoy over the newbies who very often look past or by them.

[lucky1]

First of all: Princeton, Logan lake

Don't forget to just enjoy being outdoors exploring new areas that you wouldn't see if you weren't a hunter. Just getting out there with your rifle or bow and checking out the land and honing your skills should be the best part of hunting. Don't put so much pressure on your self to "bag a deer". Help from an experienced hunter is invaluable, so if you can join up with one for a hunt that would make it a lot easier. Sorry if I'm off topic.

By the way, are you spotting any does around? If your not then you really need some help from an experienced hunter.

[moosinaround]

Peace River area of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Peace River area of BC, or Save-on Foods, but for beef chicken or pork! Moosin

[monasheemountainman]

Anywhere in the okanagan, kootenays, south caribou, peace region. Good luck I hope you get one

[hare_assassin]

Anywhere in the okanagan, kootenays, south caribou, peace region...

... or, last but not least, Thompson. :)

[f350ps]

West Kelowna is hot right now! Or you could PM Jelvis, he'll tell ya what was hot 20 yrs ago. :) K

[one-shot-wonder]

Don't believe most of what you read from Jelvis and nothing what you hear......

[mooseslayer]

West Kelowna is good right now for whitetail and muley

You do realize I hope that muleys are now closed in region 8?

[P-17]

In my limited experience this year, I found that even a great area in the Okanagan was like a wasteland; the animals were nocturnal. The fact that there were yahoos constantly driving around in trucks and quads might have had something to do with it.

It reminds me of the last line of a classic Eagles song from the 1970s: "If you call some place 'paradise', kiss it goodbye..." The bottom line is that with a great doe season and easy access to a lot of areas, people are now tearing up the contryside and the animals are staying put until they absolutely have to move. This goes for does as well as bucks.

The people who succeed regularly are the ones who put in the hours, hunting a good area systematically, and actually walking on the ground. Others are just lucky.

It's very tough for those of us who have to live and work in the big city and only have a limited window of time and resources go to hunting.

I can appreciate your frustration. I found it particularly tough this year because my longtime hunting partner has now become too infirm to continue (due to advanced age and arthritis), and I have to find a new hunting partner if I wish to continue hunting.

In the end, there is no substitute for going hunting with experienced people who know the area and the animals well, and then putting in the hours systematically.

[boxhitch]

It can take several trips over a few years to really learn an area and find its potential.
Pick a nice fishing lake with a good campsite and let it be your second home for a year. Visit before the hunting season , hike a few trails , catch a few fish , ride em if you got em , keep a log of sightings , adjust your horizons , follow your feet.
enjoy

and if you get to kill something , thats the bonus.

[huff]

Just spent 9 days in kamloops area, seen many bucks but trying to count tines was another story. came back with a WT doe that my kid shot. Was a very exiting trip to say the least. Trying to hunt in up to a foot and a half of snow in thick brush made it very hard to sneak up on an unsuspecting buck. put on many miles.

Huff

[M.Dean]

If I were you, I'd leave now and go park outside "Wing Masters" house in Kamloops! Follow about 50 or 60 feet behind his truck all the way to where he spotted the Does,but maybe take your own lunch and coffee, I really doubt he's going to share his with you after following my directions! If you need a wake up call, just let me know, Hell, I think I might follow "Wing Master" in the morning too! Good Luck!

[RINO]

Victoria ... Global News Report today!!!

[dirtyminer]

Stay down there. We're tired of Surrey commandos in the interior.

[olympia]

Stay down there. We're tired of Surrey commandos in the interior.

this is our province too man, who are you to tell us to stay here?

[saskbooknut]

I grew up in BC and hunted from Vancouver Island, then moved to the Kootenays near Nelson, Vernon and back to Vancouver with my job.
We always took at least a week to go hunting, that is a week wrapped by two weekends, and preferably two weeks.
We hunted the early season starting Sept. 10 or a week or two later.
We hunted on the ridgetops of the Monashee range down to the Arrow lakes, the east side of Kootenay lake, and the East Kootenay up the Bull River, across the Morrisey crossing near Fernie and to the ridgetops and in the White River drainage in from Canal Flats. We always shot a Mule deer or a Whitetail as a consolation prize if no Elk opportunities came together.
I am not giving away any recent honey holes here because I move to Saskatoon in 1986, but herein lie the principles of success.

First, you have to find where the game is. Those that don't leave tracks cannot be eaten. The early part of the trip is spent in scouting out a place to hunt.
I was always looking for a place where other hunters did not go, often using logging roads to get elevation to the point where there was a thin screen of timber to bushwhack through to get into the subalpine. Sometimes you glass the mountain across from you, and then drive to the other high logging show and glass the mountain that you started from. Sometimes the overlooked place was in bottomland logging slash where all the other vehicles drove past our camp looking for higher elevation and ignoring lowland thickets.

Once we found the place we wanted to hunt we camped and rarely moved the truck. Now we're hunting....finding where the game feeds, waters and beds down. Out before first light to climb where we can glass the countryside to find our game. We hunted with our little children along, taking turns allowing one of us to hunt alone at first light and one who got to do kid duty, hunting close to camp.

We, my wife and I, were never great hunters but damn, we were persistent. Frequently a forkhorn Mule Deer sufficed to make our hunt successful, though over the years we got a nice Bull elk, a 165 West Kootenay whitetail, and a 235 Arrow lake Mule deer. We always saw species like Mtn. Goat and Sheep that were not on our agenda but made the hunting in spectacular country more interesting. And over the years we found our list "honey holes" that we could count on seeing game reliably.

[brutus]

Texada is a gimmy,so if u struck out there u are doing something wrong,do you road hunt,walk,sit???? How do you hunt???hard to give u advise without some better info. If you hard up and want to drive 10 plus hrs 7b has some of the best late nov muly,we had six large 4 pts in 3 days a couple years ago 6 hunter 6 deer you just have to no we're to look,this was all on foot in snow some time up to our balls in -20 plus weather lol

[brutus]

Texada is a gimmy,so if u struck out there u are doing something wrong,do you road hunt,walk,sit???? How do you hunt???hard to give u advise without some better info. If you hard up and want to drive 10 plus hrs 7b has some of the best late nov muly,we had six large 4 pts in 3 days a couple years ago 6 hunter 6 deer you just have to no we're to look,this was all on foot in snow some time up to our balls in -20 plus weather lolbtw there was a Doe opening during that time frame and we passed up on 100 plus doe

[psyclops]

Everyone was bummed on texada no one was having much luck there. One guy said u used to see dozens of deer like fifty in a weekend and he'd seen 3 shootable deer in just under a week.

thanks for the info guys. We've tried every method of hunting, but I think we've had a lot of bad luck because our hardwork is on point and our knowlegde is better than a lot of guys out there.

I think its gonna take sneaking into a spot before dawn and sitting silently for hours waiting for them to come by, this is pretty much the main style written about in books and the one style we have not beaten to death. We have road hunted 12 hrs a day on dirtbikes many a weekend to no avail. We have hunted dozens of cut blocks on foot, walked countless ridges etc. we have done a bit of everything. I should say one of the most promising places we've been was a recommendation from Frenchbar, it was just a bit before the rut and the bucks weren't around yet but we should have went back there instead of texada island this past weekend.

I've googled this countless times and downloaded every pdf and ebook on deer u can find. I figured I'd ask u guys, and most of you are cool I appreciate the input. We'll keep at it.

edit - to everyone saying just enjoy the outdoors etc trust me I do, I spend almost every other weekend in the mountains, I love it I've seen some amazing places and tons of wildlife grizzly bear tons of does a bobcat etc etc, BUT it would be nice to harvest a deer and get over that hurdle. I've been content for a long time but its starting to get ridiculous, I could really use some results to validate all this expenditure of time and money. Time to kick it up to the special forces style hunting level seems like, hunter joe style hasn't paid off for shit lol.. next year we're starting out in the high country, we have quite a bit of experience climbing in the alpine and all the ultralight backpacking gear.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

LOL you make me laugh dude..that is my local, and numbers are WAY down, not just me but everybody says so..like adriaticum says the further from the coast the better, our numbers are low because were close to the coast and our local population is high and holds lots of hunters..there's deer here, but like I said before to alot of criticism, the month long any buck muly and wt doe seasons together have knocked numbers down...

You'd better start coming to regular meetings for a tune-up!:-D

The doe season is the only one of those two seasons that can affect the population.

I've got lots of whitey bucks and does(with lots of fawns) on the tcams. Bucks are only showing up at night still.

SSS

[Quantafer]

My freezer...

[monasheemountainman]

LOL you make me laugh dude..that is my local, and numbers are WAY down, not just me but everybody says so..like adriaticum says the further from the coast the better, our numbers are low because were close to the coast and our local population is high and holds lots of hunters..there's deer here, but like I said before to alot of criticism, the month long any buck muly and wt doe seasons together have knocked numbers down...

I would say you are off base, it may be tough finding a buck standing within 100 yards of the fsr's, but I have never gone to the places I like to go, and not seen deer, lots of deer, with bucks included, mule deer, and whitetail.

[aggiehunter]

Stone Sheep...you don't think killing any and many bucks has any effect on deer pops or buck to doe ratio???? We see an effect.

[325]

I would recommend finding access to some private land just about anywhere. Deer hunting is almost always better on private land.

[Gun Dog]

I'm just back from Loon lake and there's deer everywhere -- everywhere around the houses below the snow line where it's safe. Up the hill where you can actually shoot something, not so much.
http://hilmar.smugmug.com/photos/i-s6LvrRx/0/M/i-s6LvrRx-M.jpg
(there's 5 deer, full size (http://hilmar.smugmug.com/Forums/Forum-Pictures/1887074_M6fLLp#!i=2906582954&k=s6LvrRx&lb=1&s=O))

Eventually I started throwing snowballs but they were unconcerned.

[Wild one]

Stone Sheep...you don't think killing any and many bucks has any effect on deer pops or buck to doe ratio???? We see an effect.

I have been seeing an issue with this for years my self. Problem is BC hunters will argue that they don't want to loose any opportunity and others should just hunt harder. It just is not worth trying to change there minds. Instead any issues here are blamed of wolves, FN, WT pushing out mule deer, outfitters and poaching. All issues other provinces face but seem to come out with different results

BC's potential is not being met with the management here no doubt in my mind. And 3..2..1 let the flaming begin

[lovemywinchester]

You'd better start coming to regular meetings for a tune-up!:-D

The doe season is the only one of those two seasons that can affect the population.

I've got lots of whitey bucks and does(with lots of fawns) on the tcams. Bucks are only showing up at night still.

SSS

Save your breath SSS. No one wants to listen to you and the other guys that know what they are talking about.:confused: Just post a link to the Reg 8 thread and avoid pulling your hair out.

OP- Deer are everywhere. I have noticed the last few times out that the deer are really hiding out until dark. Lots of pressure and guys all over. ALL OVER. Im running into people hunting on foot in the middle of areas I thought I had to myself. Time your hunts for dawn and dusk periods. Just pulled one of my cams the other day and had all kinds of bucks showing. They are all there. Waiting, watching, judging.

[Marlin375]

[QUOTE=psyclops;1415126I think its gonna take sneaking into a spot before dawn and sitting silently for hours waiting for them to come by, this is pretty much the main style written about in books and the one style we have not beaten to death. [/QUOTE]

There you go. It sounds to me like you are simply trying too hard. When you have not seen a deer in the first 3-4 clearcuts or standing "in the open" change your tactics before your eyes start to bleed from looking so hard. Take a walk up into the timber that seperates the clearcuts. It is hard at first to convince yourself that sitting against a tree watching a game trail in the timber is a productive way to spend three hours of your trip but I guarantee it beats 12 hrs of bouncing around in a truck looking at vacant open areas......relax, you have to, to let the deer come to you. Hunt the timber as though you have a bow in your hands and 40 yards in your range.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Stone Sheep...you don't think killing any and many bucks has any effect on deer pops or buck to doe ratio???? We see an effect.

Low buck to doe ratios can affect the overall populations..but the ratios have to quite low (~5:100)for quite a few years.

I don't doubt that some areas have lower numbers than say 5 or 6 yrs ago. I see a pile of cat tracks where I hunt on the westside.

[Salty]

I don't think the deer numbers have changed a ton in the popular areas within a half day of Vancouver type of deal since the inception of the fairly new WT doe seasons, and not by the any buck situations either. I will say though that since the doe season deer behaviour has changed; big time.

I've hunted in the same area near where a friend lives in east region 8 about 4 different times averaging about 5 days a crack over the last 7 or 8 years. This is the first year I was back since the general open season on does. Where we used to see a dozen or so does and young bucks a day just while driving this time we saw one doe and yearling only that wasn't behind a fence and a no hunting sign. There is a hillside interspersed with various aged clear cuts, creek at the bottom elevations up to 5000 feet above that we've visited every year. Its got it all. In the past I've only seen other hunters in that area about one out of five times up there. This year there were three camps there and other road hunters in the area every day, quite a change I was surprised.

Deer are quick to relax when there's no threat, just think of the suburbs of Victoria or downtown Cranbrook. And of course they're quick to go the other way and become skittish as hell when they detect a threat. So a few years back a pick up was no threat to a doe and its young, most of them would be forestry types through the year and in hunting season hunters might slow down and have a look at best, likely just move on. Now, with by all accounts more hunters trying to capitalize on the general open season on does what is going to happen when the average pick up in October drives by a doe? They're going to hammer on the brakes bail out of the truck and shoot! Even if they don't get a shot off in time just by stopping and opening the door quickly the doe will instantly go on high alert, fly the flag and get out of Dodge. One skittish deer makes many. This new knowledge or at least nervousness that any vehicle is now a threat spreads quicker than you can do a ninja roll out of the passenger door.

The weather had been still for weeks on this last trip, clear nights and quite a bit of moon. There was a decent amount of sign around all pretty much nocturnal behaviour by the looks and, few to zero tracks or sign near any road. The deer are all on high alert now, not just the bucks.

[island6]

Depends how far away from the truck you hike, numbers get better the longer the walk

[andrewscag]

@ the OP - I understand your frustration. I had a tough hunt this year myself. Spent about 6 days total around 100 mile house where I hunt regularly and a my hunting bud lives.

The only deer we saw in that awesome habitat were pretty well hidden in the trees during shooting hours. I can usually count on seeing at least some does standing around in the cutblocks but not this year. Like some have said about Texada, (and I experienced two years ago) they go nocturnal without much difficulty when there's an increase in human activity, especially if there's a moon. Or else they just FO to somewhere without roads.

I ended up finding a 2 pt by walking the woods near small cut-blocks, with good timber adjacent, near a stream where I saw fresh tracks. They were in the timber. Saw the most tracks in draws like the one I described. They don't have to move much to get everything they need and can do most it without coming into the open during daylight hours if they don't want to.

Not an area I know but I hope that helps.

[brian]

Title says it all, tired of getting skunked trip after trip. Ready to use some completely different techniques but mainly I need to know where in BC you would likely find high numbers of deer. Our luck has been dismal.

My .02$ your biggest problem is that you are running all over the province chasing different areas rather than learning specific areas very well. Deer won't be evenly spaced even when in high populations, they'll be in pockets. Find the pockets and you'll have a much more decent chance of success. Not many people are going to tell you where the pockets are, that's basically saying here is my honey hole. So finding the pockets means getting out there and getting to know the territory. This will be the same if the populations are high or low.

Also hunting areas with high pressure like you were in Texada is different than hitting unpressured deer. Getting away from the crowds can be hard to do if you don't know the area.


This new knowledge or at least nervousness that any vehicle is now a threat spreads quicker than you can do a ninja roll out of the passenger door.

The best I have seen is a hunter bobbling ammo while trying to get himself, his rifle, and his belly out the door at the same time!:-D

[psyclops]

we focused on the Lillooet area for a couple years, we know it pretty well

[black mountain]

Title says it all, tired of getting skunked trip after trip. Ready to use some completely different techniques but mainly I need to know where in BC you would likely find high numbers of deer. Our luck has been dismal.

Tried Texada island this past weekend thinking it would be hard to screw that hunt up, dozens of truck hunters criss crossing every road on the island every 5 minutes.. conservation officers putting up fake deer in confusing spots to entrap people instead of signs indicating no hunting areas.. was a gong show. Won't be returning I dont think.




Willing to travel to where the deer are abundant, beats trip after trip to locations within a days drive to find tons of hunters and no deer.

Any advice? I was seriously discouraged after Texada but having recently sacrificed so much in my life to become a hunter these last few years I can't stop now! lol

Sorry to be a sad sack, need a pointer tho. Interior? Way north? how far?

thanks guys


Psyclops

Did you wanna take a guess as to why the fake deer was set up. The rememberance day long weekend always includes a lot of idiots showing up on Texada. Im not sure how many clowns shot the fake deer on Saturday or sunday but the co said they busted seven idiots on Monday. The fake deer was set up in park land, people gotta read the regs and look at the maps no different on Texada than any where else. Its not uncommon for these idiots to be shootin right on the paved roads or in peoples yards and farms. Im sorry you were unable to connect on a deer, I know of at least forty bucks that were taken as well as lots of does. Hope you get one before the season closes.
cheers
black mountain

[psyclops]

thanks everybody who gave input I appreciate it

[IHUNTBC]

Check out www.ihuntbc.com (http://www.ihuntbc.com) and look at QCI deer pics I will be going again this year....so many it is crazy

[bc sportsman]

OK IHUNTBC, I am boht envious and pissed that you are solely responsible for the decline of big game animals in BC. ;>)

[IHUNTBC]

hahaha , If you ever want to go I will lead you to them myself,, Rut is 1st week of November ,, They are actually open to hunt now and I put one in my freezer day before yesterday,,,,,,

[steel_ram]

For Texada and all the Gulf Islands. Think! Your a deer. You don't want to be seen by humans. You don't want to swim, climb cliffs, cross roads or open area's. Sit there! When I hunted Saltsping, I sat on one particular stump that was less than 75 yards from the road. A thin strip of woods between a lake, a cut block and a road. A funnel. Took a deer there every year in less than 2 hrs sitting. Mean time the surrounding openings were crawling with unsuccessful hunters.