The 5-2 lack of deer

[reaper1]

I don't get it. Three years ago in this area it was great deer hunting with many mule and white tail. Two years ago in the same areas it was considerably less and this year is just rediculous. I share the same frustration as the many hunters that have come to this area only to be disapointed. Kudos for the lucky or maybe more skilled hunters that have filled tags in 5-2 but whats up?:?

[just in time]

Hunted there last year and ran into the same situation, better in 5-1 though, strange year for deer all over

[Jimbo]

I know what you mean. Saw a lot less deer this year than any other year. Managed to connect with a buck late in the trip but felt a bit lucky on that. A ranching friend believes there are LOTS more wolves and cougars now. Makes sense to me.

[Glenny]

I hunted it for a week. Got "Lucky" and got a good sized fork on the last day. Early season in Sept. My friend got a nice huge 4pt. And saw lots of other big ones. Second las t day of trip saw a giant 4pt on a ranch...down low. Hmm.

[dime]

We hunted 5-2 this year and were frustrated as well. 4 guys hunted hard for a week, covered a lot of ground on foot and came home with nothing but tag soup. I keep saying we should not go back but this time the rest of the guys agreed. We are heading to new grounds, let the locals have 5-2 and pit lamp it into a wasteland. It is a shame as I grew up in the Williams lake area and have hunted McLeese most of my life but will not be going back for the forseeable future.

[born2hunt]

well i guess it sounds like we just got lucky up there we see lotsa deer and when we did we seemed to find a buck with them but they seemed to be in pockets some here some there and not alot in any one area but enough to keep me there.

[mark]

I grew up in 5-02, I used to pick and choose my deer every year. Something weird happened in 2006 and things havnt been the same. Its been a bit tougher finding nice bucks up there for the past couple years. From what I hear from some buddies this year is the worst ever. I just had the worst ever trip to region 3 for 2 days.

[Dirty]

I heard all the deer migrated to Hicks Lake and Birk Lake.

[cdub]

We've been going there for the last 6-7yrs and this is the worst deer year since we have been going during the rut. We still tagged out on moose but only got 1 deer between 5 guys. In past we have come home with 7 deer between 5. The only bucks I saw were ones the shooters were too lazy to look to see if they actually hit them.

[Shooter]

It was my first year ever hunting 5-02 this year. I think we got fairly lucky and dropped the only buck we saw in a week of hunting. Just a small 2 point but he eats well and given our lack of knowledge of the area going in and the low success rates of other hunters there this year I'll take him.

[cariboobill]

Hello:

I live in 5-02 and I would say the amount of deer hunters has increased and the local deer have more pressure and hunters shooting them. The migratory Big boys are up high in the mountains with no need to migrate this year yet. There are few "local" big boys left.

The moose season a few years ago was opened for immatures. The result of that was more local moose and deer shot than ever, also some moose shot and left as they were not immature. It has been a slow recovery of the local deer and moose since.

I shot a real beauty of a deer last week. When skinning it out I found a bullet from another hunter less than 30 minutes previous embedded in the back leg mussel. I spoke to the hunters who shot at the deer and said they did not think they hit it and did not follow it. I have found two other dead deer this year, same story.

I think the deer populations are coming back since the "big shoot off" a few years back when the are was crawling with hunters who shot deer while looking for immature moose. Region 5 has a lot of pressure, some would say too much pressure. Most everyone who lives here hunts as well. Add up the folks who come here for a hunt and the locals, the recovery of past years and the result is fewer nice bucks to shoot.


Good luck!

[edelweissbrian]

Connected on Nov 15 with this fellow. Been hunting McLeese area for 23yrs. and I would say the pressure is there. http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelweissbrian/3057019104/

[edelweissbrian]

Lets see if the pic link works this time http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelweissbrian/3057019104/

[4pointer]

I was up in 5-2 quite a bit and it has deer! Depends where you're looking. I was up in areas that had nothing, but tonnes of hunters and areas that had tonnes of deer, with no hunters! I was mainly up weekdays and took advantage of that. My brothers connected with several bucks. Everytime we were up in there, whether cruisin around or serious hunting, we saw bucks. Lots of deer hanging around though in private land, that was the biggest drawback I've seen. The areas that I hunt are surrounded with private land and the deer know that they are safe there, for now.

[358win]

Nice buck edelweissbrian. Congrats..

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/3057019104_667d6900ba.jpg

[5 spike]

we were in 502 in late october, saw lots of deer. the thing that surprised us was we saw hardly any hunters.

[JoshCampbell]

i hunt 5-02 near kersley all year and this year have seen very little deer just a few does and 2 bucks mostly on farmers fields but everywhere i go all i c is wolf and cougar tracks were in years past i have rarely come across there tracks but i ahve also noticed a lot more deer hunters then befor also, the only deer i got this year was 5-13 and 7-08 nothing in 5-02 yet

[betteroffishing]

last nov up in 5-2 saw 2 great shooter bucks, never did get a shot off but they were there. up again late sept this year and saw squat , you find em where you find em