Region 2 bucks

[Iron-Head]

Nothing huge but my first and second BT's taken from Texada Island.
I have always had good success with Mulies, but coastal Black Tails have done there best at evading me. Well my luck changed.

The deer on Texada where really spooky and without a doubt a majority of them have gone nocturnal. Was talking with a few locals that said the past few weeks have sounded like WW III. Allot our sightings where in the dark driving to and from our hunting area. With the GO for doe season the most easily accesible spots where pretty crowded, But with a little hiking and such dense populations of deer, one cant miss.

Buck #1
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5862/pb120351ni2.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pb120351ni2.jpg)http://img402.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)



Buck #2
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5584/pb120349ac0.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pb120349ac0.jpg)http://img402.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)




On a side note, I found it quite interesting to see the difference in coat color as well as size between the two deer. They where both taken in the same genereal area although there was a creek seperating what looked like two very different ecological "zones".. Dont know if anyone else has noticed this, but sometimes the surrounding forest would look like the Okanagan, rather then the West Coast'

Iron'

[kennyj]

Nice bucks! Is that a stick holding the rack up on the second one? Looks like a tine.
kenny

[Steeleco]

Was thinking the same thing?? Congrats non the less!

[Iron-Head]

It's a stick...

[MichelD]

Good going!!!!!!!!!

Reminds me of my Sointula days.

[Dirty]

Good job Iron-head! It's always nice to put some meat in the freezer.

[Salty]

On a side note, I found it quite interesting to see the difference in coat color as well as size between the two deer. They where both taken in the same genereal area although there was a creek seperating what looked like two very different ecological "zones".. Dont know if anyone else has noticed this, but sometimes the surrounding forest would look like the Okanagan, rather then the West Coast'

Iron'

I'm pretty certain that you're looking at two species of deer there. Sitka Blacktail (lighter colour, introduced to Texada) and the darker Columbia blacktail - the native species. Nice bucks, congrads!

[goatdancer]

Nice bucks. Will be very tasty.

[c.r.hunter]

I'm pretty certain that you're looking at two species of deer there. Sitka Blacktail (lighter colour, introduced to Texada) and the darker Columbia blacktail - the native species. Nice bucks, congrads!

Hmmm, interesting. First I've heard of Sitka's on Texada. Do you have any more info on this?

[Salty]

That's my understanding c.r.hunter. Although googling it only turned up some incredibley long winded government type documents just now and I couldnt find it confirmed in a quick look... I think there was a thread about this here, or was it CGN??/

[hunter1947]

Lots of deer over there on the island ,i thought of hunting over there one year but never happened ,very nice deer you shot ,,congrats.

[MichelD]

Do you mean this document?

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/muledeer.pdf

That says:


"Black-tailed Deer have been around in North America for over two million years. Mule Deer may have appeared later as a hybrid of Black-tailed and White-tailed deer.
Since then, at least seven races or subspecies of Mule and Black-tailed deer have developed. When ice covered British Columbia 18,000 years ago, deer stayed within the southern refugium in the United States. As the ice sheets retreated 15,000 to 10,000 years ago, the Columbian Black-tailed Deer
(Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) spread northward from WashingtonState to
Vancouver Island and along the coast to southeast Alaska.
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) moved north into the interior. The third subspecies in the province, the Sitka blacktail of the north coast (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis), is similar to the Columbia blacktail."

And adds:

"Blacktails are excellent swimmers and inhabit most islands except the more far-flung Queen Charlottes and Dundas group and a few smaller islands closer in.
Sitka blacktails were introduced into the Queen Charlotte Islands in the early 1900s and have flourished there because of the lack of predators, except Black Bears, and the mild winters."

[Iron-Head]

Well they both taste the same, I can tell you that much.

Texada sure is a nice place, Good accomodations with the hunter discount! I'll be back on opening day with my bow!