Deer near Chilliwack...

[hoochie]

I was on the Fraser near Chilliwack ( in the boat) and decided to pull onto a bar to fish. There were other people there, and some guys even camp out. For those of you that fish.. you'll understand.
But, I have a question:
What deer live out on the little sand bars? The place I pulled up to is between Abbotsford and Chilliwack ( closer to Chilliwack) and the sand was covered in deer tracks. I could see where they had been eating and drinking from. I followed the tracks a bit.. then got distracted by fishing again....
Are these deer Black tail?
There seemed to be a few deer ( 6 or 8).. I never saw them.. just many tracks. A guy at work told me that the thought they were the White tail introduced to Herling Island.
Any thoughts?

[lapadat]

Hooch,

The tracks you saw were most likely from Blacktails. There are a number of people that hunt them on the islands with fairly good success too. The only considerations are that some of the islands are IR's and most of the areas are open to archery tackle and shotgun with shot.

There is a small population of Whitetails on Herrling island as well, people have claimed to see whitey's in the Harrison and Chehalis valleys. However, I have seen Blacktails turn and run with their tail pointing at an upwards angle - could be confusing. These whitetails were not introduced but likley have migrated down from the Princeton area.

My 2 cents.

Lapadat

[bsa30-06]

I would agree with lapadat, and add there is no open season for those whitetail on herrling island.

[SteadyGirl]

I was out on the fraser today checking around the islands. I'm not really that interested in salmon fishing at this time, although I have salmon fished in the past. Saw a ton of tracks and sign from deer, bears and what I am thinking was cougar but am not sure of. Most of the deer on the islands and in the lowermainland are blacktail. However we have to be increasingly careful to identify species. The whitetail from herling island, I know for a fact have moved to the mainland as well as other islands in the area,. There is a small whitetail population near hope in the skagit valley and in Sasquatch provincial park and the agassiz and harrison farmland areas. I think we will be seeing whitetail in the frazer valley in increasing numbers over the next few years. :mrgreen:

Steady

[hoochie]

thanks for the input everyone...

[Jelvis]

Hey Hoochie, like that name. I lived in Sardis and Chilliwack I hunted Blacktails for years in that area thats a challenging deer species for sure. My Dad logged those islands for a paper co. Nice little blacktails on those islands and surrounding mountains. If you want good hunting for blacktails go up the Chilliwack River valley to the end. Where Cattermole logged and your near the Skagit valley. Hybrids Mule and Blacktail walk up the slopes high up and you will see somethig. Good Luck hoochie, Jel, they look almost like a mulie , deeper forks then the bush blactail on Sumas and Chilliwack Mountains